Honors University Transfer Program

Honors Program Information Night

Want to learn more about how you can optimize your transfer options by joining our West Valley College Honors Program? Our special partnership with UCLA and connections with other top-tier universities will help set you up for transfer success.

Information Session

Date: Wednesday, April 16, 2025

Time: 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM

View Recording from April 2025 Event

Apply to the Honors Program

Overview
Benefits
UCLA TAP
Eligibility
Faculty
Contact Us

Program Overview

The Honors University Transfer Program provides highly motivated students the opportunity to work closely with instructors and other like-minded students in advanced levels of critical thinking, analysis, research, writing, and communication. The goal of the program is to engage, support, and challenge inspired students to pursue a deeper education, enabling them to create opportunities for success in both their personal and professional lives. Honors courses, taken in place of traditional courses (i.e., ECON 1AH in place of ECON 1A), offer enriched educational experiences through Honors faculty, challenging coursework, typically smaller class sizes, and through the opportunity to study with other academically curious and dedicated students.

Students in the Honors Program who complete at least fifteen (15) Honors units and achieve a cumulative GPA of 3.4 or higher across all transfer-level coursework are awarded the Honors Scholar distinction and every benefit that achievement provides. In addition, students receive a permanent "Honors Scholar" notation on their academic transcripts, while also receiving a special Honors Medal and Honors Certificate for the West Valley College graduation/transfer ceremony.

See Honors Program Flyer

Honors Courses

There are several ways to view the current semester's list of Honors course offerings:

Class Schedule PDF
Click the "See Full Schedule" button and scroll down to the HONORS section
Online Searchable Class Schedule
- Click the "Search Classes" link
- In the search box enter "Honors"
- The Term and College can be modified as needed

Each Honors course a student takes is designated as Honors on their academic transcript and indicates they took on the additional challenge such courses represent.

There is no consequence if a student joins the Honors Program and does not end up completing any Honors classes, or takes just one or two. We simply encourage students to apply, meet with a WVC Counselor, and go from there.

See Honors Course Descriptions

Benefits

Honors Scholar Distinction

Students who complete at least fifteen (15) Honors units and achieve a cumulative GPA of 3.4 or higher across all transfer-level coursework are awarded the Honors Scholar distinction and every benefit that achievement provides. In addition, they receive a permanent "Honors Scholar" notation on their academic transcripts, while also receiving a special Honors Medal and Honors Certificate for the West Valley College graduation/transfer ceremony.

Notes

Qualifying Honors courses must be at least three units each and must be transfer-level.
The cumulative GPA of 3.4+ starts Fall 2025 to bring WVC in line with the majority of CA community colleges.
Up to six (6) Honors units can be earned at Mission College. To register, students must first apply and be accepted into Mission's separate Honors Program.

NEW FOR 2025 - STEM Honors Scholar Distinction

The general end goal of a student’s time in the Honors Program is to earn the Honors Scholar distinction. This achievement awards that student with all benefits of the program, especially the significantly higher transfer success rates to highly selective universities. The new STEM Honors Scholar distinction is the same as the main Honors Scholar distinction in terms of the benefits awarded to the student. The difference is in the coursework – all units come solely from STEM-area Honors courses (STEM = Science Technology Engineering Mathematics). Interested? Please contact the Honors Coordinator for more details and information.

Honors Research Symposium

Honors students have the opportunity to participate in the Honors Research Symposium held every year in late Spring at either Stanford or UC Berkeley. The event features presentations of outstanding community college Honors student research projects, a keynote speaker, entertainment by a university student group, a campus tour, and an admissions workshop.

It is also an amazing opportunity for WVC Honors students to, if interested, apply to present their own original research developed and completed between themselves and a WVC faculty member. This is one of the absolute best and most unique ways a transfer applicant can separate themselves from others when competing for spots at highly selective universities.

Transfer Partnerships

The Honors Program has special partnerships with 4-year universities that provide significant advantages in the application and scholarship process. For example, UCLA TAP applicants are admitted at almost four times the rate of non-TAP applicants.

The Honors Program is also a member of the Honors Transfer Council of California which offers transfer partnerships with colleges, universities, and upper-division honors programs nationwide. Students enjoy enhanced transfer consideration at the partner-campus.

