student concentrates on a single class, often studying abroad. Before graduation, students in nearly all majors are required to either pass a senior-year comprehensive examination or to complete a senior thesis project. All students must complete a senior seminar course in their final year. As there are no graduate programs, all undergraduate students have access to research opportunities including first-year research associateships, the Ford Apprentice Scholars Program (launched by a grant from the Ford Foundation), honor societies, an honors program and an annual research symposium. Notable projects include the Eckerd College Dolphin Project, the longest running undergraduate-centered dolphin research program in the world., and D.A.R.W.I.N., a computer science project (partnered closely with marine science) to automate dolphin dorsal fin recognition. A United States Geological Survey center in St. Petersburg provides further research opportunities. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) received a $6.7 million grant in 2021 to design and construct a new Marine Mammal Pathobiology Lab on Eckerd's campus to augment the lab currently owned and operated by FWC on Eckerd property just outside the college's gates. Phi Beta Kappa (Eckerd is one of the youngest colleges in the country to be awarded a chapter) and Sigma Xi are among the nationally recognized honor societies at Eckerd College. The Ethics Bowl teams have consistently captured awards in intercollegiate competition, winning the competition for seven straight years (2004–2011). Students can study abroad, including at the Eckerd College Study Centre on London's Gower Street, with scholarship opportunities. On average, students travel 1,000 miles from home to attend Eckerd—from roughly 48 states and 35 countries. Eckerd also offers short-term English-immersion courses in a dedicated campus facility. Rankings Eckerd College was ranked No. 128 (tie) overall in the National Liberal Arts Colleges category of the 2022 U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges rankings. Eckerd is one of 40 liberal arts schools that was profiled in Loren Pope's Colleges That Change Lives. Eckerd College ranked No. 2 in the nation, among baccalaureate institutions, for the number of students who participate in short-term study abroad and No. 3 for the total number of study abroad students in the 2018–2019 academic year, by the Institute of International Education. Eckerd ranks No. 1 in the United States in the number of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Hollings Scholars it has produced since that undergraduate scholarship program's inception in 2005. Eckerd ranked No. 3 among small