Financial Support for Honors Students

All Honors College students receive generous financial aid packages from Westminster University as a result of their outstanding performance in high school. Rankings for scholarship money take into account many factors, including performance in high school AP classes and on AP exams. The Honors College does everything in its power to support its students' quest for other forms of monetary support, including funding for various research opportunities and post-graduate scholarships.

Honors Academic Excellence Scholarship

The Honors College awards a $5,000 scholarship awarded annually to up to 4 incoming first-year students who show particular promise and interest in academic excellence, campus leadership and visibility, and the unique learning environment of the Honors College. Your Honors College application will not be affected in any way by whether or not you apply for this scholarship. The deadline to apply for the Honors Academic Excellence Scholarship is Feb. 3, 2025.

You will include the following in your application:

• Required Essay: The Honors College Academic Excellence Scholarship supports students who have the reflective capacity to excel in the unique honors learning environment and be active leaders in the honors community. Demonstrate your understanding of how one can grow as a leader by writing an essay (1–3 pages) that reflects on novelist Toni Morrison’s advice to those who hold influential positions — “If you are free, you need to free somebody else. If you have some power, then your job is to empower somebody else” (2003 Interview) — by discussing a past experience where you’ve witnessed this phenomenon.
• Optional Supplemental Video: In a 1977 speech to the students of Douglass College, poet Adrienne Rich encouraged students to "claim" their education rather than "receive" it. In a video of up to 2 minutes, discuss how you understand the difference between those 2 approaches to education and how you plan to "claim" your education in the Honors College at Westminster University.

Learn More and Apply

The Honors College also offers a limited number of continuing scholarships to students with financial need. This scholarship is renewable for up to 4 years, provided the student maintains good academic standing and satisfactory progress and remains an active member of the Honors College.

Honors Summer Research Awards

The Honors College offers $3,750 awards annually to 2 students engaged in summer research. Honors Summer Research Awards are designed to support Honors students who are conducting high-level research during the summer in lieu of a full-time summer job. The Honors College also defrays costs for students presenting research at conferences.