24 June 2020

Top Undergraduate Honors Programs (Class of 2025 Edition)

Posted in Your College List, Class of 2025

Honors ProgramsHonors programs are a terrific way for academically talented students to reap the benefits of a liberal arts education within the context of a large research institution.

To give you a better sense for how this can enrich your college experience, we’ve compiled a list of undergraduate honors programs from top public and private universities across the nation. We've included admission profiles where available, program benefits, whether an extra application is required and a link to each institution's offering for more details.

Click on Continue Reading to see our list of top undergraduate honors programs now.

 

Top Undergraduate Honors Programs

Many schools offer honors programs/colleges for their students to receive a specialized experience at their university. Honors colleges are a separate and unique college within a larger university whereas honors programs aren’t part of a particular college, rather they are programs you fulfill as you get your degree at another of the university’s colleges.

Either way, the honors experience typically encompasses smaller class sizes, senior instructors, priority registration, active mentorship and access to research opportunities. 

To create the list, we looked for popular and/or highly ranked research institutions across the nation and identified those offering honors programs for incoming freshmen. Both public and private universities were considered. We then compiled admissions profiles and determined which institutions require a separate application for honors program admission.

To give you a sense for the breadth of each program, we've highlighted benefits along five dimensions:

  • Scholarship support
  • Honors housing
  • Honors classes and/or priority class registration
  • Advising and mentorship
  • Career and research opportunities

We've also included a link to each honors program website for more details.

Enjoy!

Authors

RomaGandhi Roma Gandhi is a graduate from The Harker School’s Class of 2020 and will be attending USC’s Marshall School of Business in the Fall.
AditiGhalsasi Aditi Ghalasi is a graduate from The Harker School’s Class of 2020, and she will be attending the University of Pennsylvania as part of the Jerome Fisher Program in Management in Technology.
PhilHan Phillip Han is a graduate from The Harker School’s Class of 2020 and plans to attend USC’s Marshall School of Business in the fall. He is also going to be a member of the Trojan Scholar Society in the fall, so this article hits close to home.

 


Popular Undergraduate Honors Programs

College Kickstart LLC

InstitutionStateProfileExtra App?Benefits
American University
AU Honors
DC       
Arizona State University
Barrett, The Honors College
AZ       
Auburn University
Honors College
AL GPA: 3.85
SAT: 1370-1380
ACT: 29
    
Baylor University
Honors Program
TX GPA: 3.8
SAT: 1430
ACT: 32
    
Boise State University
The Honors College at Boise State University
ID GPA: 3.5
SAT: 1240
ACT: 26
    
Boston University
Kilachand Honors College
MA         
Brigham Young University
University Honors Program
UT       
Cal Poly Pomona
Kellogg Honors College
CA       
Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
University Honors Program
CA GPA: 3.75
SAT: 1300
ACT: 29
    
City University of New York
Maucalay Honors College
NY       
Clemson University
Honors College
SC SAT: 1380
ACT: 30
    
College of Charleston
Honors Program
SC Top 10% of high school class     
Colorado School of Mines
Thorson First-Year Honors Program
CO GPA: 3.8 By invitation     
Colorado State University
Honors Program
CO GPA: 3.8       
Drexel University
Pennoni Honors College
PA       
Florida State University
University Honors Program
FL GPA: 4.4
SAT: 1500
ACT: 33
    
Fordham University
Rose Hill Honors Program
NY GPA: 3.89
SAT: 1445-1500
ACT: 32-35
By Invitation     
George Mason University
Honors College
VA       
George Washington University
University Honors Program
DC       
Georgia Institute of Technology
Georgia Tech Honors Program
GA       
Indiana University - Bloomington
Hutton Honors College
IN GPA: 3.9/3.85
SAT: 1430/1500
ACT: 32/34
Conditional     
Iowa State University
University Honors Program
IA GPA: 3.5
SAT: 1390-1410
ACT: 30
    
Louisiana State University - Baton Rouge
Roger Hadfield Ogden Honors College
LA GPA: 3.5
SAT: 1360
ACT: 30
      
Miami University
University Honors Program
OH       
Michigan State University
Honors College
MI SAT: 1440
ACT: 32
      
Mississippi State University
Shackouls Honors College
MS GPA: 3.75
SAT: 1400
ACT: 30
Conditional     
New York University
NYU Presidential Scholar
NY Top 10% of Entering Class By Invitation     
North Carolina State University
University Honors Program
NC GPA: 3.8
SAT: 1350
ACT: 30
    
