Sinclair uses the term "honors" in several different ways.

• A 2.8 cumulative GPA is the minimum needed to take a course for Honors credit. New students entering Sinclair for their first quarter DO NOT need to have a GPA to take a course for Honors.
• A 3.25 cumulative GPA is recommended to enter the Honors Scholars Program.
• A 3.4 cumulative GPA is required to graduate with Honors. You do NOT need to be a member of the Honors Program to graduate with Honors.
• A 3.5 cumulative GPA is required to qualify for the Academic Excellence Scholarships. Students must also be Honors Scholars.
• A 3.5 is also required to enter Phi Theta Kappa, with more than 15 credit hours already passed. You do NOT need be an Honors Scholar or a Phi Theta Kappa member to take honors courses.
• A 3.9 cumulative GPA is required to graduate with High Honors. You do NOT need to be a member of the Honors Program to graduate with High Honors.

Academic Honors classes offer many rewards such as:

• Experience doing undergraduate research
• Opportunity to participate in Service Learning
• Academic challenge and personal enrichment
• Honors designation on transcript
• Qualification for Academic Excellence Scholarships
• Special commendation as an Honors Graduate after completing required courses
• Attendance at regional meetings of Honors students and faculty from other colleges and universities
• Better preparation for entering baccalaureate and advanced programs
• Increased opportunities for financial aid and membership in honor organizations like Phi Theta Kappa
• Eligibility to apply for the Honors Transfer Scholarship at various local schools, including Wright State University and the University of Cincinnati

Courses ending in H1 are for Honors students only and usually require permission to even register for the class. This can be granted at 10-339 or the department offering the course. All other classes are hybrid honors classes (you take the class for Honors while other students are taking it normally) and involve the Honors student to perform extra work above and beyond the normal course requirements. Students must:

• have received permission from the course instructor. Instructor permission is an absolute requirement for participation in Honors courses.
• sign a "Honors Course Registration Eligibility" form at the Honors Program office in 10-339 or the remote campus front desk. This must be completed by the 7th day of the quarter.

Sinclair students may enroll in individual Honors courses whether or not they plan to become Honors Scholars. To receive Honors credit, a student must earn a minimum of "B" in the course.

Honors Scholars Program
Students may apply to become Honors Scholars. Upon acceptance, scholars undertake to complete five honors experiences while maintaining an overall 3.25 GPA. Three of the five honors courses must be in different disciplines and one course must be Interdisciplinary Honors. In addition to other financial aid and scholarships, Honors Scholars may apply for up to six Honors Program Scholarships on a per-quarter basis during their time in the program. Honors Scholars are required to fulfill a Service Learning requirement before completing the program. Read the Honors Student Handbook for details. Students must:

• demonstrate academic excellence, most commonly by achieving a GPA of 3.25;
• submit an application form, which includes recommendations from two faculty;
• have an interview with the Honors Program Director and a member of the Honors Advisory Board;
• commit to taking at least five courses for Honors credit during their time at Sinclair;
• commit to participating in 3 Honors Experiences and one Service Learning / Community Service project.

We do NOT look at high school performance at all for consideration to join the Honors Program. Students have to have two letters of recommendation, and we do allow high school faculty recommendations of incoming students, but you can enter the Honors Program based solely on your performance at Sinclair, and it has been my observed experience that the majority of our Honors students do just that. I have actually had Honors students tell me that they had been told in high school that they were "not Honors material".

No. Students may be full-time, part-time, distance-learning main campus, and/or at the remote campuses. There are no preconditions to taking courses for Honors except the proper GPA and a willingness to excel!

Honors courses are available in many disciplines. One Honors course must be interdisciplinary in nature, which means that it must draw from more than one discipline. Humanities courses by default are multidisciplinary. Classes that are cross-listed are also multidisciplinary by default.

Once a student signs the Registration Eligibility Form to add the Honors component to a class and earns an "A" or "B" in the class, the Honors designation is applied to the official transcript. Students will need to purchase an official transcript from the Registrar to see that the Honors courses completed. In case there is a believed discrepancy, the student should contact the Honors Program Office as soon as possible.

Sinclair students whose quarterly GPAs exceed 3.4 in a quarter when they have taken 6 or more credit hours and with no grades below “C” achieve Deans' List status. Deans' List status is granted every quarter.

Academic Excellence Scholarships are awarded for academic excellence (shocking!) and these are the requirements:

• You must be an Honors Scholar.
• You must have a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher.
• You must have a FAFSA on file with financial aid if it is possible for you to have one on file. PSEO students (students taking college courses while still in high school) and international students are unable to complete FAFSAs, so they are exempt from this requirement.
• You must be enrolled in at least 6 credit hours. The award is pro-rated for a 12-hour credit load, so someone receiving the maximum award ($400) would only receive $200 if they were enrolled for 6 hours and $300 if enrolled for 9.
• You may only receive 6 awards in all, although the quarters in which you receive the award do not have to be consecutive.