Category Archives: Honors News

Honors updates!

Honors Conference to Champion Undergraduate Instruction

Posted on by
Reply

Note: This is the first in a series of posts about the National Collegiate Honors Council (NCHC) annual conference next week in Boston.  We will be there, interviewing and reporting on the most interesting sessions and presentations, including those by students.

Almost 2,000 faculty members and students will be in Boston next week to attend the annual conference of the National Collegiate Honors Council (NCHC), where in hundreds of sessions and presentations the value of honors education in our nation’s colleges will be on display.

At least 560 institutions, public and private, will be represented at the conference, which is being held at the Sheraton Boston Hotel.  Honors colleges and programs are transforming American higher education by offering talented students genuine alternatives to the most expensive elite universities.

By emphasizing small classes, honors residence communities, and innovative curricula that are often proving grounds for the best in undergraduate teaching, honors colleges and programs are challenging the higher education system to remain committed to excellence despite demands from those who would emphasize quantity over quality.

The conference theme is “Challenging Structures,” especially those that militate against excellence in undergraduate education.  “We maintain that honors education represents a challenge to the structure of undergraduate instruction,” said Rick Scott, incoming president of the NCHC. “Our gathering in Boston will celebrate teaching, learning, and the honors community.” Dr. Scott is Dean of the Honors College at the University of Central Arkansas.

The featured speaker will be Harvard Professor Michael Sandel, whose famous “Justice” course has long been a favorite among undergraduates.   His thoughts on morality and justice in political life are often contrasted with those of the eminent philosopher John Rawls.

In a world where parents and prospective students are searching for ways to add value to their increasingly expensive college choices, honors programs are the most powerful engine for providing the highest level of undergraduate education within institutions whose overall reputation may not rise to the level of the most elite private schools—and almost always at a much lower cost.

Honors colleges and programs have been a part of the higher education world for decades, but only in the last 20 years or so have public and private institutions turned to honors programs in order to attract and serve the nation’s most talented students.

The NCHC alone has approximately 875 member institutions, ranging from two-year community colleges to leading public universities such as Arizona, Arizona State, Arkansas, Auburn, Colorado, Colorado State, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Iowa, Iowa State, LSU, Massachusetts Amherst, Miami of Ohio, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC State, Ohio University, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Oregon, Oregon State, Pitt, Rutgers, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas A&M, UC Irvine, UCLA, U.S. Air Force Academy,  Vermont, Virginia Tech, Washington, and Washington State.

Private universities include American, Baylor, Denver, DePaul, Drake, Drexel, Elon, Embry-Riddle, Fordham, George Washington, Ithaca, LaSalle, Marquette, Miami, Northeastern, Rochester Institute, Seton Hall, Siena, SMU, TCU, Tulsa, Union College, and Villanova.

University of Houston Honors College: High Value Added

Posted on by
Reply

While some national rankings overlook the University of Houston, the Honors College is a strong value-added component in a city that has lots of jobs to offer in business, engineering, and law.

The average honors student has a 1300 SAT and is in the top 10 percent of his or her class, but the college does not consider these qualifications as an absolute minimum.

The curriculum is substantial, requiring as much as 36 hours of honors work, including a thesis.  One of the most attractive features of the college is its close involvement with the Bauer College of Business.  Business majors admitted to the honors college are automatically a part of the Bauer Honors Program.  At least 18 of the 36 hours in honors are in small classes in all business specialty areas.  The classes emphasize discussion, writing, and case studies.  A thesis is required.

“This kind of thesis might resemble a long research paper in form, but it is different than a class paper. It approaches an existing business topic from a new angle, or tackles a newly developing business problem that others have not yet addressed adequately.  Often, the topic for a Senior Honors Thesis arises from close collaboration with a faculty member on an existing research project. You may choose to identify a significant aspect of a faculty member’s research to investigate in more detail or expand upon a case study completed as part of a previous course or business competition.”  Business theses average 50-75 pages in length.

The business program is ranked in the top 53 or so among those at public universities, and in the top 25 in entrepreneurship among all schools.  The U of H also has the Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management and it, too, has an honors track.

