Public universities are continuing the trend of establish honors colleges and programs in order to attract highly-talented students and provide them with an education that combines the best qualities of elite private colleges with those of public research universities.

This hybrid structure of honors programs can be difficult to analyze and evaluate. Understanding what makes a program substantial must begin with an analysis of the "ground game," the graduation requirements, the specific mix of classes by discipline, the total number of honors sections, actual class sizes, honors grad rates--and, yes, the availability of special housing and perks, including priority registration for all courses.

Are honors programs really a combination of a "liberal arts college in the midst of a prominent research university, with all the advantages of both"? This typical description of public honors programs is sometimes true, sometimes misleading, and fairly often offset by equivalent values that are not mentioned in the hype.
College choice almost always involves money. Is that private college that your National Merit Scholar has always dreamed of attending really worth an extra $30,000 a year, since all merit aid at the private college is need-based, and your income, even with a family of four, leaves such a big balance? What, then, might make a public honors option truly competitive?

It might be those eight honors math sections, or those interdisciplinary seminars at every class level, or that study-abroad stipend to attend Oxford in the summer, or that (mostly) quiet honors dorm with on-site dining, mentors, and study lounges on every floor, or the combination of writing, rhetoric, and honors business classes that will make your student a well-rounded success in life. Or the new internships and leadership courses, along with career advising. And, often, it will be that merit award worth $10,000 a year, to go with a waiver of out-of-state tuition.
Yes, honors programs are complicated, but so are your college choice decisions. To understand exactly what these programs offer, parents and prospective students need to look inside honors.

Rated Programs: Arizona, Arizona State, Arkansas, Auburn, Clemson, Colorado State, CUNY Macaulay, Delaware, FAU, Georgia, Georgia State, Houston, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, LSU, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada Reno, New Jersey Inst Tech, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Oregon, Oregon State, Penn State, Purdue, Rutgers, South Carolina, Texas Tech, UAB, Univ of Central Florida, University of South Florida, UT Austin, Vermont, Virginia Commonwealth, Washington State, and West Virginia.

Also included are these honors reviews: Alabama, Florida International, Kentucky, Mississippi State, North Carolina, Portland State, Rowan, Texas A&M, UC Irvine.

Recognized by the New York Times for his work, editor John Willingham has spent seven years researching and writing about public university honors programs. This is his fourth book on the subject.