The College of Charleston Honors College has been selected as a high-ranking program by Inside Honors 2020-2021: Ratings and Reviews of 40 Top Public University HonorsPrograms.
A major theme of this year’s edition is how honors colleges at regional public universities can provide the same quality student experiences and outcomes as their honors counterparts at national universities. Inside Honors is a a bi-annual publication that highlights leading honors colleges and programs across the United States.
“The Honors College is proud to be featured in this year’s edition of Inside Honors among highly regarded honors colleges and programs from across the country,” says Elizabeth Meyer-Bernstein, dean of the Honors College at CofC. “Our ratings and review affirm that CofC Honors is on the right track by emphasizing an interdisciplinary curriculum, broad course offerings, small class sizes, access to undergraduate research, and individualized and attentive mentoring and advising.”
Inside Honors made its rankings based on a series of criteria, including:
- The number of honors credits required for graduation
- The number and type of honors classes
- The extent of student participation in junior and senior years
- The size of honors classes
- Honors graduation rates compared to test scores and university freshman retention rates
- Staff-to-students ratio
- Record of prestigious awards
The College of Charleston Honors College was one of only three honors colleges at regional public universities that received 4.5 (out of 5) or higher in both the overall rating and honors factors only rating.
The Inside Honors editor noted that a “very high percentage (67.9%) of CofC Honors College students … completed all honors requirements.” This is compared to the 57.2% average for all programs featured. This strong honors completion rate, even with a 6-credit hour Bachelor’s Essay requirement, is “indicative of excellent mentoring, course advising, and research support, all necessary to sustain a student.”
