Honors College at Schools Answered
I'm confused about honors colleges at universities.
What's the point of them besides their promised smaller classes and more individualized sessions with students? Aren't they more expensive since most honors college requirements don't fulfill graduation requirements? Why should I apply for the honors college just to take extra classes that don't help me?
Sorry if I sounded rude, I'm frustrated at the lack of information colleges are giving about their honors colleges.
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3 answers
Hi @izeah
Thanks for your question. This is a great one because many HS students wonder if they should apply to honors colleges.
First of all, honors colleges are not for the masses. It's like 10% attend an honors college if it's available. The University of Pittsburgh has about 19,000 undergrads and about 2500 in their honors college. The University of Oregon has about 18,000 undergrads and 1400 in their honors college.
While honors colleges may or may not cost slightly more than regular colleges, a huge plus is that they are much less than attending a private liberal arts college on its own. So someone in Oregon might have to spend $80,000 to attend Reed College or Lewis & Clark or Willamette but the Clark Honors college is $33K v $30K (regular) for In-state applicants.
For $3,000 extra you get the following:
-Smaller classes commensurate with liberal arts colleges. More discussion-based Socratic or Harkness style learning.
-More challenging coursework such as honors courses which is not for everyone but most high achieving students can graduate on time and still pursue double majors.
-Mentored research opportunities with professors
-Required thesis project and higher minimum GPA standards
-Sometimes separate honors housing and dining hall. Housing is guaranteed.
-Better career services and dedicated staff to the Honors college. Better access to internships, fellowships, and jobs.
-Often separate libraries and study halls, more flexibility where to study and how to study
-Dedicated technology labs and conference rooms just for honors students.
-Dedicated lounges and kitchens
-Preferential registration status for course selection
-Cost is a huge factor, honors colleges are less expensive the liberal art colleges
-Peers are higher achieving and smarter cohort than the regular admits at the same school, similar to a gifted program at a public school.
-More commendations such as Honors college diploma.
For 90% of students, they are either going to pass on the opportunity or find it too challenging to attempt to do. But for the 350 new freshmen that matriculate into Clark college each year, most of them stick it out because they do see the benefits of being part of the Honors Program.
It's a personal choice. I just wanted to clarify that it is not like getting an extra slice of cheese on your burger. There are a lot of real benefits and perks for being accepted into an Honors college that is of real value to a certain kind of student.
I think if you take the time to research honor's colleges and watch the hundreds of youtube videos detailing the plusses and minuses of them, you will get more educated and be able to make an informed decision on whether or not this is something for you.
Good luck
To add to the other answers, check out this CollegeVine blog post for more information about honors colleges. To sum it up, the main point of honors colleges is that they give you more resources, more support, and a greater sense of community than standard programs do.
This means that you'll have more one-on-one time with a professor to ask them how to achieve your specific career goal. While other students may feel limited by their class selection every semester and will be waitlisted for the most popular classes, you as an honors student will be at the front of the line. Lastly, the honors college will make it easier to make friendships that will last a lifetime. All of these offerings combine to give honors students a more fulfilling college experience. Hope this helps!
From what I understand, honors colleges are largely admissions ploys. Large colleges/universities want to attract overqualified students for rankings, alumni prestige, etc, and know that those students would likely want to go to a more academically rigorous school that challenges them/recognizes their ability. Because these large schools can't provide that, they offer an "honors college", which is in reality typically very similar to the actual college.
I'm sure there are other reasons as well, but from what I've heard, this is a/the main reason for the existence of honors colleges.
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