Honors Program

The Honors Program supports academic excellence and a culture of service through campus and community service, leadership opportunities, and examining global perspectives.

Requirements

Below are the requirements to being a member of the RBC Honors Program:

Have a 3.5+ high school GPA or 3.25+ college GPA (exceptions are made for extraordinary circumstances)
Participate in Campus Engagement
Participate in Community Service / Volunteer Hours
Complete One Honors Presents Presentation
Maintain a Minimum 15 Credit Hours per Semester if Receiving the Scholarship
Enroll in Honors Courses (COLL courses for second-year Promise Scholars count as meeting two of the below requirements)
- ESE 101 Honors Course
- ESE 102 Honors Course
- English 101 or 102 or 200 level Honors Course
- One Humanities Honors Course (History, Government, Communications, Theatre, Religion, Philosophy, Geography, Art)
- One Social/Behavioral Science Honors Course (Psychology, Sociology, Economics, Business)
- One Natural Science & Mathematics Honors Course (Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Math)

Benefits

Benefits:

Access to William & Mary Bridge Courses and the Bridge Guaranteed Admissions Agreement for Transfer to William & Mary
$500 per Semester Scholarship
Honors Only Member Events (forums, panel discussions, conferences, & trips)
Access to Honors Faculty Mentor and 1-1 Advising
Access to Honors-to-Honors Transfer Agreements (see below “Transfer Agreements with Four-Year Institutions”)
Access to Honors faculty advisor

Honors Presents

Honors students will choose their topic for presentation in advance and a designated date will be chosen for the presentation. Students are encouraged to choose a topic of philosophical, moral, ethical and /or political importance.

Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society

Regardless of Honors Program participation, students earning at least a 3.5 GPA after completing credit hour requirements (at least 12 credit hours if pursuing an Associate’s degree, completion of 6 credit hours if completing a Certificate) will be invited to join Phi Theta Kappa (PTK). The purpose of PTK is to recognize and encourage scholarship among two-year college students. To achieve this purpose, PTK provides opportunity for the development of leadership and service, an intellectual climate for exchange of ideas and ideals, lively fellowship for scholars, and stimulation of interest in continuing academic excellence.

Phi Theta Kappa’s mission is two-fold:

Recognize and encourage the academic achievement of two-year college students
Provide opportunities for individual growth and development through participation in honors, leadership, service, and fellowship programming

Students are notified of their eligibility to join PTK each year by the end of February.

Enrollment

To be accepted into the Honors Program, first-year students must first have been accepted to Richard Bland College and confirm their enrollment at RBC.

Confirmed students with at least a 3.50 high school GPA or 3.25 college GPA will be automatically accepted into the Honors Program. Once students have received communication regarding their acceptance into the Honors Program, students will have the opportunity to confirm their enrollment into the Honors Program or opt-out.

Current RBC students may contact their Learner Mentor or honors@rbc.edu for acceptance into the Honors Program.

Honors Program Scholarship

Honors Program scholarships are awarded to a limited number of students on a first-come, first-serve basis. Students with a high school GPA of 3.5 or higher who have confirmed their enrollment at Richard Bland College will receive communication regarding their automatic acceptance into the Honors Program. Once the student has confirmed their enrollment into the Honors Program, they will be placed into the queue for an Honors scholarship.

Scholarship details:
- Eligible degree seeking, full-time (15 credit hours or more) Honors students shall receive a $500 scholarship per semester awarded by RBC financial aid.
- Scholarships will be given first-come, first-serve, based on student confirmation of Honors Program enrollment.
- If the student’s GPA falls below the required 3.25 RBC GPA, the student shall have one semester to return to 3.25. If the student fails to do so, the scholarship will be revoked.
- If the student fails to enroll in subsequent semesters at RBC, there is no guarantee of scholarship continuance.