Students celebrating a successful first semester at East Carolina University were lauded over the last two weeks with inclusion in the ECU EXCELS program. This is the third year ECU systematically has honored new students who earned a 3.0 GPA or higher.

More than 2,175 individuals made the honors, dean’s or chancellor’s list last fall — about 41 percent of all freshman and first semester transfer students, according to ECU EXCELS coordinator Stephanie Bailey.

EXCELS connects high achieving students with faculty members conducting research, volunteer and leadership opportunities and professional organizations within their field. Bailey said administrators are aware ECU is “a plan B” for many high achieving students, and some students attend for a semester to raise their GPA before transferring to another institution.

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