The Honors Program was founded at Northern Virginia Community College over a decade ago. Its original purpose was--and continues to be--to provide motivated students with an enriched program of study. In an honors course, students can expect to explore topics to a depth that would not normally  be available to them in the standard college course. In addition, honors students are encouraged to think independently and to challenge all ideas, whether those ideas appear in print, visual or audio media, or are expressed in the classroom by their professors or peers. The point of honors is to encourage students to think deeply and critically about every facet of their education.

Along with this independent spirit of inquiry, the honors program will allow students to study with like-minded peers who are highly motivated and whose presence in the classroom will encourage provocative discussions. From this stimulating environment, a spirit of camaraderie often emerges in an honors classroom. As one honors student recently said, "And don't forget to tell them that it's a lot of fun."

In addition to the inherent rewards of the honors experience, honors students will have special designations appear on their transcripts--each honors course is indicated by an "H" on students' transcripts--and such a designation will alert four-year colleges and universities that honors students have taken the more rigorous, challenging path toward graduation. In addition, their accomplishments will announce to potential employers that honors students are more likely to perform competitively in the jobs for which they are applying.

For instructors who allow their motivated students to consider this option, please click here.

To qualify for the Honors Program, a student should meet at least one of the following criteria:  (1) achieve a 92% and 94% respectively on the reading and writing sections of the English Placement Examination; (2) be graduated in the top 10% of his or her high school class; (3) score 1100 on the SAT (4) earn a 3.5 grade point average at NVCC; (5) receive recommendations from two professors at NVCC; (6) establish that as a non-traditional student he or she has had life experiences or special aptitudes or interests that indicate potential for success in honors courses.

In addition to the above, a student may be asked to present other materials--such as transcripts from previous schools and a writing sample--to support the application process.
 

To apply for the Honors Program, a student should pick up an honors application from one of the following persons:  Pat Lunt, the Humanities Counselor; Jon Burton, the Chairman of the English Department; or Robert Brunner, the Coordinator of the Honors Program.  These persons may be found in Room 252 of the Bisdorf Building.  After the student completes and submits the application, he or she will be interviewed by one of the persons mentioned above.  The interviewer will, in turn, contact the student about the results of his or her application process.

If it is more convenient for you not to come to campus, click here to download an application for the Honors Program.

Go to the college home page. Go to Robert Brunner's home page.

If you have questions, e-mail Robert Brunner, Coordinator of the Honors Program at the Alexandria Campus:  rbrunner@nvcc.edu.