Academic Cohorts

The Pappalardo Honors Program

The Pappalardo Honors Program (formerly Hill Scholars Program) is a selective admission, honors cohort program. This cohort program is made up of honors courses; seminars; and extra-curricular enrichment opportunities. The core of the Pappalardo Honors Program is a group of General Education courses in various disciplines such as English, Communication, Philosophy, and Sociology. Honors students will take one to two designated honors courses and a one-credit honors seminar each term. The remainder of the credits per term will be made up of courses chosen for the individual student’s major. At the end of the two-year program, students will have earned an associate degree as well as the designation of Pappalardo Honors student. Carroll Community College offers many merit-based and need-based institutional scholarships. Students accepted into an honors program at Carroll who complete the FAFSA (if able) and Carroll’s scholarship application process will be guaranteed $750 per semester with a maximum of a $3,000 scholarship award.

Potential Pappalardo Honors students are invited to apply to the program by completing an application and supplying basic educational information. Applicants will be accepted to the program on the basis of grade point average in their college-preparation courses; teacher or school counselor recommendations; an admissions essay; co-curricular involvement including volunteer and work experience; and placement into college-level math and English. See the Pappalardo Honors page on the College website for more information.

The STEM Scholars Program

STEM is an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. The STEM Scholars Program has a selective and competitive admission process. As the four areas under STEM are immensely diverse, this unique cohort model allows the students in the program the flexibility to take appropriate courses for their program of study, yet be linked to study common themes through 0.5-credit courses. The seminars include topics around professional development opportunities, career planning, transfer preparation (visits to both STEM industries and transfer four-year institutions) and an invited speaker series. Seminars will collectively encompass outside the classroom enrichment. Finally, as a requirement of the STEM program, students register for a high-impact, rich, authentic and interdisciplinary undergraduate (2 credit) research course spanning over one year. Carroll Community College offers many merit-based and need-based institutional scholarships. Students accepted into an honors program at Carroll who complete the FAFSA (if able) and Carroll’s scholarship application process will be guaranteed $750 per semester with a maximum of a $3,000 STEM Scholars scholarship award. Graduates of the STEM program will earn an associate degree with the designation of STEM Scholar and will be ready to transfer to four-year institutions.

Please visit the STEM Scholars page for more information. Please note: students must select either the STEM Scholars program or the Pappalardo Honors program.

Carroll Lynx Scholars

The Carroll Lynx Scholars is a selective admission, independent study honors program for all the students at Carroll, but specifically designed with part-time and dual enrollment students in mind. Students will select 12 credit hours of designated honors-contracted courses where they will be embedded in regular course sections with their peers, but they will be tasked with creating a semester-long independent study project with the assistance of a faculty instructor. Students may select the courses in which they wish to complete honors projects and can research topics of interest to them. Carroll Lynx Scholars will present all their honors projects to their class and then go on to present two of their projects at an Honors Symposium. Carroll Lynx Scholars will receive a refund (in-county tuition rate) after earning a grade of B or higher on their final project. Students can earn this scholarship for up to 12 credits. The refund will be applied at the close of the semester.

High school and college students with a cumulative GPA of 3.2 are invited to apply to the program. Admission is on a rolling basis; however, students must apply before the 2^nd week of the semester to be eligible to begin during that current term. Please visit the Carroll Lynx Scholars page on the College website for more information and the link to apply.

Early College Program

The Early College program is available to Carroll County Public School (CCPS) students who are eligible for dual enrollment and have completed all 9^th and 10th-grade requirements, specifically statewide testing, and two credits each of high school English, math, science, and social studies, including English 10, Algebra I, Geometry, Biology, and Government. Students will apply for the Early College program during their sophomore year. Accepted students must be deemed “College and Career Ready” by their high school upon completing their sophomore year to begin the Early College program in their junior year. In addition to these admission requirements, each student must:

• Complete an Early College program application.
• Have at least a 3.0 cumulative grade point average.
• Submit their high school transcript.
• Be eligible for ENGL-101 and college-level mathematics.
• Submit a recommendation letter from a CCPS school counselor.
• Have personal transportation to Carroll Community College.

Early College students will enroll in a hybrid cohort format, meaning accepted students will take the same courses each semester but not the same sections. For example, all Early College students will take SOC-101 in their first semester but may register for any course section, including online, if desired. The Early College degree plan by semester is shown below:

Early College - Associate of Arts and Sciences

All CCPS students eligible for dual enrollment should contact their school counselor for more details.