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VWU Hosts Fall 2023 Batten Honors College Competition

Prospective students competed for a spot in the highly selective program

University News | November 7, 2023

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The selection process for the next class of Batten Honors College scholars is underway. Virginia Wesleyan’s Batten Honors College is a highly-selective, residential program enrolling 160 of the top scholars in the country. Candidates for the program are invited to compete on the basis of academic performance, compelling personal essays, and remarkable service and extracurricular activities.

Virginia Wesleyan University welcomed the first of three competition groups to campus November 2-3.Those competing came from near and far; prospective students were from Maryland, North Carolina, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia, and Wisconsin, as well as Belgium and Germany. The competitions provide an opportunity for VWU faculty and staff to meet top candidates, ascertain their interest in Virginia Wesleyan and the program, and determine those who are the best fit.

At the conclusion of all three rounds of competition in March 2024, the David L. Kaufman Center for Enrollment will extend offers to 40 new Batten Scholars who will join Virginia Wesleyan in the fall.

“There has already been an impressive number of qualified applicants this year, and we are very proud of the caliber of student the program continues to attract,” said VWU President Scott D. Miller. “Those chosen to join the program are truly the best and the brightest.”

The very first cohort of distinguished Batten Honors College students arrived at VWU in fall 2017 in conjunction with the opening of the Greer Environmental Sciences Center. This selective academic program is made possible by generous support from Virginia Wesleyan University Trustee Emerita Jane P. Batten H'06 and her late husband, Frank Batten, Sr. Through small class sizes, personalized instruction and especially vigorous faculty-student interaction, the Batten Honors College encourages environmental stewardship, global engagement, and leadership.

Learn more about the Batten Honors College of Virginia Wesleyan University.