For engineering majors there is another honors track, also requiring a thesis.  The engineering school ranks  77th nationwide.  “A Senior Honors Thesis in engineering typically arises from close collaboration with a faculty member on an existing research project. Ideally, you will identify a significant aspect of that research and craft a smaller project representing your own work. The thesis should include an introduction explaining the relevance of your work to the broader field of study, a brief literature review, pertinent explanations of all technical innovations and processes, and an appropriate representation of results achieved. On average, the thesis will be between 30-60 pages.”  It is important to note that Houston and the surrounding area are home to a large number of companies that employ engineers.

Other honors tracks are available to students in the social sciences, humanities, and performing arts, including creative writing–a nationally-recognized strength of the university.

Honors housing is available in Cougar Village, a complex that opened in 2010.  The Village features two-bedroom suites, with two students in each bedroom and all four students sharing a sizable bath with two lavatories.  There is a skyway to the new Cougar dining hall.  Cougar Village is especially convenient to Melcher Hall, the home of the Bauer College of Business.

  • December 1 — Priority consideration application date for fall semester admission to both the Honors College and the University of Houston.
  • April 1 — Honors College application deadline and supporting documents deadline for admission for the fall semester.
  • April 1 — University of Houston application and supporting documents deadline for admission for the fall semester. Visit the University of Houston Admissions website for additional information about UH admissions.

 

Texas A&M Honors: New Standards, More Freshman Focus

Posted on by
Reply

Students in the honors program at Texas A&M University now have to meet a new set of requirements to remain in the program, and now all freshman honors students are assigned to the honors learning community.

But the program also offers more flexibility now, allowing students to contract for honors credit in a broader range of classes.

TAMU honors housing received a high evaluation in our recent book, A Review of Fifty Public University Honors Programs.  So it’s not a burden for all freshmen to live in the honors community.  They begin their freshman year there, and now, with a separate honors application in place, they can receive better advising and more readily get the classes they need through the priority registration available to them.

“The transition from high school to college has been pleasant because of all of the people I met in the program [who] help me with whatever I need. It’s a nice sense of family that we have going on here. I have a lot of friends who are having a hard time adjusting to college because they feel very alone, but I haven’t faced that problem because of the Honors functions and living with the people in my classes,” said Deanna Sessions, freshman electrical engineering major.

In addition to the housing change, students must now meet the following minimum continuation requirements:

  • Maintain a 3.5 cumulative GPR and a 3.25 in Honors course work
  • Make progress toward distinction requirements by taking at least 6 hours of Honors course work each academic year
  • Participate in the HFLC (freshmen) or at least one HSC event per semester (continuing students)
  • Update an e-Portfolio and meeting with an advisor at least once per year
  • Plan and execute a capstone experience in their junior or senior year that synthesizes and integrates their educational experiences in the form of a research or scholarly project

Please note that the 6-hour credit requirement per year is a minimum to remain in good standing, while the actual completion requirement to graduate as an honors fellow is at least 27 hours of coursework and and 3-hour capstone project.  Honors students may of course also earn Latin honors, requiring at least a cumulative university-wide GPA of 3.5 for cum laude status.

The minimum requirements to apply to the program remain the same: at least a 1250 SAT, with both verbal and math scores of at least 570.


 

 

 

UT Austin Experiments with Forgiving Loans if Students Graduate in Four Years

Posted on by
Reply

Erin Mulvaney , Houston Chronicle | Oct. 5, 2012

The University of Texas at Austin will test next year whether it can increase its four-year graduation rate and reduce student loan debt by forgiving some of those loans to students who complete their academic programs more quickly.

Under the pilot program announced Thursday, 200 fall 2013 freshmen will be offered forgiveness of significant portions of the most expensive loans they take out if they make a set amount of progress toward their degrees in a particular time frame.

“The university is focused on improving our four-year graduation rate, and the pilot program is part of its broader effort to help achieve that mission,” said Tom Melecki, the university’s director of student finance services.

The new program comes at a time when state leaders are pressuring universities to improve completion rates, tuition is rising and the number of people failing to keep up with student loan payments is increasing.

Federal direct unsubsidized loans must be repaid at a 6.8 percent interest and are given out after subsidized loans and university and private scholarships are awarded to students.

