Honors Program Benefits & Requirements
Why join the Honors Program?
We are here to support you throughout your undergraduate career and to help you grow and fulfill your potential while making lifelong friends and meaningful connections.
Benefits
Through the Honors Program, students will have a wide variety opportunities to pursue their academic and professional interests more extensively:
- Individualized curriculum and research
- Network with students and alumni
- Present at conferences
- Priority class registration
- Study and work for social justice
- Honors credit on your transcript
- Recognition at commencement
- Internship, graduate-school, and career-development workshops
- Close-knit community of like-minded students
- Develop friendships through social, academic, and service-based activities
- Field trips in the Bay Area to symphonies, museums, theatre, and more!
Membership in the program is free and entirely voluntary. You can drop out at any time without penalty.
Our program is not affiliated with national Honor societies where members are required to pay yearly dues.
Academic Requirements
Honors students must maintain a 3.5 GPA or higher to graduate with Honors. If their GPA drops slightly below we will work with them to bring it back up.
There are also a number of new 1st-year courses that Honors students complete that will allow students enrolled in Honors to better familiarize themselves with the program and with the other Gaels in their cohort:
- Complete Honors FYAC (Class of 2026 and onward)
- Complete Honors Seminar (Class of 2026 and onward)
Program Requirements
In addition to maintaining academic excellence, there are a number of requirements, both within the classroom and without, that Honors students must fulfill over the course of their enrollment in the program:
Honors Contracts
The Cornerstone of the Honors Program
Honors Contracts are an essential part of an Honors education at Saint Mary’s College of California. Each Honors student will complete 2 Honors Contracts by the end of their 4th year, using each as an opportunity to explore more deeply a course or topic that contributes to their major or career interests.
Learn moreContact us
Honors Program
honors@stmarys-ca.edu
Korth Bell Tower, Arcade 4 Office
Dr. Steve Miller, Program Director
scmiller@stmarys-ca.edu