Often honors programs are housed in separate dorms with specialized programs/experiences and amenities that add to the cost for the school. The ones I have looked at range from auto-admit with reasonable stats to competitive with very high stats on average.
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My daughter at UDel was in honors and it was free, had to apply. My daughter at Clemson is in honors, $1000 a year, had to apply. Both were selective admittance. They both had an honors advisor, priority registration, honors classes with fewer students, honors dorms, at Clemson there is an honors building (not sure about UDel, Covid was an issue). My daughter had an additional honors college at UDel and designation on her diploma. Honors at Rutgers is a very hard admit, I don’t know if it costs extra but there are real perks. The program wasn’t there when my other daughter was a freshman, but even though she graduated summa cume laude from the business school I don’t think she would’ve been admitted as a freshman. There are honors at other colleges where it means much less.
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FSU Honors Program is $30. Worth every penny and then some. Like most things in life you get out what you put in. I think it’s benefited my S several times with internships and getting into his major. Nice dorm in a fantastic location. Competitive admit and growing.
Georgia Tech is $800. They have an LLC. A few perks but my other S has said it’s not worth it. He’ll finish but only because he’s already taken a few classes. It might be a competitive admit but I don’t think there’s much interest. Only reason he did it was he liked the dorm better than the one he was assigned.
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Agree no benefit to honors at Georgia Tech. It’s basically another LLC with no additional prestige, additional cost, and a headache getting some honors classes. The kids admitted to the honors college are no more elite or qualified than the general admits to Georgia Tech, and employers don’t care. This is why a lot of kids don’t apply. Very different under the hood than most honors programs. No priority registration which honestly is the biggest benefit it seems from most honors programs One benefit at Tech is there is a specific honor dorm, which this year was an apartment style, so that may be a perk for some students. This dorm could be a pro or a con, depending on child. My son would have ruled it out for that reason alone as he wanted to live on East campus. My current applicant has ruled it out as well for the same reason. Another benefit, which is true of the other LLCs, is that there is some additional programming which may help kids meet one another.
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It’s interesting - FSU Honors isn’t known - like an ASU, U of SC, Rutgers, Texas, etc. but my daughter was rejected.
She was accepted at U of SC Honors and at UGA (after applying, she didn’t get the auto admit).
Pitt - we withdrew before the Honors decision came but I think she was deferred.
So there’s no rhyme or reason.
A nice dorm or better location (like UGA) would absolutely, in my mind, be a reason to pay more.
Bama - my son did Honors for the dorm and class registration (everyone there is Honors - ok, not everyone but like 30%) - and will drop his last semester - next.
I don’t see a benefit for graduation - there’s no place to put on an application.
It’s solely for the experience and for some it will be worth and others not.
For my daughter at Charleston (but she’s in cohorts of Honors so beyond Honors) - it’s a home run.
So many more options than when we were kids.
I so wish I could go back to school!!
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Thanks for the honors replies! So interesting!
My Aggie is in Business Honors at Texas A&M Mays Business School. Highly competitive program, what sets it apart is it’s a stand alone major-the only way to graduate from the business school with a double major. My Aggie’s diploma will show degrees in Business Honors and Management.
No extra fee, no special dorm, must apply/be invited. In a school with 70k+ students, each incoming BH class only has 85ish students; the program has 1 director and 2 advisors. So it makes a huge school very small, personalized. Early registration also, many opportunities for trips, special speakers, the best professors.
It is also stated on business school website the majority of Mays scholarships go to those in BH program. 
job & grad school placement. Definitely worth being in BH at TAMU!
Now…A&M University Honors is a joke. Mandatory dorms freshman year (can’t select roomie or actual room), tons of extra work (a lot of fluff, ice breakers), no special advisor, system is based on ‘points’. Most drop out after freshman or sophomore year. Definitely not worth it.
Other major/college specific programs vary; they all get early registration. Pays to be in Engineering honors, for early class registration alone, and I think they have better advising. Eng honors has an option for honors housing, but it’s optional.
I had no idea it varied so much from school to school. So interesting! If I had another student headed to college, I’d definitely do a deep search about honors programs at each school. Who knew?!
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No it doesn’t, and if admitted you’re guaranteed at least some level of merit scholarship.
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Yes, I know it always comes with merit.
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Is it possible to create a separate thread re: honors programs, LLCs, etc.? Recent info on what they cost versus what they offer? It’s a bit of a separate discussion from this thread but one that’s very useful for those of us with juniors/seniors in high school researching colleges, with generally strong academic records. Thanks!
(Asking this generally, didn’t mean to respond to @Mjkacmom specifically.)
Would a moderator be able split the honors posts into a different thread?
@momofboiler1 @MWolf @skieurope
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There is such a thread from June 2021,
However, since @thealternative really wants a thread where people will share this information, rather than continue a conversation, I recommend starting a new thread on the topic, rather than have one of us split this thread. That way, @thealternative can clearly state what information they, and other parents of juniors and seniors (as well as the juniors and seniors themselves), would find helpful.
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I grew up on the West coast and ended up at TCU. Younger sibling of mine applied to mostly SEC schools and is at one now. Aside from us both liking football and good sports in general, we were chasing merit and affordability, which is the theme here. When I announced my choice, so many asked me why I would go to Texas with a negative connotation. My answer was really quite simple - I’m living in a city, but more importantly a college bubble, I’m not becoming a rancher. Colleges are more alike than most people think.
I also theorize that growing up with lots of information all around, I was exposed to lots of images etc about different places which made me want to explore, even though I’d consider myself a homebody. So these days there is more N<–>S and E<–>W movement.
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Not to mention the fact that TCU is an amazing school, with happy, smart, accomplished students…
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Since state abortion laws were discussed in this thread, here is good news for anyone concerned about the restrictive law that went into effect in GA a few months ago.
"Georgia’s legislature has to pass a new law in the current political landscape, and “in the sharp glare of public attention,” for it to be legal, the judge wrote.
“Under Dobbs, it may someday become the law of Georgia, but only after our Legislature determines in the sharp glare of public attention that will undoubtedly and properly attend such an important and consequential debate whether the rights of unborn children justify such a restriction on women’s right to bodily autonomy and privacy,” the judge wrote."
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