The students will be selected from a random sample of students involved in the Texas Interdisciplinary Plan, a program that offers additional advising and academic support to about 900 students who receive the unsubsidized loans, said Jamie Brown, a financial aid officer for UT’s student financial services.

In Texas, fewer than a third of students at Texas public college graduate in four years, while a little more than half within six years. UT-Austin is one of the leading colleges in graduation rates, with about half of students graduating in four years and about 80 percent within six years.

“Obviously, there is a need to address this issue not only at the university level, but across the nation,” Brown said.

During the past school year, more than 14,000 UT undergraduate students borrowed $60.1 million in the Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loans. Under the pilot program, half of the selected students in fall 2013 would be offered $1,000 loan forgiveness, plus interest accrued if they pass 15 hours of their degree requirements by the end of each semester.

The other half would be offered $2,000 in forgiveness, plus interest accrued, if they complete 30 hours of degree requirements by the end of an academic year.

Completion of those hours would put students on track to graduate in four years.

Tuition at UT-Austin is $9,792 per year, and students that graduate in four years borrow 27 percent less than those who graduate in five, Brown said.

An average student borrows about $19,000 in four years, $24,000 in five years and $31,000 in six years, according to recent data collected by UT Financial Services.

A recent U.S. Department of Education report showed that the number of people failing to keep up with student loan payments is increasing, with 10 borrowers across the country falling into default within the first three years after their loans are due.

Texas already has a popular financial aid program, the B-On-Time Loan, that offers interest-free loans to Texas undergraduates, forgiven if students maintain a B or higher grade-point-average within four years.

University financial aid administrators hope the program will be expanded to forgive 3,200 students per year if the pilot program is successful, which would be more than double the amount of student borrowers forgiven for the B-On-Time Loan.

About 59 percent of UT undergraduates qualify for B-On Time forgiveness, which is about 1,400 students per year.

A portion of tuition set-aside funds, meant for financial assistance, will pay for the pilot program.

“If it proves successful and we extend the program over four years of enrollment, we estimate that the total amount forgiven will be a little more than $8,000 per student but that, in the long run, this will reduce the amount students must repay after graduation by more than $12,000,” Melecki said.

Arkansas Honors College Awards 50k Fellowships to 72 Students

Posted on by
Reply

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The University of Arkansas Honors College has selected 72 outstanding high school students who will make up the 2012 class of Honors College Fellows.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the historic $300 million gift from the Walton Family Charitable Support Foundation that was announced in April 2002, a portion of which funded the Honors College and its generous scholarship program.

“Including this latest group, we have provided $50,000 fellowships for 879 students. It’s incredibly rewarding to see them explore their interests, both on campus and abroad,” said Maribeth Lynes, assistant dean and director of recruitment at the University of Arkansas Honors College. Lynes recalls that administrators had to scramble to fill the roster of Honors College fellowships back in 2002.

“Nobody knew about the fellowships that first year,” she said. “We contacted national merit finalists and other top test takers in the state. Our goal was to keep the best and brightest students in Arkansas.”

Today, the word is out on the generous funding that the University of Arkansas Honors College offers to its fellows, and applications are coming in from across the U.S. and abroad. More than 500 top high school students applied for the fellowships, and the 72 new fellows who will arrive on campus next fall are a stellar group. They will benefit from fellowship funds of $50,000 over four years that largely cover the cost of tuition, room and board, books and a computer. The fellowship funds can also be combined with other scholarships and grants, such as the $500,000 to $1 million in study abroad and research grants that the Honors College awards to students each year.

Top grades and test scores are a given: students must score at least 32 on the ACT exam and have a 3.8 grade point average just to apply. The rigor of applicants’ high school course work, their letters of recommendation and community involvement also count.

Though the fellowship program is still relatively young, evidence of its success is solid. Alumni fellows are pursuing advanced degrees at top graduate and professional programs around the country and landing jobs in competitive fields. Summer Scott, a member of the second class of Honors College fellows who earned a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering, particularly appreciated the opportunities to study abroad.

“I participated in a business program in Greece, and also traveled to Egypt, Italy and China,” she said. Scott now heads a plant for Dow Chemical that is the world’s largest producer of epichlorohydrin, a key ingredient in epoxy resins that are used in adhesives, paints and other materials. She emphasized that study abroad prepared her well for work with global teams.

