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The academic requirements for Insignis students follow the guidelines established by the National Collegiate Honors Council. Students must successfully complete honors work in 24 credit hours during their tenure at Aquinas.
 
Incoming freshmen receive academic advising from the Directors of the Insignis program. During their years at Aquinas, members may also take advantage of priority registration.
 
Membership in the Insignis Program for Honors Students is defined by progress toward completion of the requirements. Honors work must be completed in a minimum of 3 credit hours in each academic year. Additionally, students must maintain a 3.5 cumulative GPA to remain in the program.
 
Participation in the Insignis program does not add to the total number of credit hours a student needs to graduate. Insignis designated courses are offered at least once per year.
 
Exceptions and Waivers
Membership in the Insignis Program is defined by enrollment in the seminars. If, for some reason, a student is unable to enroll in a seminar during a given semester, but wishes to remain a member in good standing, he/she must apply for a waiver of the requirement to the Insignis Program Review Board the semester before he/she wishes the waiver to be in effect.
 
Waivers from Insignis seminar requirements are automatically given in the following cases:

• Aquinas-approved off-campus study programs, including the Ireland and semester-abroad foreign language programs;
• Off-campus internships which take place in geographic areas other than Grand Rapids and where travel to campus on seminar meeting days would constitute a hardship (e.g. Chicago Metropolitan Center internships)
• In these cases, students should contact the Insignis Directors in writing to inform them that they will be off campus during a semester

Exceptions are not normally given for work. As is the case with other academic requirements, students are expected to adjust their work schedules to fit their class schedules. Unless the student can demonstrate extraordinary hardship, the Review Board will not grant waivers for students who must miss class for work.
 
Other cases will be decided on an individual basis upon application by the student to the Insignis Program Review Board the semester before a waiver is requested.
 
Grade Points Average
Students must maintain a 3.5 cumulative grade point average to remain in the Insignis Program.
 
Probation
If a student’s cumulative grade point average (GPA) falls below 3.5, the student will be considered on academic probation from the Insignis Program. The student will receive a letter from the Insignis Directors informing him/her of his/her probationary status and the student will have one semester to raise his/her GPA back to 3.5 or above. While the student is on academic probation, he/she is still expected to fulfill all academic and service requirements of the program, including enrollment in required seminars and completion of service learning requirements.
 
Exit from Insignis Program
A student will be asked to leave the Insignis Program if:

• His/her GPA falls below 3.5 for two semesters in a row. The Directors will send student a letter requesting him/her to exit the program and the student will no longer be expected to fulfill the program academic requirements. If at any time a student's GPA falls low enough that it is not mathematically possible to attain a 3.5 cumulative with one additional semester, that student will exit the program without the probationary semester.
• Similarly, if a student fails to complete the service learning component of the program and/or report service learning activities to the Directors two semesters in a row, he/she will be asked to exit the program.
• It is understood that any member of the Insignis Program, with the exception of Spectrum Scholarship winners, may voluntarily exit the program at any time by informing the Directors in writing.