Honor programs

Honors faculty tend to share teaching methods. The professor from our example shared that material with American Honors faculty at every community college in the network. Honors communities tend to be supportive for everyone. Not everybody learns best just by talking through ideas, or even reading them. Sometimes you have to get your hands dirty and really experience something to understand it. Here is a super fun example from an American Honors political science course this semester.

Students enact a foreign policy simulation by role-playing as leaders of different countries. The simulation takes place over the course of several weeks while the professor writes fictional news updates based on current events. Students get to discuss the news and make decisions based on how they and their country would react.

Ever felt like you were assigned homework just for the sake of giving you something to do? Instead, Honors classes help students attend to their learning in deeper ways --be it using different critical perspectives and theoretical lenses or through hands-on assignments that access multiple intelligences. We've divided up our list of the ten best honors colleges into three main categories: the best honors colleges, best honors programs, and best affordable honors colleges. These are honors colleges that are stand-alone schools within a university.

They can have the benefit of additional funding, school-wide extracurriculars, and sometimes even additional distinctions at graduation! Though Barrett College doesn't publicize its acceptance rate, it does provide other stats that can help prospective students know where they stand as applicants.

For example, the average unweighted high school GPA of students admitted into Barret in was 3. If your GPA and test scores are above average, you have a better shot at getting into Barrett. Despite the large number of students attending Barrett College, honors class sizes are still small.

In addition to offering a required sequence of signature honors courses the central theme being "The Human Event" , Barrett College allows students to conduct research and thesis projects , has a private writing center for Barrett students, and offers many global internship, study abroad , and real-world service opportunities. Barrett College also provides quality housing facilities for the majority of its nearly 7, first- and second-year undergraduate honors students.

Barrett is nationally prestigious, and it has the most National Merit Scholars of any honors college in the nation. It's also the only honors college that has a Nobel Prize recipient teaching undergraduates. Schreyer Honors College is Penn State's honors college. Considered one of the top honors colleges in the nation , Schreyer provides approximately 2, honors college "Scholars" with an educational experience that is dedicated to academic integrity, fostering a global perspective, and rich opportunities for leadership and civic engagement.

Instead, the Schreyer admissions committee is interested in the creative thinking and authenticity applicants demonstrate in their admissions materials. Schreyer also offers an abundance of honors-specific courses for admitted students. In fact, Schreyer offers over smaller-sized honors courses to its students , usually taught by senior faculty members. Schreyer students also have the benefit of access to priority registration and living learning communities LLCs in residence halls that primarily house honors students.

The IUG program allows exceptional students to complete their undergraduate and graduate degrees concurrently, or at the same time. Eligible students will be able to meet the requirements for this accelerated program by completing an honors thesis that meets both undergraduate and graduate standards and taking a series of cross-listed undergraduate and graduate courses. If you're interested in enrolling in an honors college and completing an accelerated graduate degree program, Schreyer could be a good fit for you!

Clemson Honors College at Clemson University offers honors students a rigorous academic experience. Clemson University's honors college is called Clemson Honors College. That selectiveness is reflected in the test scores of honors students: the typical profile of past and current honors students includes an SAT score of or ACT score of There are plenty of benefits to being an honors student at Clemson.

Honors students receive priority registration, extended library privileges, and are eligible to apply for research grants to support their Departmental Honors research projects at the beginning of both the fall and spring semesters. Another stand-out feature of Clemson Honors College is the brand new Honors Residential College HRC facility , which includes housing and dining for honors students, administrative offices, a library, study rooms, classrooms, and a kitchen.

These facilities are available exclusively to honors students, so you'll have the space you need to study and have fun, too. Program brings approximately 33 incoming honors freshmen to the Clemson campus to participate in research projects over a five week period before the start of the fall semester. Program participants go on to receive elite scholarships and fellowships , such as the Rhodes, Fulbright, Goldwater, Marshall, and Truman scholarships.

The Honors College at Rutgers University is both a stand-alone school and a student living-learning community. The goal of the honors college is to blend the classroom and the community to create a transformative learning experience for its students. The test scores of accepted students reflect that idea: the median SAT score for the Honors College class of is the composite SAT score for non-honors students is Luckily for incoming students, there isn't a separate or additional application for the Honors College.

The Honors College admissions committee uses the general Rutgers application to determine who will be admitted into the honors program. Once admitted into the college, honors students have access to top-notch facilities and academic resources. The Honors College at Rutgers has its own state-of-the-art building, which is the hub for honors courses and seminars, research opportunities, an Innovation Lab, on-site academic advising, and lounges where honors students can build community and even get to know live-in faculty.

One of the best things about the Honors College at Rutgers is that all honors students receive a four year renewable scholarship. The Honors College also provides additional scholarship opportunities for study abroad, research projects, and even has an Honors College Student Emergency Fund for students who encounter unexpected financial hardship.

The University of Texas at Austin takes the top spot in our list of the best honors programs in the United States. The biggest difference between an honors college and an honors program is that honors colleges are stand-alone schools within the university system, and honors programs are not. For our list, we focused on finding the best university-wide honors programs in the United States. Plan II, however, usually receives around applications ever year and only admits around freshman honors students every fall.

In other words, getting into Plan II can be a little tough! Plan II Honors is a prime example of the difference between an honors college and honors program. As an honors program, Plan II Honors doesn't have its own housing, nor are its programs consolidated in one stand-alone honors college. However, Plan II does have its own scholarship and grant programs, study abroad opportunities, and student clubs. For students who are interested in double majoring, combining multiple UT honors programs, or even getting a second degree concurrently, Plan II Honors is a great choice.

That makes the Plan II honors program great for ambitious students who are pursuing a more interdisciplinary course of study! Each new class of Echols students typically has between students, so if you want to get into Echols, you'll need to make sure your UVA application stands out from the crowd.