“You have to respect that other cultures are very different from ours; you do your homework, and go in with an open mind. I can’t put into words how important those experiences were for me, both in terms of my career and personally,” she said.

Alumni fellows also appreciate the freedom to pursue their goals without being burdened by student loans. Dwayne Bensing was weighing scholarship offers from American University, the University of Virginia and Hendrix College when he received the invitation to join the first class of Honors College fellows.

“When the Honors College fellowship came in, it seemed too good to be true. It made the decision pretty easy,” he recalled when reached on the telephone. “The U of A offered me the opportunity to explore all of my interests without the overwhelming burden of managing student loan debt.” Bensing studied abroad in Mexico and England, completed two degrees in political science and communication and picked up numerous awards, including a Truman Scholarship. He said that working closely with faculty mentors such as Steve Sheppard, Bill Schreckhise and Stephen Smith prepared him well for law school at University of Pennsylvania, where he recently completed his Juris Doctor. He begins work at a law firm in Washington, D.C. this fall.

 

 

Texas Tech Honors College Offers Direct Paths to Law, Medical School

Posted on by
Reply

The Honors College at Texas Tech University is one of only a few honors programs that offer fast-track options to attend law or medical school at the same university, and the joint program between the honors college and the medical school even allows honors students to skip the MCAT before entering med school.

The joint Early Acceptance Program allows Honors College students to waive the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT) and to apply early to the School of Medicine during their junior year.

“To be eligible for the Early Acceptance Program, you must be enrolled in the Honors College, have entered Texas Tech University as a freshman, maintain residency in the state of Texas, and acquired a composite score (earned in one test administration) of at least 1300 on the SAT or at least 29 on the ACT upon matriculation at Texas Tech University.”

“The Honors College and the Texas Tech School of Law have collaborated to create two exciting new opportunities for Honors students who plan to attend law school. The Early Decision Plan allows eligible students who intend to attend the TTU Law School to receive notice of their acceptance as juniors but complete their undergraduate degrees prior to entry into the law school. The Early Admission Program (“3+3 Plan”) allows eligible Honors Arts & Sciences students to enter law school prior to graduation after they have completed 100 hours of coursework. The “3+3″ program enables eligible students to complete both a baccalaureate and a doctor of jurisprudence in approximately six years.” [Emphasis added.]

Eligibility for the honors college as a freshman requires a minimum SAT score of 1200 or an ACT of 26  or a place in the top 10 percent of the applicant’s high school class to be considered for admission.  Admission is not, however, guaranteed with these credentials.  Applicants with International Baccalaureate diplomas are assured of admission.  Current students are also considered for admission if they have earned a 3.4 GPA.

The regular honors curriculum requires 24 hours of honors course work for freshman entrants, and 27 hours for students who enter later.  Six hours must be in upper-division courses, six must be in 3000-4000-level courses, and freshman entrants must also complete a first-year series.

In order to graduate with highest honors, students must also complete an additional six hours of research and thesis work.

The honors housing at Tech appears to be a strong option: students in Gordon Hall share two-bed suites that have private baths and that share a common living area with the adjoining suite.  Gordon hall as its own laundry, and the Fresh Market Cafe serves both Gordon and neighboring Bledsoe Hall.  Gordon Hall is on the east side of campus, closest to science and engineering classrooms and farther from business, English, foreign language, and philosophy classrooms.



ASU Barrett Honors Students Spend Summer at Sandia Labs

Posted on by
Reply

A recent Arizona State University engineering graduate and two current engineering students–all from Barrett Honors College–spent the past summer as interns at one of the United States’ most prominent national research centers.

Sandia Labs is especially important to homeland security research and development.  (Please see Maryland to Add Cybersecurity Honors Program in 2013 as a related post on how honors students can contribute greatly to cybersecurity and related efforts.)

Robert Fruchtman, Dominic Chen, and Bijan Fakhri worked for three months for the Sandia National Laboratories facility in Albuquerque, N.M., along with engineering student Michael Reeves.

Here’s the story from ASU’s Jessica Slater:

The U.S. Department of Energy laboratories (including a facility in California) focus on national defense projects applying science and engineering to support homeland security, counterterrorism and military operations, as well as security-related energy and climate research.

