Admission Guidelines for the Honors Scholar Program

We use a holistic approach to identify and evaluate talented candidates so as not to exclude late-bloomers, non-traditional students, or students who may have met with substantial obstacles which prevented them from developing their full potential prior to their application to the College. This program is best suited for students seeking an AA degree who have not taken more than 30 credit hours. We accept applications twice a year, March 1st and July 1st. Students who are interested in simply taking one Honors class can contact the director of Honors for information regarding affiliate applications.

Benefits include:

  1. Participation in a community of highly motivated, intellectually curious students and faculty who are committed to free inquiry, civilized debate, cultural creation, and community service.
  2. Funding to participate in state, regional, and national conferences.
  3. Access to the Honors capstone class in which students are paired with a faculty mentor to complete a directed individual research project. Students have access to funding to acquire materials or attend workshops and conferences related to their capstone research
  4. Funding and academic guidance to support creative initiatives.
  5. Access to Honors seminars which emphasize hands-on, project-based, experiential learning.
  6. Smaller class sizes which facilitate personalized instruction from talented faculty and foster mentoring relationships.
  7. Access to a wide range of field trips and extracurricular events.
  8. Automatic admission into the Honors Colleges at USF, FGCU and to New College if you complete the certificate with a 3.5 overall GPA.

Graduating High School Students

In-coming Freshman should fill out the FSW scholarship application online. This scholarship is available to international students and non Florida residents as well. That application should link you to the Honors application found here, on our homepage. If it does not lead you to that link, you can still fill out the application here by clicking on the “Apply Now” button.

Dual-enrolled High School Students

  • DE students are encouraged to apply after they have completed at least one semester of college coursework. If you have not taken any college courses and you believe you will thrive in the program, please contact the Director, Dr. Wendy Chase (wendy.chase@fsw.edu) to discuss.
  • DE students who have already completed college coursework must have received a B or higher in these classes. Those who are in the process of completing their first semester and do not have a record of their college GPA on file might should contact Dr. Wendy Chase (wendy.chase@fsw.edu or 239-489-9470) for details.
  • In addition to completing the application, DE students need two letters of recommendation. At least one letter of recommendation must be from college faculty and the second letter can come from high school faculty, a counselor, or an administrator.
  • Participation in extracurricular activities
  • Approval by the Director

Current FSW Students

  • GPA of 3.2 on 12 hours of College coursework exclusive of College Prep courses
  • Two faculty recommendations
  • Approval by the Director

Transfer Students

  • GPA of 3.2 on 12 hours of College coursework exclusive of College prep courses
  • Two faculty recommendations
  • Approval by the Director