Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College (SMWC) has announced that it has created a new honors program for the College. Scheduled to launch with the start of the Fall 2009 semester, the honors program will begin accepting applications later this year for the College’s undergraduate campus-based program.

SMWC President David G. Behrs says that the Honors Program was created to attract and challenge high-ability students to achieve the highest standards of academic, professional, and personal excellence.

“The Honors Program at SMWC will offer students an enriched curriculum that will broaden their cultural awareness, deepen their knowledge, enhance their creativity, sharpen their research and writing skills and foster leadership,” Behrs said. “We want to empower students by giving them the skills and knowledge they need to make significant contributions to the global society.”

The College is currently designing a slate of courses for the honors program that will emphasize perspectives that The Woods as a whole embraces, such as studies in creative, expressive, scientific and social/cultural disciplines. 

Prospective campus-based students who apply for the honors program should have a minimum SAT score of 1100 (combined math and critical reading scores) or 24 on the ACT; a high school grade point average of 3.5 or higher; and excellent writing skills. Applicants will also be required to submit a letter of recommendation from one of their high school teachers and complete an essay on a predetermined topic.

Transfer students with a minimum of 15 unit credits and at least a 3.5 commutative GPA will also be considered for admission to the Honors Program, and the Honors Committee will examine transfer students applications on an individual basis using college/university grades in lieu of SAT/ACT scores and high school GPA. Transfer students who are admitted to the Honors Program will be required to complete all of the curricular and co-curricular requirements, except ID 100/105 if it has already been waived.

Troy Brownfield, who has been an assistant professor of journalism at SMWC since 2004, has been named the director of the honors program. He believes the program will be a win-win for the College and for the students enrolled.

“I’m a big believer in the notion that an Honors Program can challenge exceptional students in a meaningful way,” Brownfield said. “These students are seekers. They always want to know and see and experience more, and we want to help them accomplish that.”

Founded in 1840 by Saint Mother Theodore Guerin and the Sisters of Providence, Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College is the oldest Catholic liberal arts college for women in the United States.Today, SMWC thrives by offering a rich liberal arts education, scholarships and financial aid opportunities to make college affordable, individual attention, a value-centered education in a Catholic tradition, and a wide variety of student leadership activities. Both Princeton Review and U.S.News & World Report consistently rank SMWC as one of the Best Baccalaureate Colleges in the Midwest.

The College is committed to making private higher education affordable. Approximately 95% of campus-based undergraduate students at SMWC receive academic or need-based financial aid. In addition, the College has partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to provide Ivy Tech graduates with transfer grants that can be applied towards the cost of tuition for SMWC’s undergraduate degree programs.

SMWC is located on a beautiful 67-acre campus near Terre Haute, Ind., and the College offers campus-based undergraduate degree programs for women and distance undergraduate and graduate programs for women and men.

For more information about the new Honors Program at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College, contact Troy Brownfield at tbrownfield@smwc.edu or 812-535-5140, or the SMWC Office of Admission at smwcadms@smwc.edu, 812-535-5106 or 1-800-926-SMWC.