Bucks is starting an Honors @ Bucks program coordinated by Dr. Stephen DoCarmo, which will allow students to earn their Associates degree with Honors.

DoCarmo acts as the coordinator for this program, meaning that he captains the team who sets its policies, orients new faculty getting ready to teach in the program, recruits qualified students, and serves as an advisor for students who have joined the program.

There are different qualifications for this program depending on whether you are a current Bucks student or a transferring student from high school or another college. For instance, if a student is coming to Bucks from high school, they need to have carried a 3.25 or higher GPA in high school. They also need to have reached college-course-ready scores on their Bucks placement tests. This would mean they have received a “6” on the writing test, a “7” or better on the math test, and a “3” or better on the reading test.

Current Bucks students can earn their way into the program by having a 3.25 GPA or better on eight or more college credits. They need to have received the same scores that qualify them as college-course-ready on placement exams or have taken classes that give them scores that equal the exams.

Students who wish to be a part of the Honors @ Bucks program must also fill out an application which includes writing a short essay and getting former teachers to write recommendation letters.

“What’s excellent about the honors classes we’ll start running this fall is that they’re small — 18 students,” DoCarmo said. “And they’ll be taught by some of Bucks’ very best and brightest faculty members — people who love teaching and very much want to see excellent Bucks students get to the four-year colleges and universities of their dreams. “

Honors @ Bucks courses focus on research-based scholarship, high-order critical thinking, and experiential learning. “We want our Honors @ Bucks students to be out in the world, learning as much from it as they do from their [professors] or their textbooks,” DoCarmo explained.

The students who complete at least 18 credits worth of honors courses will receive their Associates degree with honors from Bucks when they graduate. Although it may be too late for students who are already so far along in their college career at Bucks to complete the 18 credits of the honors program, they can still complete the honors courses that they can get into and those will show up on their transcripts when transferring.

“Honors @ Bucks is a great way for students to give some serious sparkle to their applications to four-year schools.  And for those looking to get into tough-nut-to-crack schools like U-Penn, Drexel, Dickinson, or Lehigh, sparkle can be all kinds of useful,” DoCarmo said.

The deadline for applying for Honors @ Bucks for the fall semester is the end of July.