Honors College Retention Policy

A student must maintain a cumulative GPA of at least a 3.00 overall and a 2.00 in any semester in order to remain in the Williams Honors College. Students who do not meet these requirements are candidates for dismissal, and students that are dismissed from the Honors College lose the rights and privileges associated with the Williams Honors College. Further information is available here.

  • Students that are dismissed during their first two years will be required to follow the General Education requirements.  Students dismissed after the first two years are given an option to remain with the Honors Distribution (less any remaining Honors Colloquia and the Honors Research Project) or follow the General Education requirements.  A comparison of Honors Distribution vs. General Education requirements can be viewed here.
  • Students who raise their grade-point average to a 3.00 or higher are eligible for readmission to the Williams Honors College, although previously awarded Honors Scholarships will not be reinstated.

Honors Grade-Point Average (GPA) Requirements

  • Graduation GPA Requirement: 3.40 commencement GPA
    Note that the commencement GPA is determined after ALL final grades have been reported on the academic record. All graded courses, including repeated and reassessed courses, are including in the calculation of the commencement GPA. Students that do not meet the GPA requirement but complete all other Honors College requirements will still be welcomed at the Williams Honors College Graduation Recognition ceremony.
  • Students must receive a grade of B or higher in their colloquium courses as well as their Honors Research Project to graduate as a Williams Honors Scholar.
  • To remain in Good Standing and to retain the Honors scholarship:
    • Spring of Year 1: 3.25 cumulative GPA
    • Spring of Year 2: 3.30 cumulative GPA
    • Spring of Year 3+: 3.40 cumulative GPA

Note: Only the grade for the most recent attempt at a course will be used in the calculation of the cumulative GPA. These requirements are determined from approximately the 60th percentile of the given class and have been developed to ensure good progress toward the graduation GPA requirement.

GPA is checked only at the end of the Spring semester, and the student is given one probationary year to meet the GPA requirement to remain in Good Standing, provided his/her GPA is 3.00 or greater. Any student whose GPA falls below 3.00 will be dismissed from the Honors College without probation.

Withdrawal From The Williams Honors College

Occasionally students in good academic standing have sound academic or personal reasons to withdraw from the Williams Honors College. Students wishing to do so must petition the college. If approved, upper division students may be given the option to remain with the Honors Distribution or follow the General Education requirements. Lower division students who withdraw must follow the General Education requirements.

Students withdrawing from the Williams Honors College lose the rights and privileges associated with the Williams Honors College including Honors scholarships. Be advised that requests for withdrawal from the Williams Honors College because students do not wish to complete the Honors Research Project will be denied unless an extreme mitigating circumstance can be substantiated.

The resignation form is available here.  Students should return the form to Dr. Wyszynski, and will be expected to meet with him before the request is considered.