Honors
About Our Program
The Honors Program at SBCC now accepts student applications year round. You can find the application above in the menu + or below under Eligibility and Application. Applications received from December 16 to January 16 will be reviewed beginning January 17, 2023.
Our tag line for Honors is Expect More. Be More. And we try to live up to that. We offer a robust program of courses, which we continually update, group activities to help us bond and to provide community (beach days, whale watching and museum going), as well as intellectual events, such as hosting the All-SBCC Student Conference Honors each April, along with various debates in the fall.
Because we think of Honors students as change agents on campus, and from there, we hope, the world, we encourage first year students to be part of our mentorship program, PODS, lead by second year students. When students are accepted into the Program, we send more information about PODS. Students completing PODS for a semester are eligible for book grants.
Honors seeks to meet students where they are. Our goal is inclusion, and the more students from the more places with the more varied backgrounds, the better. We reject any premise that Honors students are "born." Honors students make themselves, when they decide they want more from their education. Honors classes are exciting: they challenge students individually and collectively to get more from their education.
Honors offers students a chance to pursue a certain theme throughout the year. The theme is chosen by students in English 292H each spring, 2022-2023 Theme: Community, Citizenship, and Stewardship. This topic weaves through all the Honors classes students will take across the year, with each course proposing its own take on the topic. In this way, Honors courses contribute breadth to students' majors in both humanities and sciences; they show connections and interrelationships between disciplines, and they satisfy SBCC General Education for the Associate in Arts or Science Degree.
Combined with the excellence of SBCC's academic majors, the Honors Program curriculum provides the strongest preparation for transfer to public and private universities and colleges, and all 3-4 unit Honors Program courses are designed to meet General Education, IGETC and college requirements.
Honors Program graduates have gone on to be District Attorneys in Los Angeles, have won cancer research prizes at UCSF, and have received a variety of impressive scholarships, including renewable scholarships at UCLA, and most recently an NSF grant that funds the student's entire Ph.D. research program.
Faculty
The Honors Program faculty develops, coordinates and teaches the Honors curriculum. Students interested in the Honors Program may contact:
Interim Co-Directors: David Elliott and Wendy Peters (peters@sbcc.edu)
Michael Albright, Film and Media Studies
Marc Bobro, Philosophy
Melanie Eckford-Prossor, English
Phyllisa Eisentraut, Anthropology
David Elliott, History
Jamie Griggs, Academic Counseling
Chris Kramer, Philosophy
Joy Kunz, Art
Ruth Morales, Economics
Donte Newman, Communication
Wendy Peters, Academic Counseling
Danielle Swiontek, History
Elizabeth Imhof, Dean
Eligibility and Application
The Honors Program requires a 3.2 unweighted GPA at high school graduation, with no grade lower than a "C" in an academic subject.
Continuing, returning and transfer students who have completed 12 units of academic course work may apply for admission into the Honors Program based on college units completed. A minimum overall college grade point average of 3.2 is required, with no grade lower than a "C" in an academic subject.
We require a writing sample, which should be any paper you have written over the year that you think reflects you as a thinker. It can come from any course and should be over two pages. We want to see you arguing a thesis, so please no personal narratives or application essays.
You must have an SBCC ID number (K#) in order to apply at the link above (menu +). Admission is based on your transcripts (GPA) and a writing sample. There is no application deadline for the Honors Program, but in order for you to have time to register in classes, we recommend that you apply at least two weeks before the semester begins.
Please note that Honors asks for transcripts from all students except those continuing at SBCC with at least 12 units completed, because we do not have access to high school or college transcripts sent to the Admissions Office.
Some students entering from high school will have satisfied the SBCC ENG 110 requirement by earning a 3 or above on the Advanced Placement English Language or Literature exam or by completing SBCC ENG 110 in high school. If this is you - enroll ENG111H your first semester at SBCC.
Honors Scholarships
The Foundation for Santa Barbara City College provides a generous array of scholarships donated by individuals and businesses. These scholarships are broadly available to qualified incoming freshmen applying to the Honors Program and to all continuing students participating in the Honors Program. Recipients of Honors scholarships are required to remain in the Honors Program, in good standing, for the duration of their course of study at SBCC. For further information about scholarships available to Honors students and requirements, contact the Honors Program Director and/or the Financial Aid Office.
Outstanding Honors Program Student
The Honors Program Committee selects one student each year from within the Honors Program to receive the "Outstanding Honors Student" award. Selection is based primarily on the student's academic excellence and may also consider service to the Honors Program, to the college, or to the larger community. No application is required. The recipient will be honored at the Awards Banquet held by the college in the spring of each year. Currently, there is a $2000 scholarship that accompanies this award.
Honors Society: Phi Theta Kappa
Phi Theta Kappa is the international honor society for two-year colleges. Santa Barbara City College’s chapter of Phi Theta Kappa is Beta Gamma Upsilon. Although not tied to the Honors Program, membership in Phi Theta Kappa and in the Honors Program complement each other perfectly. Students are required to have completed 12 units at SBCC and have a GPA of 3.5 to be considered for membership.
The benefits of membership include nationwide recognition of scholarly excellence, scholarships, access to prestigious universities, special graduation certificates and transcript notations, leadership opportunities as chapter officers, and fellowship and service opportunities at SBCC and in the community. For more details on how to apply, contact the campus advisor, Phyllisa Eisentraut. (eisentraut@sbcc.edu)