<p>A new ranking of the Top 10 Honors Colleges in the country was just released.
Source: A REVIEW OF FIFTY PUBLIC UNIVERSITY HONORS PROGRAMS (New</a>! Top Programs! | Public University Honors).</p>
<p>Top 10- Overall Excellence (honors curriculum, prestigious undergraduate and postgraduate scholarships, honors retention and graduation rates, honors housing, study-abroad programs, and priority registration):</p>
<ol>
<li>University of Michigan
<ol>
<li>University of Virginia</li>
<li>University of Texas at Austin</li>
<li>University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill</li>
<li>Arizona State University</li>
<li>University of Washington</li>
<li>University of Minnesota</li>
<li>Michigan State University</li>
<li>University of South Carolina</li>
<li>University of Georgia</li>
</ol></li>
</ol>
<p>Top 10- Honors Factors (everything in Overall Excellence, except prestigious undergraduate and postgraduate scholarships):</p>
<ol>
<li>University of South Carolina
<ol>
<li>University of Texas at Austin</li>
<li>University of Michigan</li>
<li>Arizona State University</li>
<li>Michigan State University</li>
<li>University of Georgia</li>
<li>University of Delaware</li>
<li>University of Virginia</li>
<li>University of Minnesota</li>
<li>Penn State University</li>
</ol></li>
</ol>
<p>The full 275 page book, which it seems will include loads of statistics and detailed analysis, is set to be released at some point in April. </p>
<p>I thought the differences between the first and second lists were interesting. I don’t thinnk it should come as a shock that UVA and UNC win their fair share of prestigious scholarships, but I was surprised by how disproportionate of an impact the scholarships had on their rankings. I would imagine that they outline the weights (percentages) assigned to each category in the book, but scholarships and awards must account for a huge portion of the Overall Excellence score. </p>
<p>I think South Carolina at #1 in Honor Factors makes sense since the school just built a new honors dorm and the program is one of the oldest in the country. I also hear Barrett at ASU is outstanding, though I can see them getting dinged on return and graduation just based on the high turnover rate at the university.</p>
<p>I also thought this was exactly the type of thing USNWR would realease. In fact, I’m surprised they haven’t done something like this yet considering they rank everything else.</p>
<p>The lists posted here previously do not reflect the “FINAL” rankings on the site or in the book, but they’re similar. </p>
<p>Yeah, the site is set up for the book, but the site and the book both have a lot of data + 1,000 word profiles. There is also a color chart after each profile. Each chart shows how the program does in all the stats categories. Also compares school’s U.S. News rank to honors rank to show how honors can add value.</p>
<p>The top programs in the Overall Excellence are:</p>
<ol>
<li>Michigan LSA</li>
<li>Virginia Eschols</li>
<li>Texas Plan II</li>
<li>North Carolina</li>
<li>ASU–Barrett</li>
<li>Washington</li>
<li>Georgia</li>
<li>Penn State Schreyer</li>
<li>Minnesota</li>
<li>Michigan State</li>
</ol>
<p>You are right about the prestigious scholarships counting for a lot in the Overall Excellence=25%. Curriculum is the big one, 35% in Overall Excellence. Even more in Honors Factors since scholarships are out in that one. Grad rates are 20%, housing is 10%, study-abroad 7.5%, priority registration 2.5%.</p>
<p>I’m not attending, but Michigan State’s honor program seemed fantastic. </p>
<p>I went of two or three visits there and it seemed that there were very few limitations placed on honors students.</p>
<p>If I remember correctly they are allowed to create their own major, ignore pre-reqs and take upper level/graduate level classes, as well as having priority scheduling, tons of research opportunities, and a lot of students I talked to studied abroad several times.</p>
<p>The site didn’t include Utah in the 50 it reviews. It explains:</p>
<p>“the guidebook will include all public universities ranked in the top 75 by the most recent U.S. News survey, except for UC Berkeley, UC Santa Cruz, and the College of William & Mary. In addition, we will review honors programs from all public universities that are members of the research-oriented Association of American Universities except, again, UC Berkeley. Finally, we have included a relatively small number of universities that do not fall into one of the above categories but that have nonetheless received recognition as having exceptional honors programs. Among the universities’ honors programs in this category are the Barrett Honors College at Arizona State University, the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College at the University of Mississippi, and the Honors College at the University of South Carolina.”</p>
<p>Due to financial considerations and extracurricular priorities, our S chose to focus on public Honors programs. His decision came down to ASU-Barrett and Georgia (for which he’s in-state). We were really impressed with Barrett and pleasantly surprised by ASU as a whole. It’s a lot more all-encompassing than your typical Honors program - its own section of campus with seven dorms and a student center, full-time faculty, extensive programming, etc. Georgia offered entering SATs equal to Dartmouth’s and free tuition, and that was ultimately his choice. It was tough for him to let go of Barrett, however.</p>
<p>The site says most of the weight in rankings come from the percentage of curriculum that is actual honors study, across all four years. Honors housing, study abroad, grad rates, and perks like priority registration also count.</p>
<p>the 2012 version is a good one to skim if your offspring is considering honors programs. While yes, they do rank. They also categorize by “style” of program, and they strongly suggest that the student shop for the right “fit”. Rankings alone are a very bad way to make a choice.</p>
<p>This is the kind of book I would have liked to have had during the research component of this process. And here it turns out there was a 2012 edition. I wish I had known.</p>
<p>This thread was started in 2012, but is very much related to info currently being discussed. Anymore input on public honors colleges…what to look for, how to evaluate?</p>
<p>Ask about how rigorous the upper division courses are. After all, a student’s schedule will primarily consist of “normal” courses by the junior, if not sophomore year. </p>
<p>@whenhen, Actually, that’s one of the things I’d like to have info about in these programs…just how many courses are taken within the honors program and how many ‘normal’ courses the honors student would take. </p>
<p>@shoboemom I completely forgot about this thread! There is a difference between an honors program and an honors college, in the same way that there is a difference between say a school of nursing and a college of nursing. I think the definition varies a bit, but a college is degree-granting, sits higher in an organizational chart, has its own dean, and generally receives much more funding. </p>
<p>I applied to a number of schools and in the end decided between UVA Honors Program and South Carolina Honors College. The former was a series of scholar programs housed in certain colleges (A&S and Engineering I believe). The program had fewer dedicated resources; rather, it shared most of its space and faculty with the general population. Thinking about it another way, the honors program probably represented a certain percentage of their FTE, say 25% (no idea if this is accurate, just an example). There also wasn’t a designated honors dorm, which in my experience hugely contributed to the feeling of being in a distinct environment.</p>
<p>SCHC on the other hand is a college at the same level as the College of Business, the College of Arts & Science, the College of Education, etc. It grants its own interdisciplinary degree for those interested, otherwise students take a minimum number of honors credits. Since most upper level courses are smaller by design, this means that Honors students take smaller, more rigorous prereq classes. There is a separate honors dorm with dedicated classrooms and an honors building with its own advising, fellowship/grant support, and administration. The other major difference is the initial admissions process. A lot of universities automatically enroll the top 5-10% of students in the honors program. A separate application gives the honors college more control over the size and composition of the class, guarantees that its students are motivated enough to complete a lengthy and intense second application, and allows it to select from candidates that might have scored lower on test scores.</p>
<p>I know this is not unique to USC, there are plenty of honors colleges across the country. I just thought I would illustrate how the structure impacts the quality of the experience.</p>