Designed for highly motivated students wishing to strengthen their critical thinking skills and engage in intensive research projects, the Honors Program at Saint Anselm College is distinguished by rigorous coursework and opportunities to apply your learning in challenging academic and real-world settings.

The Honors Program enhances the liberal arts curriculum at Saint Anselm College with advanced courses open only to honors students, enhanced coursework within regular classes, independent research projects, thesis development, and close collaboration with faculty advisors and among fellow honor students.

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  • Program Benefits

    Seminars: Honors program classes are usually smaller (about 15 students) and conducted as seminars to allow for more student interaction.

    Community: A variety of social activities, dinner meetings, and cultural events are held each year. The Honors Student Advisory Council provides a forum for student planning and communication, and the Honors Room is a place to congregate, study, and meet with faculty.

    Individual Initiative: Honors students are encouraged to shape their research projects and courses around their interests. The college makes every effort to be flexible in meeting academic needs for scheduling independent study, study abroad, and other special requests.

    Recognition: Graduates who complete the Honors Program are recognized with an Honors Bachelor of Arts or Honors Bachelor of Science in Nursing. Honors degrees are especially valuable for students seeking to continue their education in graduate and professional schools.

  • Program Component

    Honors Conversatio Seminars: Honors students are enrolled in special Conversatio sections during their freshman year. They are only required to take Conversatio I as honors, but it is strongly recommended that they also take Conversatio II as honors.

    Honors Senior Colloquium: Students must take the Honors Senior Colloquium in either their junior or senior year, depending on their schedule. The colloquium revisits and extends upon ideas first raised in Conversatio.

    Honors Courses: In addition to Conversatio I and the Honors Senior Colloquium, students must take at least four (4) other honors courses of their choosing. These courses may be in a student's major, the Core, or electives.

    Advanced Language: Students, except those in nursing, must take one semester of a foreign language/literature at the 300-level.

    Honors Thesis: The honors thesis may be undertaken in the junior or senior year, and it can be interdisciplinary. For students whose majors require a senior thesis, the honors thesis can be an augmented version of the departmental requirement, the guidelines for which are determined by each department. Students in departments that do not require a thesis must still submit a thesis for the Honors Program. The thesis is to be written under the guidance of a faculty advisor from a department appropriate to the area of the thesis topic.

  • Criteria for Admission

    Application: Interested students whose records demonstrate strong academic ability and showcase an enthusiasm to pursue their critical thinking skills and engage in intensive research projects are encouraged to apply. The application for the Honors Program can be found on the Common Application or Saint Anselm Application. Both applications ask students to share why they are interested in the program and what they will contribute to the Honors Program. Applications will be reviewed by Professor Ward Holder, Director of the Honors Program and members of the Honors Program Committee.

    Invitation: Invitations to join the program are sent to students who have officially applied for the program in their admission application. Invitations will be sent by late January for those applying Early Action or Early Decision. Invitations for those applying Regular Decision will be sent by mid-March.

    *While enrolled at Saint Anselm College, students must maintain a G.P.A. of 3.0 or better to remain in the Program and graduate with Honors.

    Admission into the Honors Program is primarily by invitation, but current students demonstrating high academic achievement may also apply. Contact Professor Ward Holder, Director of the Honors Program for more information.