The benefits are many, but there are at least three major ones.

First, graduating from any honors program (especially one from a well-respected university) carries a certain prestige and status that can be valuable in obtaining employment or in gaining admission to graduate schools. To complete such a program is a substantial accomplishment, which is why graduates of the honors program are recognized in a special honors convocation at the end of the year, wear special cords to their graduation ceremony, have their names distinctively marked on the graduation program, and have notations put on both their diplomas and their academic transcripts.

Second, even if some graduating scholars never need their honors status to help them get a job or get into graduate school, they can still be assured that their honors experience was worthwhile, because it helped them get the most out of their education. Honors students have the ability to function at a very high level, and honors courses are designed to enable them to do so, to "use 100% of their brains" as much as possible. Students of exceptional ability sometimes find the average classroom slow and plodding, but honors courses are never sluggish and never boring. One honors faculty member likened his honors students to a Porsche. With that much power under the hood, he said, it would be a shame to drive always at 55 mph. Honors courses provide a challenge. By challenging students, they force them to expand their horizons and develop their minds. As a result, honors education produces graduates who are smarter and more capable.

Finally, honors education is beneficial--our graduates say--because of the friends and contacts they make along the way. Not only do honors students form close friendships with their fellow honors students through classes and the various social activities of the program, but they also develop closer bonds with their honors teachers, because of the small class size in honors courses and intense character of honors education. When college seniors start looking for letters of recommendation for jobs or graduate schools, they are sometimes unsure whether a given professor knows them well enough to do so, or would be willing to provide this service for them. Honors students never have this problem. They always have a long list of professors who know them extremely well and would be willing to assist them in any way possible.

The most important qualifications for success in the Aquinas Scholars Honors program are intellectual curiosity, openness to new ideas, eagerness and ability to participate actively in class discussions, strong self-motivation, and commitment to both active and collaborative learning.

Admission decisions are made jointly by the faculty director of the program and a student admissions committee. For high school seniors, three factors are considered: standardized test scores, high school g.p.a., and the written essay. The guidelines suggest that candidates for admission should have a composite ACT score of 28 or higher (or SAT score of 1200 or higher), high school g.p.a. of 3.8 or higher, and a high-quality written essay.

For current UST students or transfers from other colleges, there are two factors: college g.p.a. and the written essay. The guidelines suggest that candidates for admission should have a college g.p.a. above 3.5 and a high-quality written essay.

Honors courses are not harder than other courses, as long as students have the natural ability needed to "keep up." In honors sections faculty are encouraged to teach the same curriculum as in their "regular" sections, but to cover the basics more quickly and to move on to a more in-depth examination of topics that the extra time allows, to give students more responsibility for things like choosing discussion topics, and to allow students greater freedom and creativity in their work. Honors courses are not graded on a curve, so that the same quality work that would have produced a grade of "A" in a regular section is given a grade of "B" or "C" in an honors section. Faculty make sure not to "penalize" students for being in the honors program.

Honors faculty are not required to have the same "average grade" in their honors sections as in their regular sections. Indeed, the average grade in honors sections is typically much higher than in regular sections, precisely because the best and hardest-working students tend to be in the honors classes. So incoming students should not fear a "g.p.a. penalty" for being in the honors program. This simply doesn't happen.

The honors program absolutely encourages accepted students to begin taking honors courses right away, and to take as many as possible. A good rule of thumb for the first semester is at least one honors section, and two if possible. Because honors sections are not more difficult than regular sections, there is no need to "ease" into them.