“Sandia’s work covers almost every area of engineering,” says Fruchtman, who also was an intern at Sandia in the summer of 2011. “They tackle really big problems, and you are surrounded by a lot of really smart people. So it’s a great experience.”

Fruchtman graduated from ASU in May after majoring in computer science in the School of Computing, Informatics, and Decision Systems Engineering, one of ASU’s Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering. He was also a student in ASU’s Barrett, The Honors College. He’s now pursuing a master’s degree in computer science at Purdue University.

At Sandia, the graduate of University High School in Tucson had opportunities to apply his education by assisting in projects involving technology used to process and analyze data provided by satellite observations.

Junior computer systems engineering major Fakhri and Chen, a junior majoring in computer science and mathematics – both Barrett honors students – worked in Sandia’s Center for Cyber Defenders.

Fakhri, a graduate of Horizon High School in Ahwatukee, assisted on projects to develop unclonable silicon wafers and speed up the performance of software-defined radio communications systems using digital signal processors.

Chen, a graduate of Desert Vista High School in Ahwatukee, helped with designing a system debugger for the Android smartphone platform, and piloting a Department of Homeland Security competition to develop secure voting machines.

“It was fun because it was very much a teamwork-oriented environment,” Fakhri says. “You could ask a question out loud in a room and soon there would be three people at your desk arguing about the best way to solve a problem.”

He expects some of what he learned at Sandia to be useful in his student researcher role with ASU’s Center for Cognitive Ubiquitous Computing (CUbiC), which focuses on design of devices to assist people living with perceptual or cognitive challenges. Fakhri is helping develop wireless devices to help stroke survivors regain motor control.

Chen will apply his Sandia experience to his work at ASU assisting faculty members with research in computer security and development of a mini-submersible device for exploring a lake in Antarctica.

Fakhri summed up what his fellow engineering students agree was the most valuable lesson gained from their Sandia internships: “I learned that I don’t know nearly as much as I thought I did.”

 

Maryland to Add Cybersecurity Honors Program in 2013

Posted on by
Reply

In association with the Northrup Grumman Corporation, the University of Maryland at College Park will launch the nation’s first honors program in cybersecurity aimed at producing highly capable graduates who can answer the demand of this important area of economic and national security.

The new curriculum track, called the Advanced Cybersecurity Experiences for Students (ACES) program, has received $1.1 million from Northrup Grumman to launch it and will receive matching corporate and university support.

According to the university, “ACES will engage a highly talented, diverse group of students–majors in computer science, engineering, business, public policy and the social sciences–in an intensive living-learning environment that focuses on the multifaceted aspects of cybersecurity and develops team-building skills.

“Students will take on an advanced, cross-disciplinary curriculum developed through industry consultation, and will interact directly with industry and government cybersecurity mentors. Student enrolled in the program will have the option of interning with Northrop Grumman and preparing for security clearance. ACES will produce skilled, experienced cybersecurity leaders highly sought by corporate and government organizations.”

The curriculum “will include general cybersecurity courses, as well as a variety of other topics, including cybersecurity forensics, reverse engineering, secure coding, criminology, and law and public policy. In year-long capstone courses, teams of seniors will apply their knowledge and skills in solving complex cybersecurity problems.”

Northrup Grumman has headquarters in nearby Falls Church, VA.  The university is extremely well-suited to partner with the company on the cybersecurity program because of its nationally recognized living/learning honors communities and its strong academic departments in cybersecurity-related subjects.

“UMD is one of only 6 universities in the world with top 25 programs in Computer Science, Engineering, Economics and Business, Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Physics, and Social Sciences, according to the Academic Ranking of Worldwide Universities.”

The program also offers a clear career path.  “Summer internships will augment coursework with real-world projects and develop a pipeline of talented students. Throughout, Northrop Grumman will provide guest lecturers, participate in an industry advisory board, pose real-world problems for students to solve, and provide advisors and mentors for capstone projects.”

Speaking of job “security,” see what Alex Fitzpatrick at Mashable.com has to say about the growing field of cybersecurity:

“Alec Ross, senior advisor for innovation at the State Department, has a piece of advice for students tasked with the nerve-rattling dilemma of choosing a college major.

