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Academics

Honors Program

The Columbia College Honors Program provides an enriching academic experience for outstanding students committed to excellence. The fundamental assumption of honors education is that the honors student should continually challenge her intellectual limits, working creatively and seriously to reach her highest potential as a scholar, reflective learner, individual thinker, and leader.

The Honors Program emphasizes independent learning and spirited exchange of ideas in a stimulating classroom environment which encourages a student to develop her own ideas in a knowledgeable and reasoned framework.

Video: The Honors Experience

 

Chartered in 1985 to recruit, retain, and develop bright, motivated students, the Columbia College Honors Program is one of the fastest growing and most recognized programs on campus. Paramount to the mission of honors teaching and learning are certain key qualities that translate into goals in courses and in programming:

  • Uncompromising academic standards
  • Liberal, interdisciplinary knowledge
  • Willingness to engage in intellectual risk
  • Independent, reflective learning
  • Creativity

Andrea Coker and Taylor Stukes, both of Manning, traveled to Germany with the Honors Program. “Here is a picture of us reading the Clarendon Citizen in front of the Berliner Dom, a magnificent Lutheran Cathedral on Museum Island in Berlin." Andrea Coker and Taylor Stukes, both of Manning, traveled to Germany with the Honors Program. “Here is a picture of us reading the Clarendon Citizen in front of the Berliner Dom, a magnificent Lutheran Cathedral on Museum Island in Berlin." The Honors Program at CC is all about experiencing more inside and outside of your classes. The honors experience at CC can add more than just academic challenge to your undergraduate career. It can include travel to national and regional conferences, recognition for papers and independent projects, and opportunities that are available only to those who call themselves Columbia College Honors Students. 

According to Dr. John Zubizarreta, Director of the CC Honors Program, "Honors is about risk. A student accepts great risk in pushing herself to the highest intellectual levels. Our responsibility is to encourage students' intellectual growth, provide them with valuable experiences, and challenge them to reach higher."