UC/CSU Honors Partnerships

Cal Poly Pomona | Kellogg Honors College California State University, Bakersfield California State University, Fullerton California State University, Long Beach California State University, San Bernardino San Diego State University | Weber Honors College San Jose State University | HonorsX University of California, Irvine University of California, Riverside

Transfer Alliance Program

UCLA TAP

The Transfer Alliance Program is a collaboration between the West Valley Honors University Transfer Program and UCLA. The program is designed to foster academic excellence at the community college level and to promote diversity and retention in the UCLA transfer population.

Students who have completed the Honors Program at West Valley College receive priority consideration for admission to UCLA College of Letters and Science. Admitted TAP students are eligible to apply for scholarships reserved for the Transfer Alliance Program. In a typical year, TAP students are admitted to UCLA about 75-80% of the time, while the non-TAP UCLA admission rate is about 20%.

Important Note: High School Concurrent Enrollment students are not guaranteed the UCLA TAP advantage. These students must attend WVC full-time for at least one year after graduating from high school – in addition to earning the WVC Honors Scholar distinction – to apply for UCLA TAP.

Learn More

Student Testimonial: Sahar Lalehparvar

UCLA has been my dream school for as long as I can remember. After being rejected during high school, I was heartbroken; but what felt like a closed door actually led me to one of the most transformative chapters of my life - my time at West Valley College. From the moment I enrolled, I knew I wanted to give myself the best possible chance to transfer to UCLA, which is why I was immediately drawn to the West Valley Honors Program and the UCLA Transfer Alliance Program.

The single most defining experience of my time at West Valley was taking Honors Economics with Dr. Liu. His class didn’t just prepare me for the academic rigor of UCLA - it reshaped my entire perspective on economics. Before taking these courses, I wasn’t entirely sure if economics was the right path for me, but his incredibly engaging lectures, focus on real-world application, and the depth of knowledge he shared - even beyond the scope of the curriculum - completely changed that. I learned to understand how economics could be used to solve meaningful problems, and it was through that experience that I realized this was what I wanted to pursue professionally. Without Dr. Liu’s class, I genuinely don’t know if I would’ve found that clarity.

In addition to Honors Economics 1 and 2, I also took Honors Calculus I and II and Statistics. These classes gave me a strong quantitative foundation that undeniably prepared me for future courses as an Economics major. A highlight was taking Calculus II with Professor Alyson Butcher, whose kindness, encouragement, and unwavering support helped me succeed in a subject that had always felt intimidating. Her approach made it possible for me to not only understand the content but to build confidence in my abilities - and that support made all the difference.

Each honors course I took expanded my perspective, sharpened my academic skills, and connected me with professors who genuinely cared. But more than that, the program helped me develop confidence in myself as a thinker, a problem-solver, and a student with big goals and the potential to accomplish them.

Today, I’m studying Economics at UCLA and pursuing a minor in Entrepreneurship. I’ve joined both career-related and cultural clubs, taken on leadership roles, and thrown myself into experiences that push me forward. But none of this would’ve happened without the foundation I built at West Valley - and especially without the Honors Program and the professors who believed in me and supported me unwaveringly throughout my time there.

If I could give one piece of advice to any student walking into community college feeling uncertain about the future, it’s this: where you start doesn’t define you. What matters is the intention you bring, the people who guide you, and the work you’re willing to do. Use every opportunity - especially programs like the Honors Program and TAP - to build not just your academic path, but your confidence, clarity, and purpose. That’s what I did, and it led me right where I always hoped to be!

Valedictorian student speaking during graduation ceremony

Eligibility

West Valley College Student Qualifications

Earn a GPA of 3.25 or higher in at least 9 units of transfer-level coursework at WVC

High School Student Qualifications

Earn a high school cumulative GPA (unweighted) of 3.5 or higher

Maintaining Honors Membership

To maintain active membership in the Program, students must:

Maintain a 3.4 or higher cumulative GPA across all transfer-level coursework
Recommended: Enroll in at least two Honors courses per year

Completing the Program and Earning Honors Scholar

Students who successfully complete at least fifteen (15) Honors units with a GPA of 3.4 or higher across all transfer-level coursework will earn the Honors Scholar distinction and receive every award and benefit that achievement provides. Please refer to the Benefits tab for more details or contact the Honors Coordinator for specific questions.

There is no consequence if a student joins the Honors Program and does not end up completing any Honors classes, or ends up taking only one or two. We simply encourage students to apply, meet with a WVC Counselor, and go from there.

Begin Application for Honors Admission