Honors Program

Students of exceptional academic ability are encouraged to participate in the College Honors Program, where they will have opportunities for learning on a level equal to their ability and intellectual curiosity. This program fosters depth and breadth of scholarship, as well as seriousness about independent learning.

Many Honors students will begin work in their first semester, when they are selected from the top entering students and invited to enroll in Honors courses. After the first semester, Honors students are selected on the basis of their outstanding academic achievement while at Peace. Students who are on the Dean’s List with Distinction can be invited into the Honors Program. Honors students will be given priority registration and other enrichment opportunities to ensure that they have the maximum experience in their time at Peace.

Honors students belong to a cohesive scholarly group. In most cases, they study together in three or more courses in both semesters of the first year, solidifying a strong bond with each other and a sense of their place within the College community.

Student Amanda Cross has enjoyed her experience in the program: "The Honors program has provided me with numerous challenges and opportunities. I have admired and looked up to, interacted with, and built a rapport with some truly amazing individuals because I am a part of this program."

Honors students understand the College’s special vision of them as well as the unusual opportunity offered to them from the very first moments of their campus lives. Membership in this group develops in these students a sense of their potential for leadership in the classroom and on the campus.

 

International Studies

Peace College supports and encourages students to make inernational travel a part of their education plan because we recognize the value travel and study in a different culture offers.

Regina Schantz, a senior from Matthews, N.C. who is spending Spring 2006 in Ecuador, says her trip to Yucatan, Mexico, last summer with a group from Peace College was surprisingly rewarding.

"I loved being able to communicate with the people in Merida and find out ways that their life is so much different from my own," Regina says. "I adored the people in the Yucatan, all throughout our trip. It was truly rewarding to be able to communicate with people using a language different from my own and having them do the same when they would speak in English."

Every summer Peace faculty members offer a variety of international study programs. Students participate in these programs or approved programs offered by other colleges or institutions.

We also encourage students to study abroad for a semester during their college careers. Any off-campus programs, during the summer or for a semester, must be approved by the Student Advancement Committee. The approval process begins with the Coordinator of International Studies, click here for more information.

 

The Ragland Travel Fund
We are fortunate to have a fund, endowed by Mr. and Mrs. W. Trent Ragland, Jr., that helps support the international travel of our students. If you qualify, these Ragland grants can significantly reduce the costs of your participation in approved international programs. Ragland grants are awarded to full-time students with a GPA of 2.6 or higher who will be returning to Peace the semester after the international experience. In addition, Peace graduates with a GPA of 2.6 or higher are eligible for grants the summer after their graduation if they are participating in a Peace led program.

If you decide to study abroad for a semester, you can take all your financial aid with you to help fund that study as long as your proposed study is approved by the Student Advancement Committee.