I’m a junior in high school and, when researching colleges, have seen many colleges boast about their honors programs, and have seen people talk about them in CC. But what is the benefit of applying for and being accepted into these programs? I know that in high school, honors programs look good on your transcripts when you’re applying for colleges, so my thoughts are that it is similar, aka a transcript booster for grad colleges? If so, is it worth being in these programs if I’m not looking into graduate school?
Each program is different so it is important to investigate each one in its own merits. Often Honors Colleges offer things like specialized housing , early registration , increased scholarship opportunities , more mentor opportunities .
@carolinamom2boys thank you! I will keep that in mind!
Some schools have scholarship offers only for honors students. Put another way, you cant get the scholarship if you dont apply for honors. In some situations these are premium scholarships (Full tuition or full ride).
Some schools offer graduation with distinction only for honors students. This looks good and can help with jobs or grad school applications.
Some schools offer preferred housing for honors students. This ranges from themed dorms to perks not afforded to other students.
Some schools offer preferred classes for honors students, either required or optional.
Colleges want to attract students at the top of their admit ranges (where the yield is typically lower, since most students will choose to matriculate to more selective colleges). The usual way to attract students is to offer discounts in the form of scholarships, but honors programs are another means of attracting top of the range students (possibly in conjunction with scholarships). Usually the perks are meant to compensate for perceived disadvantages of the colleges offering them, relative to more selective schools. These commonly are:
- Large class sizes. Honors programs may offer smaller classes at the frosh/soph level (though some colleges offer standalone honors courses not associated with honors programs, which they may not even have).
- Registration difficulties. This is a commonly blamed reason for not graduating on time (but probably exaggerated in most cases), so including priority registration with honors programs is a cheap way of assuring those students that it will not be a problem for them.
- Housing difficulties. Honors programs may include priority on-campus housing selection. This may be more reassuring at colleges where both on-campus and off-campus housing is in short supply.
- Being surrounded by "slackers". Honors programs may include special honors housing to give students an "elite" feeling of being surrounded by other higher achievers, rather than a feeling of "why did I work so hard in high school to go to the same college with all of the 'slackers'?".
Some honors programs are very selective and offer major mentoring to those students. NCSU’s Parks Scholars, for example. https://park.ncsu.edu/the-park-experience/ I have a son who is part of UA’s CBH which focuses on preparing students for research. http://uanews.ua.edu/2015/08/uas-computer-based-honors-program-announces-freshmen-for-2015/
Those types of programs are often available to top students and offer perks beyond the typical honors college experience.
Mine (Schreyer at Penn State):
- honors housing
- early registration for classes
- honors classes (smaller)
- motivated peers
Thank you all so much! This has given me a better view of honors programs! I will definitely be researching the honors programs that my schools of interest offer!
Honors colleges or programs may also offer additional faculty mentoring, extra enrichment opportunities, and more opportunities/grants for research. Every program is different, so you need to do your research. They can be very beneficial for students seeking merit money. To get merit money you typically need to be at the top of the talent pool for the school - a strong honors program/college can make sure top students are provided enough opportunity and challenge.
To give you a flip side perspective, I was in the honors program at a small liberal arts college and I didn’t think it was worth it. I was required to be in the honors program because of my scholarship, but the only things I thought were beneficial were the pre-freshman summer discussion forums with other honors students at my college and our consortia colleges and the early registration (IIRC we registered one day early? but I don’t remember).
Small class sizes - it was an LAC; all of my classes were small.
Special classes - nah. There were some designated “honors” classes, but there were a lot of different ways to get into them, including simply talking to the professor ahead of time.
Motivated peers - nah, all of my peers were pretty equally motivated. It was kind of hard to remember who was in honors and who wasn’t, especially by the end of sophomore year.
Honors housing - the honors residence hall had pros and cons. On the one hand, it had air conditioning (not all of them did) and was newer, and we shared bathrooms with fewer people (10 people instead of about 30). On the other hand, it was mixed-level housing - all of the honors students were housed together. I would’ve rather been in a full freshman dorm, because our freshman dorms were like mini-social organizations with special Greek letters and colors and hand signals and calls and stuff! Alumnae come back to reunions 10 to 20 years later and have a special bond with the other alumnae who may have lived in their dorm in a completely different time period because of the history and traditions. Because our dorms were newer, we don’t really have that - I was the first class of freshman to live in the dorm I lived in. (Although maybe when I go to my 10-year reunion in 2018, there’ll be more people who have by then!)
So I’ll just echo everyone else and say it depends on the school! At some schools it’s a really great opportunity and at others it may not be worth the additional effort.
likely more beneficial at large state schools than small privates/LACs
@Juliette what college did you go to, if you don’t mind me asking. Also, thank you for your insight! I agree with @insanedreamer that honors colleges might be more beneficial in larger colleges. Thank you all for giving me insight!
Honors colleges are good for students who can’t afford a better private college and can’t afford a better out-of-state public. Otherwise, if you can get into your state university’s honors college, then you could probably get into a much better overall college elsewhere. Honors colleges are bogus.
They vary wildly in quality and selectivity, so grouping them all together is…wait for it…bogus.
From what I’ve seen, honors colleges/programs are more popular at public schools than private schools. There are prestigious public schools that have them (e.g. the University of Michigan), and less-prestigious private schools that don’t.
Also, some universities offer honors in certain majors without having a university-wide honors college/program.
@collegehelp That’s a pretty broad statement. My son was accepted at 2 privates and 2 instate publics including the Honors Colleges. He chose a public Honors College over both privates. And why would a student choose to go to OOS publics when they good instate choices that thousands of OOS are eager to attend ?
A couple of weeks ago, I talked to a young man who just graduated from an honor’s college at his (very large) university. He was an English major – not the world’s most “employable” field. Yet by mid-summer he had several job offers, and is now in Japan teaching English at a respected high school. He got that job – and as it turns out, all his interviews – as result of faculty recommendations - professors in the honors college who knew him, believed in him, made calls on his behalf and referred him to their various connections.
Don’t underestimate the value of having an Honor’s College on your resume - or the benefits that can come with it.
Thank you everyone for continuing to share your experiences with Honors Colleges to me! I truly appreciate it 
Don’t be enticed by the distinction of attending the “Honors” college at a less selective university when you could get into a much more selective school overall. If the average SATs at honors college X are 1400 (CR + Math) and the average OVERALL SATs are 1400 at college or university Y, you should go to college or university Y where ALL the students have the same ability as the small percent of students in the honors college. Honors colleges are a marketing ploy.
@collegehelp A student should go to a school that offers them what they need in terms of academics, social fit, finances etc. People choose colleges for a variety of reasons. Peers are one of many considerations. To make broad statements like " you should go to college X or Y where ALL the students have the same ability as a small percent of students in the students in the honors college" is an over generalization . There is no right answer for all students . To suggest that there is is inaccurate.