These Public Schools Offer an Honors College
For students looking for small classes and an academic challenge within the setting of a large public school, an honors college might be the right fit.
Publicly supported state schools often offer honors colleges as a way to attract talented students who might normally be lured away to a private school, college advising experts say.
"Select students, usually based on the strength of their academic records, may be invited to participate in an honors college, or students apply for admission into an honors college," Christine Chu, a premier college counselor at IvyWise, a New York-based education consulting company, wrote in an email. "More than an educational experience, honors college can be used as a recruiting tool."
Experts say perks of an honors college, which differ from honors programs, may include benefits such as first pick at class registration, support for research opportunities on campus and special freshman dormitories. These schools typically offer small honors classes and are led by a dean, to name other defining characteristics.
[Read: Public College Honors Programs Give Students VIP Treatment.]
"Honors colleges can make a large school feel small by offering a community of like-minded learners," Mandee Heller Adler, founder and president of Florida-based International College Counselors, wrote in an email. "The classes are usually smaller and discussion-based, enabling students to have more thoughtful conversations with peers and professors."
Students interested in honors colleges should know that the work is likely to be challenging. That's by design.
"Honors classes are usually more rigorous and students are expected to participate and excel in their classes," Adler says. "At some honors colleges, students must submit a thesis or final project during their graduation year."
State honors colleges typically have separate, and elevated, admissions requirements -- such as a set GPA and ACT or SAT scores -- after students are accepted at the main university.
[Read: ACT vs. SAT: How to Decide Which Test to Take.]
Though some honors colleges offer living and learning communities where students in the program share residential facilities, that has been upended at many schools due to the coronavirus pandemic, which has limited student housing at campuses across the U.S. Even so, experts say honors college programming continues, much of it shifting online.
"COVID-19 has impacted all colleges and universities in every way, from classroom learning to student and campus life, and these implications certainly affect the honors college experience as well, e.g., cancelled programs, affected courses, and impacted resident options," Chu says. "In general, though, universities are trying hard to do their best given their particular local situations and pivoting to alternatives in academic offerings and community-building efforts."
Adler notes that honors colleges have worked to maintain continuity through Zoom meetings and small group breakout sessions to work on projects, giving students a deeper online experience than posting on discussion boards. "While this doesn't quite compare with the usual, unique, living-learning together part of an honor college experience, schools are trying."
While the University of Alabama has the largest enrollment of any state honors college, most states offer a similar type of school housed within a larger public institution. According to data submitted in an annual survey to U.S. News, 122 ranked public colleges and universities offered an honors college in fall 2019. The list below is sorted by public honors colleges with the largest enrollment.
School (state) | U.S. NEWS rank and category | Honors college enrollment (fall 2019) |
143 (tie), National Universities | 8,266 | |
103 (tie), National Universities | 5,964 | |
97 (tie), National Universities | 4,174 | |
160 (tie), National Universities | 3,822 | |
241 (tie), National Universities | 3,609 | |
66 (tie), National Universities | 3,212 | |
187 (tie), National Universities | 2,585 | |
133 (tie), National Universities | 2,583 | |
53 (tie), National Universities | 2,506 | |
176 (tie), National Universities | 2,397 | |
187 (tie), National Universities | 2,380 | |
97 (tie), National Universities | 2,349 | |
133 (tie), National Universities | 2,342 | |
103 (tie), National Universities | 2,338 | |
153 (tie), National Universities | 2,223 | |
249 (tie), National Universities | 2,219 | |
258 (tie), National Universities | 2,020 | |
112 (tie), National Universities | 1,955 | |
143 (tie), National Universities | 1,940 | |
160 (tie), National Universities | 1,915 | |
153 (tie), National Universities | 1,831 | |
