McKinley Newton Honors Academy
The McKinley Newton Honors Academy was founded in 2001 and named for one of the University’s most distinguished and admired teacher-administrators. Although all PSU students may attain college-wide or departmental honors within the regular curriculum, those who participate in the Honors Academy receive an enriched academic and extra-curricular experience in this special program. They enroll as a cohort in a team-taught, integrated course curriculum in their freshman year, and are given priority enrollment in special seminars each succeeding year. Research, field trips, travel to honors conferences, off-campus events, internships, and other opportunities for personal and intellectual growth are provided.
The invitation to join the McKinley Newton Honors Academy is given to incoming fall, first-time freshmen at Philander Smith University who have an English and Math ACT score of 22 or above (or English and Math SAT of 600 above). The Academy extends this invitation to those scholars because of their excellent academic record in high school and potential to be an academic scholar and leader on this campus. By accepting this invitation, the student begins their lifelong affiliation with the McKinley Newton Honors Academy at Philander Smith University.
The Academy follows a model of student development that is coherent and intentionally designed to promote intellectual inquiry by developing students who will become leaders and policy makers and who will make decisions which are informed by a heightened moral, ethical, global, and social justice sensibilities.
