About Our Program

The Honors Program at SBCC accepts applications on a rolling basis. We are currently reviewing applications from continuing college students and mid year high school grads for spring 2025. If your application was submitted by December 13, you will be notified of the decision before the New Year. Applications received between December 14-January 24 will be reviewed the week before the semester begins. You can find the application above in the menu + or below under Eligibility and Application.

Honors seeks to meet students where they are. Our goal is inclusion; the more students from more places with more varied backgrounds, the better. We reject any premise that Honors students are "born." Honors students make themselves, when they decide they want more from their education. Honors classes are exciting: they challenge students individually and collectively to get more from their education.

Honors offers students a chance to pursue a student chosen theme throughout the year. This year the theme is "The Unknown: Exploring the Edges of Knowledge". Past themes include; Ethics and Inclusivity (23-24); Community, Citizenship, and Stewardship (22-23). The topic weaves through all the Honors classes students will take throughout the year, with each course proposing its own take on the topic. In this way, Honors courses contribute breadth to students' majors in both humanities and sciences; they show connections and interrelationships between disciplines. Combined with the excellence of SBCC's academic majors, the Honors Program curriculum provides the strongest preparation for transfer to public and private universities and colleges, and all 3-4 unit Honors Program courses are designed to meet General Education, IGETC and college requirements.

Because we think of Honors students as change agents on campus, and from there, we hope, the world, we encourage first year students to be part of our mentorship program, PODS, led by second year students. When students are accepted into the Program, we send more information about PODS. Students completing PODS for a semester are eligible for book grants.

Honors Program graduates have gone on to be District Attorneys in Los Angeles, have won cancer research prizes at UCSF, and have received a variety of impressive scholarships, including a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant that funded the student's entire Ph.D. research program.

Faculty

The Honors Program faculty develops, coordinates and teaches the Honors curriculum. Students interested in the Honors Program may contact: Program Director: Marc Bobro, Philosophy (Bobro@sbcc.edu)

Honors Advisory Committee

Michael Albright, Film and Media Studies

Phyllisa Eisentraut, Anthropology

David Elliott, History

Jamie Griggs, Academic Counseling

Chris Kramer, Philosophy

Joy Kunz, Art History

Donte Newman, Communication

Wendy Peters, Academic Counseling

Yonatan Libman and JT Kelleher, Student Co-Presidents

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Christopher Brown, English

Vandana Gavaskar, English

Erika Martinez, Economics

Jordan Molina, English

Matthew Mooney, History

Leida Tolentino, Psychology

Alethea Tyner, History

Jatila Van Der Veen, Earth Science

Cynthia Walker, English

Elizabeth Imhof, Dean

Eligibility and Application

In late October 2024 we will begin reviewing applications for Spring 2025. You can find the application above in the menu + or below under Eligibility and Application. Please allow two weeks for us to process your completed application.

The Honors Program requires a 3.2 unweighted GPA at high school graduation, with no grade lower than a "C" in an academic subject.

College transfer or continuing or returning SBCC students with at least 12 units of academic college coursework must have a GPA of 3.2 with no grade below a “C” in an academic subject OR may be admitted on the basis of high school transcripts.

We require a writing sample, which should be any paper you have written over the year that you think reflects you as a thinker. It can come from any academic course and should be over two pages. We want to see you arguing a thesis, so please no personal narratives or college application essays.

You must have an SBCC ID number (K#) in order to apply. Admission is based on your transcripts (GPA) and a writing sample. There is no application deadline for the Honors Program, but in order for you to have time to register in classes, we recommend that you apply at least two weeks before the semester begins.

Please note that Honors asks for transcripts from all students except those continuing at SBCC with at least 12 units completed. We do not have access to high school or college transcripts that were sent to the Admissions & Records Office.

Some students entering after high school graduation will have satisfied the SBCC ENG 110 requirement by earning a 3 or above on the Advanced Placement English Language or Literature exam, or by completing SBCC ENG 110 in high school. They should enroll in ENG 111H the first (or second) semester at SBCC.

Honors Scholarships

The Foundation for Santa Barbara City College provides a generous array of scholarships donated by individuals and businesses. These scholarships are broadly available to qualified incoming freshmen applying to the Honors Program and to all continuing students participating in the Honors Program. Recipients of Honors scholarships are required to remain in the Honors Program, in good standing, for the duration of their course of study at SBCC. For further information about scholarships available to Honors students and requirements, contact the Honors Program Director and/or the Financial Aid Office.

Outstanding Honors Program Student

The Honors Program Committee selects one student each year from within the Honors Program to receive the "Outstanding Honors Student" award. Selection is based primarily on the student's academic excellence and may also consider service to the Honors Program, to the college, or to the larger community. No application is required. The recipient will be honored at the Awards Banquet held by the college in the spring of each year. Currently, there is a $2000 scholarship that accompanies this award.