HCC Honors College
The Honors College at Houston Community College is a place where talented students like you study together with inspiring faculty members as part of an exciting learning community. Your courses will be interdisciplinary and built around themes that will challenge you intellectually. And since your classes will be small and highly interactive, you will get to know your fellow students and professors in a more in-depth learning environment.
In addition to your honors classes, you will meet with other Honors College students in a weekly seminar to develop and enhance your leadership skills. Not only are we committed to helping you earn your academic degree in two years and transfer to a four-year university, but we also are committed to helping you reach your full academic potential in a structured learning environment.
What is Honors College
The Honors College is a place where a specific enriched learning experience is provided to goal-oriented, academically gifted students. The Honors College offers a rigorous curriculum that is a challenging array of courses and seminars. Leadership opportunities, internships, study travel tours and service learning activities further enhance intellectual and personal growth. Honors courses will generally be small and seminar-based.
The purpose of the Honors College is to provide courses that show students how knowledge in the field is acquired, developed, evaluated, argued, tested and applied. Assignments stress theory, analysis and synthesis. Original research, whether in the library, field, laboratory or on the Internet is required, along with a culminating project that is publicly shared and critiqued. Honors courses use active and collaborative learning. Students conduct interviews, keep journals, write term papers, work on advanced problem sets and produce creative solutions to complex problems. Successful Honors College students are prepared to transfer to many of the most prestigious colleges and universities in the state and the nation.
Who is Eligible
To be considered for admission in the Honors College, applicants must meet established criteria and submit proof of the following:
- A 3.70 GPA and college-level placement on the COMPASS or a combined SAT score of 1200 (math, critical reading) or a composite ACT score of 26
- An essay on an assigned topic (see application)
- Three letters of recommendation, one each from a counselor, teacher and a community leader and supervisor
- Official high school transcripts
An oral interview will be conducted upon meeting all requirements.
Honors Advantage
Students in the Honors College are part of a small, selective learning community. They enjoy special privileges that include:
- Small, interactive classes with highly qualified professors committed to students
Campus leadership roles - Special access to cutting-edge science, language and computer laboratories
- Individual attention and opportunities to collaborate with professors and peers
- University transfer advisement resulting in the opportunity to graduate from prestigious universities
- Internships and service learning activities related to the student’s field of study
- Study-travel opportunities
- Personalized and seamless registration
- Individualized counseling for educational and career planning
- Development of a capstone project that may result in research for a presentation or publication
- Special notation of Honors College degree on transcript and diploma
- Recognition as an Honors College graduate at commencement
Applications/Deadlines
Download Application (PDF)
- Priority Admissions Deadline—March 1.
- Regular Admissions Deadline—May 1, or until the freshman class fills.
Please note that beyond the May 1st deadline, the Honors College will continue to accept applications and conduct interviews until all twenty-five new student slots are filled and, thereafter, only as alternates on a waiting list.
Travel Abroad Possibilities
The Honors College is pleased to offer travel abroad possibilities to all of its students, provided they are able to travel outside the United States. In a shrinking world of global markets and instantaneous news, the importance of understanding the world outside of Houston, Texas, has become increasingly important. Travel abroad provides one of the very best ways to jump start that understanding. The Honors College is pleased to be one of the few institutions in the country to be able to provide such a dynamic opportunity.
To review our most recent travel opportunity, see our video blog on YouTube.
Contacts
- Dr. Cheryl Peters
Academic Dean
Houston Community College-Central
1300 Holman, room 114 SJAC
Houston, Texas 77004
- David Wilcox, Chair
The Honors College
713-718-6336
To inquire about the application deadline or for more information, call 713.718.6000.
Honors Application
Transfer Colleges and Universities
Here are the universities to which our students have successfully transferred upon graduation:
- American University
- Arizona State University
- Columbia University (4 students)
- Houston Baptist University
- M.D. Anderson Health Science Center
- Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences
- Rice University
- St. Mary’s University
- Stephen F. Austin University
- Texas Tech University (2 students)
- University of Houston
- University of Houston-Honors College
- University of Pennsylvania
- University of St. Thomas
- University of Southern California
- University of Texas-Austin
- University of Texas-Dallas
- University of Texas School of Nursing