97 (tie), National Universities | 1,790 | |
176 (tie), National Universities | 1,779 | |
249 (tie), National Universities | 1,741 | |
74 (tie), National Universities | 1,734 | |
258 (tie), National Universities | 1,732 | |
28 (tie), Regional Universities (Midwest) | 1,700 | |
206 (tie), National Universities | 1,696 | |
74 (tie), National Universities | 1,684 | |
160 (tie), National Universities | 1,672 | |
217 (tie), National Universities | 1,635 | |
298-389, National Universities | 1,561 | |
58 (tie), National Universities | 1,500 | |
80 (tie), National Liberal Arts Colleges | 1,491 | |
284 (tie), National Universities | 1,482 | |
112 (tie), Regional Universities (Midwest) | 1,266 | |
143 (tie), National Universities | 1,257 | |
25, Regional Universities (South) | 1,230 | |
206 (tie), National Universities | 1,208 | |
298-389, National Universities | 1,191 | |
298-389, National Universities | 1,177 | |
88 (tie), National Universities | 1,142 | |
196 (tie), National Universities | 1,112 | |
298-389, National Universities | 1,095 | |
298-389, National Universities | 1,094 | |
298-389, National Universities | 1,047 | |
176 (tie), National Universities | 1,045 | |
58 (tie), National Universities | 1,029 | |
298-389, National Universities | 1,020 | |
272 (tie), National Universities | 1,010 | |
258 (tie), National Universities | 980 | |
118 (tie), National Universities | 958 | |
160 (tie), National Universities | 910 | |
8, Regional Universities (South) | 852 | |
298-389, National Universities | 835 | |
60 (tie), Regional Universities (Midwest) | 830 | |
3, Regional Universities (South) | 811 | |
206 (tie), National Universities | 748 | |
227 (tie), National Universities | 746 | |
45 (tie), Regional Universities (South) | 730 | |
84 (tie), National Liberal Arts Colleges | 726 | |
118 (tie), National Universities | 726 | |
284 (tie), National Universities | 723 | |
272 (tie), National Universities | 723 | |
227 (tie), National Universities | 692 | |
298-389, National Universities | 684 | |
196 (tie), National Universities | 677 | |
187 (tie), National Universities | 675 | |
217 (tie), National Universities | 662 | |
298-389, National Universities | 655 | |
26 (tie), Regional Universities (South) | 631 | |
258 (tie), National Universities | 591 | |
298-389, National Universities | 591 | |
258 (tie), National Universities | 590 | |
298-389, National Universities | 549 | |
64, Regional Universities (West) | 548 | |
298-389, National Universities | 514 | |
103-133, Regional Universities (South) | 500 | |
272 (tie), National Universities | 479 | |
67 (tie), Regional Universities (North) | 479 | |
298-389, National Universities | 479 | |
160 (tie), National Universities | 471 | |
50 (tie), Regional Universities (North) | 423 | |
272 (tie), National Universities | 408 | |
160 (tie), National Universities | 407 | |
118 (tie), National Universities | 407 | |
10 (tie), Regional Universities (West) | 389 | |
88 (tie), National Universities | 370 | |
298-389, National Universities | 362 | |
16 (tie), Regional Universities (South) | 362 | |
83 (tie), Regional Universities (North) | 357 | |
298-389, National Universities | 311 | |
298-389, National Universities | 307 | |
176 (tie), National Universities | 301 | |
33 (tie), Regional Universities (South) | 298 | |
121 (tie), Regional Universities (North) | 280 | |
112 (tie), Regional Universities (Midwest) | 270 | |
96 (tie), Regional Universities (North) | 268 | |
73 (tie), Regional Universities (South) | 265 | |
73 (tie), Regional Universities (South) | 265 | |
131, Regional Universities (North) | 257 | |
284 (tie), National Universities | 246 | |
40 (tie), Regional Universities (South) | 228 | |
196 (tie), National Universities | 200 | |
298-389, National Universities | 197 | |
298-389, National Universities | 193 | |
88 (tie), Regional Universities (North) | 174 | |
47 (tie), Regional Universities (West) | 167 | |
298-389, National Universities | 165 | |
99 (tie), Regional Universities (South) | 158 | |
132 (tie), Regional Universities (North) | 156 | |
153 (tie), National Universities | 134 | |
41, Regional Colleges (South) | 129 | |
89 (tie), Regional Universities (South) | 127 | |
298-389, National Universities | 111 | |
47 (tie), Regional Universities (South) | 88 | |
298-389, National Universities | 80 | |
121 (tie), Regional Universities (North) | 54 | |
85, Regional Universities (Midwest) | 53 | |
36 (tie), Regional Colleges (South) | 46 | |
56 (tie), Regional Universities (North) | 40 | |
217 (tie), National Universities | 30 |
The honors colleges data above is correct as of Feb. 22, 2021. For complete financial aid data, full rankings and much more, access the U.S. News College Compass.
