College of Charleston Honors College Expands Access to Success

The College of Charleston Honors College is expanding its reach to support a greater number of highly motivated students.

The newly reimagined Honors College will provide additional students with access to excellence while elevating the program to greater national prominence. The new structure offers students two concurrent pathways within the Honors College.

The longstanding Honors College experience is being elevated into a pathway called the University Honors Program. This pathway targets students who wish to challenge themselves and further enhance their college experience by taking full advantage of all the resources and opportunities the Honors College has to offer.

The General Honors College pathway expands on the ARCH Scholars, a pilot program launched in 2024. The new pathway spans all four years and allows students to experience the core benefits of the Honors College with a more flexible set of requirements.

The Honors College is consistently ranked as one of the top Honors Colleges in the nation for its ability to offer students personalized mentorship, honors coursework and experiential learning designed to create an environment that fosters critical thinking and problem solving.

All students participating in the newly restructured Honors College will benefit from priority first-year housing in the Honors Living-Learning Center, priority class registration for all four years and access to community events and Honors activities.

Those in the University Honors Program will also benefit from a dedicated four-year Honors adviser, unique classes, specialized programs, summer funding opportunities and participation in a yearlong service-learning project called Honors Engaged.

“Not only does the Honors College bring national prominence to the College of Charleston with students frequently receiving nationally competitive awards, but it also increases the university’s graduation rate, improves the retention rate and adds to academic distinction,” says Suzanne Austin, executive vice president and provost of the College of Charleston. 

More than 100 students currently in the ARCH Scholars Program have indicated they would like to transition into the new General Honors College pathway.

Michael Martin, a computer information systems major and member of the ARCH pilot program, is excited to continue his educational experience with the Honors College.

“As a commuter student, the Honors College has been one of the main ways I have found community on campus,” says Martin. “Honors has already connected me to people and opportunities I wouldn’t have found otherwise, and I look forward to being part of what comes next.”

The new pathway structure begins in the fall 2026 semester. Incoming students will be invited to enroll in the General Honors College pathway, while those interested in applying to the University Honors Program will continue to do so through a holistic application review process. University Honors Program applicants will also be considered for membership in the Charleston Fellows Program, the top scholars program at the College of Charleston.

“We are excited to welcome more students into our close-knit community,” says Beth Meyer-Bernstein, dean of the Honors College. “This new structure will allow us to offer them a personalized approach to their education that will ensure their future success.”