The Sandspur

Issue date: 10/16/06 Section: News

Media Credit: Courtesy of MCT Campus FAU is soon to expand their honors program by becoming more like Rollins.

Currently at Rollins, incoming first year students are invited to be members of our prestigious Honors Program if they show they are exceptional and well-rounded individuals. Once in the program, they live together, attend special seminars together, and they continually work toward their goal of an Honors Bachelor of Arts Degree.

According to the Rollins Admissions page, "A central feature of the Honors Degree Program is the community of learners that develops through shared experiences, collaborative projects, and lively seminar discussions."

Acknowledging the importance of a well-developed Honors Program, Florida Atlantic University, located in Boca Raton, is currently expanding their program in order to attract a different crowd to their campus. Like Rollins, they are beginning to develop residence halls specifically for Honors students, and programs geared toward their special needs in order to create more of a community within their program.

According to a press release, "FAU struggles with the reputation of being strictly a commuter school, and trustees have made it a goal to remodel the Boca Raton campus to make it a 'first choice' destination school."

By remodeling their honors program, FAU hopes to follow in the footsteps of prestigious liberal arts colleges such as Rollins.

Currently, the FAU Honors Program is an open application program, unlike the invitation only program at Rollins. Their admissions page states: "Admission is competitive with minimum requirements of 1250 SAT (28 ACT) and a grade point average of 3.5 on a 4.0 scale. Other factors considered are letters of recommendation and a personal statement. Students who do not meet these minimum requirements but feel they have the potential to successfully complete the University Scholars Program may apply."

With the expansion of the Honors Program, they will be able to offer many more subjects than before, according to a press release. "FAU's honors students can earn Bachelor of Arts degree in Liberal Arts and Sciences with concentrations in subjects such as math, history, biology, and English. By expanding the honors program to Boca Raton…degree options could be increased."

The "plan is aimed at luring high-performing students to Boca Raton who may have previously attended honors programs at established traditional schools," comments the press release. Now, incoming first years will have more programs to choose from in the state and Rollins will have more competition and incentive to continue updating and improving our prestigious honors program.

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