The purpose of Honors at West Shore Community College is to provide students of exceptional ability and motivation with the opportunity to pursue creative and independent projects while working closely with individual faculty members.

You can earn Honors Credit for any course, except developmental classes, that you take at WSCC by completing an Honors Project in that class. Simply ask your instructor if they are interested in working on an Honors Project with you. Honors Projects are not limited to traditional research papers. Instead, they may include any creative project or service learning activity, relevant to the discipline of the course you’re taking, that involves extra work beyond the regular coursework.  Once you decide upon an appropriate Honors Project you will need to complete an Honors Contract with your instructor. This contract stipulates the terms that you and your instructor mutually agree upon for the Honors Project: the nature, scope and method of evaluation for your project.

Honors Contracts may be terminated at any time and doing so does not affect in any way the grade you earn for the course. Upon successful completion of the course and your Honors Project, an “H” (signifying “Honors Credit”) will appear next to the course on your permanent academic transcript. Upon successful completion of the course and the Honors Project, an “H” (signifying “Honors Credit”) will appear next to the course on your permanent academic transcript.  Students who earn 15 credit hours of Honors Credit, or 12 credit hours and an Honors Thesis, towards completing one of WSCC’s Associate degrees and who maintain a GPA of at least 3.5 will graduate as an Honors Program Graduate. This distinction will also be noted on your transcript and you will receive special recognition during commencement.