Pell Honors Program

Director: William P. Leeman, Ph.D.

Established in 2001 and named in honor of Claiborne Pell, who represented Rhode Island in the United States Senate from 1961-1997, the Pell Honors Program aims to realize Senator Pell’s vision of a liberal arts education as the route to informed and engaged citizenship. The program seeks to provide students with a lively community of highly motivated peers and faculty mentors drawn from many departments and disciplines, united by a passion for and dedication to academic excellence, artistic creativity, and intellectual curiosity.

Through the Pell Honors Program, students develop their analytical and communication skills by entering into respectful but critical debates on topics such as politics, international affairs, human nature, ethics, religion, and society and culture. They also explore in an academic setting Salve Regina University’s Mercy Tradition, which seeks to develop students who work to create a world that is harmonious, just, and merciful. 

The Pell Honors Program is highly selective but is open to students in any academic discipline. Students who demonstrate the strong potential for academic excellence, exhibiting both intellectual curiosity and a passion for learning, are identified during the admissions process. These students are invited to apply for acceptance into the program.

Current first-year students who wish to apply to the program may do so at the end of the fall semester. The process starts by scheduling a meeting with the program director in early November. To be eligible for admission into the program, students must earn a cumulative GPA of 3.80 or above during their first semester and must submit an application packet that includes a completed Pell Honors admissions essay, a writing sample (in the form of a course paper from their first semester), and two letters of recommendation from full-time Salve Regina faculty. The application materials must be submitted to the program director by the fall semester’s last day of classes.

Pell Honors Four-Year Plan of Study (Students entering in 2025)

The honors program extends through the traditional four years of baccalaureate study but can be completed in three years. The program consists of the following main components:

1. Specially-designed honors sections of University core courses in philosophy, religious and theological studies, and writing.
2. Advanced Pell Honors seminar-style courses (PEL-399 Honors Colloquium).
3. A global awareness requirement that can be fulfilled by completing a University-approved study abroad experience (minimum of 3 credits required) or by completing one 3-credit course from a list of global courses that are being offered by multiple departments (see list below).
4. Participation in a variety of co-curricular opportunities such as lectures, field trips, reading groups, and workshops.

First Year

Students are required to complete Pell Honors sections of the following core courses:

• PHL-105 Finding Your Moral Compass
• RTS-105 Faith, Mercy, Justice in the 21st Century
• WRT-105 College Writing and Research Intensive

Second Year

Pell Honors students in their second year begin taking advanced Pell Honors seminar-style courses (PEL-399 Honors Colloquium). A total of two of these courses is required. The offerings will vary each semester.

Third and Fourth Years  

Pell Honors students complete any remaining required honors courses and the global awareness requirement. The following list of courses fulfill the global awareness requirement:

Pell Honors students entering the program beginning in 2025 must maintain a minimum 3.40 cumulative grade point average to remain in the program.

Pell Honors Four-Year Plan of Study (Students entering prior to 2025)

The honors program extends through the traditional four years of baccalaureate study but can be completed in three years. The program consists of the following main components:

1. Specially-designed honors sections of the University core courses.
2. Advanced Pell Honors seminar-style courses.
3. An experiential learning requirement such as a study-abroad experience, an academic internship for credit, undergraduate research with a faculty member, or professional fieldwork (nursing, education, and social work majors only).
4. Participation in a variety of co-curricular opportunities such as lectures, field trips, reading groups, and workshops.

First Year

Students are required to complete Pell Honors sections of the following courses:

• UNV-101 University Seminar I
• UNV-102 University Seminar II
• Students are also required to take Pell Honors sections of courses in two of the following disciplines: History, Political Science, Economics, Psychology, and Sociology/Anthropology.

These courses help the student to fulfill the social science and history core requirements.

Second Year

Pell Honors students in their second year begin taking advanced Pell Honors seminar-style courses. A total of two of these courses is required. The offerings will vary each semester.

Third and Fourth Years  

Pell Honors students complete any remaining required honors courses and complete the experiential learning requirement.

Pell Honors students entering the program prior to 2025 must maintain a minimum 3.30 cumulative grade point average to remain in the program.