The key value that most defines the Echols is that students get the opportunity to shape the program. For instance, the Echols Council is a student-led governing body that represents Echols students and works with the honors program's administration to design and implement initiatives that give students the best learning experience.

The Echols website explains, "The principle underlying the Echols Interdisciplinary Major is that no existing major, or combination of majors, fully satisfies a student's broader interests. If you want the chance to chart your own course in college, you may be a great fit for the Echols Scholars Program. The University of Kansas Honors Program, which is more commonly referred to as "University Honors," is a campus-wide honors program open to students of all majors.

The average GPA for freshmen entering the honors program is 3. To get into the honors program, students have to apply to University Honors as part of the KU admissions application, which requires you to submit an additional resume and essay response.

The University Honors program at KU is built on the concept of experiential learning. ELEs at KU include opportunities in public service, cultural literacy and social justice, global citizenship, aesthetic engagement, professional development and social entrepreneurship, leadership, and research. Honors students can even propose alternative experiences of their own design to meet the ELE requirement.

Honors College, University of South Carolina. The Honors College at the University of South Carolina is one of the larger honors college programs on this list, with roughly 2, students, but that doesn't mean they receive fewer resources. In fact, the honors college offers nearly honors courses, as well as the option only available to honors students to design your own major. Average class size for honors college classes is only 16, so students there also get more one-on-one interaction.

Honors college students benefit from additional perks like honors-specific living communities in particular dorms and strong financial aid packages. The Honors College at the University of South Carolina has also received the highest ranking among public school honors programs for the fifth straight time by the publication Inside Honors.

If you're looking to get the most out of your educational dollars, you might consider enrolling in an honors college or program that offers financial assistance. Here are two honors colleges that can give you a top-tier education without breaking the bank.

And guess what? Honors students will complete an undergraduate thesis and have the opportunity to explore graduate course work. Honors graduates will demonstrate academic excellence, independent work, and critical thinking and analysis. Communication Honors offers compelling approaches to course content and strong relationships with faculty and peers.

ESSM Honors offers high-impact learning experiences and individual faculty mentoring to develop habits and skills of integrative and lifelong learning as future scholars and professionals.

English Honors offers opportunities in academics, research, service learning and professional development. The Entomology Honors Program is a commitment to high-achieving students to provide an enriching, engaging, and relevant educational experience.

The FIVS Honors Program in Entomology is a commitment to high-achieving students to provide an enriching, engaging, and relevant educational experience. The program is designed to expose students to more in-depth coverage of geographical topics and methods and to enhance learning through challenging classroom, laboratory, research, and field experiences. The Health and Community Health Honors Program provides opportunities for individualized and advanced work for the academically distinguished 3.

This hour program is designed to offer students an opportunity to enroll in smaller classes comprised of very motivated and capable students. History Honors offers advanced work in small classes, individual research opportunities and professional development for highly motivated students.

The Human Resource Development HRD Honors Program will provide expanded study and broad-based opportunities for our most academically gifted and scholarly advanced majors.

This hour program is designed to challenge the interests and abilities of our students and to provide specific benefits including: Individual instruction and advanced study relevant to the academically distinguished HRD majors, engaging and compelling approaches to the delivery of course content such as smaller classes, seminars, and the like, Student-centered study via honors course contracts, participation in high impact HRD programs such as professional development opportunities, participation in study abroad trips, service learning projects, or capstone research projects directed by HRD faculty, and increased interaction with successful and highly motivated faculty in preparation for professional or graduate school admission.

The degrees and programs contained in International Studies combine clearly defined intellectual area options with in-depth linguistic and cultural expertise, coupled with high-impact international experiences through study abroad. Nutritional Sciences Honors is designed for intellectually motivated students who are majoring in Nutritional Sciences and want to participate in an honors curriculum specific to this major.

Opportunities exist for interested honors students to be involved in the research program of a faculty member in nutrition. Honors students pursue advanced coursework and complete an independent, year-long research project under the guidance of a faculty mentor.

Physics and Astronomy Honors provides opportunities for more advanced and challenging work to academically distinguished and motivated students.

Most Physics and Astronomy courses have honors sections with enriched learning experiences. Honors students are also expected to conduct independent research under the supervision of our faculty. Political Science Honors provides a broad perspective and opportunities for cutting edge research.

Psychology Honors includes small classes with outstanding undergraduates and research projects with faculty. The Sociology Honors Program provides highly motivated and engaged students the ability to work closely with distinguished department faculty to study and address real-world social issues and problems.

SCSC Honors offers a hands on experience working closely with faculty preparing students for careers in soil, plant and environmentally related disciplines. All students who graduate with a 3. For official information on Latin Honors, consult the Registrar's website. Because these stoles are commencement regalia and there are a large number of students that do not attend graduation, our office does not have the financial or personnel resources to accommodate requests for stoles after graduation.

We are not mailing stoles. Link to University Honors Program Honors Separate application required: Yes Current students may apply: Yes Freshmen must live in Honors Housing Contact: Honors staff Open to students in all majors, the University Honors Program provides the resources of a major research university with course, community and extracurricular opportunities.

Kristi Shryock The Engineering Honors program gives students the opportunity to interact with other high achieving students and with honors faculty. Kathryn Falvo Galveston Honors education is a high impact educational experience that fosters growth. Christian Brannstrom Geosciences Honors provides an enriching, engaging and relevant education experience through a broad based program that includes opportunities in undergraduate research and study abroad. Lucia Lopez The Higher Education Center at McAllen Honors Program will provide a unique educational experience to highly motivated students by offering opportunities to work closely with faculty, participate in international programs, community service, research and other high-impact learning practices.

Liberal Arts Cornerstone Honors.