Catawba supports special programs and college centers which serve many roles such as academic support, enrichment, and community outreach. These include:

Costa Rica Study Abroad
This program takes Catawba studies from their campus classrooms to an enlightening but intensive journey to Costa Rica.

First-Year Experience
This unique program was established to provide new Catawba students with not only basic survival skills for college life, but enriching experiences to shape their future as well. First-time freshmen are required to take a seminar each semester of the first year. The First-Year Seminar I focuses on the rigorous study of a selected topic and the development of essential study and research skills. The First-Year Seminar II Themes focuses on how the concept of consilience organizes the different fields of study and explains their interconnectedness.

Honors
The Honors Program cultivates a community of academically gifted students who pursue challenging educational experiences with outstanding faculty. Through interdisciplinary, provocative, and intellectually demanding courses, the Honors Program piques the curiosity of students, encouraging them to become life-long learners whose lives are enriched by their experiences.

Academy for Teaching
The Academy for Teaching was established in 2007 to answer the ongoing need for excellent teachers and to further enhance the outstanding Teacher Education department at Catawba. The Academy's focus is on equipping its participants with 21st Century teaching skills and offering extensive field experiences through travel within the state of North Carolina, and community leadership development and service learning. The Academy began with the start of the new academic year when 14 new Teaching Scholars entered as first-year students. These students, who apply and are selected as Teaching Scholars, demonstrate leadership, community involvement, and a commitment to teaching.

Center for Career & Service Learning
The Career Center strives to serve Catawba students with all phases of their individual career development, from making major decisions, to experiential learning opportunities, to finding their first job.

Center for the Environment
Catawba College launched the Center for the Environment in 1996 to educate students and the public about environmental stewardship and sustainability. It involves students, faculty, and staff, and its many partners and volunteers in programs and activities that promote sustainable solutions in the community, the region and beyond. The building that houses the Center, which was completed in 2001, epitomizes the mission of the Center and serves as a model for green building practices. It reflects Catawba College’s commitment to conservation and the sustainable use of the earth’s resources.

Center for International Studies
This Center's mission is to encourage and assist Catawba students who wish to pursue part of their education in a foreign country, to promote international and cross-cultural educational experiences on the Catawba campus, and to help international students on campus achieve the maximum benefit from their time at Catawba. The College offers specific opportunities for a semester abroad at Harlaxton College in York, England, and intensive study of Spanish each summer in Costa Rica. Additionally, many of the honors courses feature a capstone, study/travel experience, often abroad.

Lilly Center for Vocation & Values
Founded in 2003 with the help of a generous grant from the Lilly Foundation, Catawba's Lilly Center strives to promote thought-provoking journeys of self-exploration. The Lilly Center has helped participants, especially students, discover and use their gifts in ways that serve others. The funds will also help in continuing to make a special focus by encouraging students to consider how they can make a real difference in today's world through the Christian ministry.