The 2025-26 academic year has been big for LPC’s Honors Transfer Program. In previous years, the honors program only had a handful of students, the honors lounge near empty. Now, the program has a waitlist. The lounge is filled with students coming in and out every day.
“I like the fact that we get a lot of insight from really good professors, get to work on projects that can benefit us and get more chances to transfer to Ivy League universities,” said Andrea Ibanez, an associate assistant at the honors program.
Being a part of the honors program comes with many benefits: researching and publishing opportunities, access to the honors lounge and higher chances of transferring to prestigious universities.
“I think the honors program is an amazing idea, and Las Positas is really unique in that it has something like this,” said LPC freshman Sami Naqvi. “The fact that the honors program has been able to market themselves contributed to their success.”
Honors program director Dr. Irena Keller was instrumental in the program’s success. “I did work hard on promoting the program,” Keller said. “(The) marketing department helped me with showcasing, having short video reels of our star students.”
Mattéa Gutierrez, a senior student assistant, helped Keller promote the honors program through the Puente Math and Science Project. This was how Ibanez discovered the honors program.
“I thought it was pretty cool to learn about. So I was like, ‘OK, I’m gonna take the chance,’” Ibanez said. “ I like the fact that we get a lot of insight from really good professors and get to work on projects.”
The constant marketing and promotion paid off. The honors program has more than doubled in size over the past few years.
“I would say the first year (I joined), maybe it was 200 (students),” Keller said. “It doubled in the first year, from 200 to 400, and 500 toward the end of last year.”
Success stories from previous honors students who were accepted into prestigious universities saw a spike in the program’s popularity.
“I found out about the honors program through a former (alumnus). His name is Raza,” Naqvi said.
Alumnus Raza Ali is one of the most recent success stories from LPC’s honors program. Ali transferred to Stanford University in (year) and has since promoted the program by sharing his story.
“It’s become so popular because there’s proof of how effective it is,” Ibanez said.
A far cry from the empty room it once was, the honors lounge is now filled with students doing homework, working on honors projects, or just hanging out.
“There’s a lot more people in the honors program this year compared to last year, especially first-years,” Gutierrez said. “A lot more honors students this year are really seeking community through club meetings, community, academic (and) professional events (and) designated courses.”
“I think the community is one of the most welcoming communities on the entire campus,” Naqvi said.
However, the growth of the honors program has come with its fair share of struggles. The increase in popularity has led to difficulties managing the hundreds of students a part of the program.
“At some point it became impossible to manage because I’m just one person,” Keller said. “So we are actually working on expanding.”
To accommodate the growing number of honors students, LPC will open more honors sections in the fall 2026 semester.
A struggling program in the beginning, the honors program is now a subject of pride for LPC, and continues to attract even more students.
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TOP PHOTO: Photos of Honors students decorate a bulletin board in the Honors Lounge at Las Positas College on March 28, 2026. The board showcases achievements and memorable moments of students in the program. (Photo by Lily Grice/The Express)
Nuha Maflahi is the Campus Life Editor for The Express. Follow her on X @NuhaMaflahiLPC.