“’If any college student asked me what career would most assure thirty years of steady, well-paying employment,” said Ross, ‘I would respond, ‘cybersecurity.’”

“That’s because cybersecurity is a field where the rules of the recession seem flipped: There’s plenty of jobs, but relatively few qualified applicants.

“The government needs to hire at least 10,000 experts in the near future and the private sector needs four times that number, according to Tom Kellermann, vice president at Trend Micro and former member of President Obama’s cybersecurity commission. Booz Allen Hamilton, a private security firm in Mclean, has hired nearly 3,000 cybersecurity experts in the past two years, and that trend is expected to continue.”

Currently, cybersecurity grads do not earn as much as those going into computer software design and computer engineering, but the pay is certain to increase with the ever-increasing demand.  The story by Fitzpatrick states that the average starting salary in 2009 was $55,000 a year, with many of the jobs now in the public sector.  The joint effort by UM and Northrup Grumman are an indication that the demand is now strong in the private sector as well.

UMass To Open Outstanding Honors Residential Complex in 2013

Posted on by
Reply

Another honors college is taking a giant step toward providing state-of-the-art honors residential housing to a greater number of students: The Commonwealth Honors Residential Complex at UMass Amherst will be one of the largest and finest honors residential communities in the nation when it opens in Fall of 2013.

The new complex in effect should move the Honors College into the top 20 in Honors Factors (which including residence halls and dining) among the 50 colleges and programs we plan to evaluate again in 2014.   The Honors College is among the larger programs in the country, and the size of the new residential complex is a good fit for a large program.

The complex will include 1,500 beds, including 600 for first-year students and 900 for upper-division students.  The central location is only five minutes from the library and very near a new recreation center.  The complex will also include nine classrooms and offices for the Commonwealth Honors College in buildings from four to six stories high, set in the midst of several courtyards.

The complex will have its own cafe, open 24/7, and is not far from multiple dining options in the Campus Center and Southwest Campus areas.

“Commonwealth Honors College currently serves about 3,000 students in 88 majors. It provides an intellectually challenging honors curriculum, creates a community of scholars and helps prepare future leaders by providing an academic avenue for highly motivated students to delve deeply into their studies. It is also the only such school in the region to provide a four-year honors course of study that includes a highly demanding six-credit honors capstone project. The college plans to gradually increase its incoming classes from 485 this fall to 600 per year.”

Priscilla M. Clarkson, dean of Commonwealth Honors College, said this new complex will improve an already excellent program. “Commonwealth Honors College is the premier honors college in New England serving the greatest number of students in the largest number of majors,” Clarkson said.  “This new complex will serve as a visible representation of the commitment of this campus to academic excellence and will help attract even more students to the program.”


 

Iowa Enhances Honors Curriculum for 2013

Posted on by
Reply

The University of Iowa Honors Program will implement significant changes to honors curriculum requirements, effective Fall 2013, and also require all honors students to accept a formal invitation to participate and then attend a comprehensive honors orientation.

The first 12 hours of the curriculum, the honors foundation or core, requires completion within the first four semesters and allows only one honors contract course to be counted toward the core requirement.  The emphasis is “building knowledge” in this first half of the curriculum.  All honors students must take at least one honors course in their first semester.

The second half, at least another 12 hours, is more experiential in its focus.  Honors students will have several ways to meet these requirements:

i.    Honors in the major (completely satisfies the second level requirement), which typically includes a thesis;

ii.   Mentored research (12 semester hours or the equivalent);

iii.  Study abroad for a minimum of two semesters (fall and/or spring) or the equivalent;

  • Single semesters of study abroad, including summer and between-semester experiences, may count for up to half of the second level requirement
  • Requires students to conduct/carry out an independent project while abroad and to submit a report on the project

iv.  Internships may count for up to half (6 semester hours) of the second level requirement;

  • In some cases, e.g. Engineering and Business, internships may count for the entire requirement (12 semester hours or the equivalent)
  • Requires students to conduct/carry out an independent project while interning and to submit a report on the project.

v.   Honors coursework (including graduate course work) may count for up to 6 semester hours.

Students who complete the new curriculum will be eligible to graduate with university honors, a distinction that entitles them to recognition at commencement and formal notation on their transcripts and diplomas.