Ohio State University
Honors and Scholars Programs
OH         
Ohio University
Honors Tutorial College
OH       
Oregon State University
Honors College
OR GPA: 3.75
SAT: 1300
ACT: 27
    
Pennsylvania State University - University Park
Schreyer Honors College
PA       
Purdue Univefrsity
Honors College
IN       
Rice University
Century Scholars Program
TX   By Invitation     
Rutgers University - New Brunswick
SAS Honors Program
NJ SAT: 1250
ACT: 30
Conditional     
San Diego State University
Weber Honors College
CA GPA: 3.7
SAT: 1270
ACT: 28
      
San Jose State University
Humanities Honors Program
CA GPA: 3.0+
SAT: 575 on SAT EBRW
ACT: 24
      
Santa Clara University
University Honors Program
CA SAT: 1450-1500
ACT: 33
By Invitation or Application     
Southern Methodist University
University Honors Program
TX Top 10% of Entering Class By Invitation     
SUNY Albany
The Honors College
NY GPA: 90/100
SAT: 1310
ACT: 28
Top 5% of Entering Class
      
SUNY Binghamton
University Scholars Program
NY   By invitation     
SUNY Buffalo
University Honors College
NY       
SUNY Environmental Science and Forestry
The Honors Program
NY GPA: 92/100
SAT: 1250+
ACT: 28+
Top 20% of class
      
SUNY Stony Brook
Honors College
NY GPA: 95-99/100
SAT: 1310-1450
ACT: 29-34
      
Syracuse University
Renee Crown University Honors Program
NY       
Temple University
Temple University Honors Program
PA GPA: 3.94
SAT: 1448-1600
ACT: 32
      
Texas A&M University
University Honors Program
TX GPA: 3.5
SAT: 1360
ACT: 28
Top 10% of High School Class
    
Texas Christian University
John V. Roach Honors College
TX GPA: 3.8
SAT: 1440
ACT: 33
    
Tulane University
Newcomb-Tulane College Honors Program
LA         
University of Alabama
Honors College
AL GPA: 3.5
SAT: 1360 (1310 for Alabama students)
ACT: 30 (28 for Alabama students)
    
University of Alabama - Birmingham
Honors College
AL GPA: 3.5
SAT: 1310
ACT: 28
      
University of Arizona
Honors College
AZ SAT: NA     
University of California (all campuses)
Regents Scholars
CA         
University of California - Davis
University Honors Program
CA         
University of California - Irvine
Campuswide Honors Program
CA   By Invitation     
University of California - Los Angeles
Traditional College Honors Program
CA GPA: 4.1
SAT: 1450
ACT: 31
      
University of California - Riverside
University Honors Program
CA GPA: 3.8 (UC calculated GPA) and Satisfaction of Entry Level Writing Requirement       
University of California - San Diego
Revelle Honors College
CA GPA: 3.8
SAT: New SAT subscores of 37 or higher on Reading and on Writing, and 35 or higher on Math
ACT: eq. ACT
      
University of California - Santa Barbara
Honors Program
CA         
University of California - Santa Cruz
College Scholars Program
CA   By Invitation or Application     
University of Cincinnati
University Honors Program
OH GPA: 3.6 unweighted / 3.8 weighted
SAT: 1420-1440
ACT: 32
      
University of Colorado - Boulder
Arts & Sciences Honors Program
CO   By Invitation     
University of Connecticut
Honors Program
CT SAT: 1499
ACT: 33
      
University of Delaware
Honors Program
DE GPA: 4.14-4.25
SAT: 1370-1460
ACT: 30-33
    
University of Denver
University Honors Program
CO Priority deadline     
University of Florida
Freshmen Honors Program
FL GPA: 4.5-4.7
SAT: 1400-1500
ACT: 31-34
30% admit rate
    
University of Georgia
Honors Program
GA GPA: 4.2
SAT: 1505
ACT: 34
By Invitation or Application     
University of Hawaii - Manoa
Honors Program
HI GPA: 3.5     
University of Houston
The Honors College
TX SAT: 1300
Top 10% of applicants
      
University of Illinois - Urbana Champaign
Campus Honors Program
IL         
University of Iowa
Honors Program
IA       
University of Kansas
University Honors Program
KS       
University of Maine
Honors College
ME GPA: 3.69
SAT: 1137
ACT: 27
      
University of Mary Washington
Honors Program
VA         
University of Maryland - College Park
Honors College
MD GPA: 4.6
SAT: 1460-1550
ACT: 33-35
Averages, not required
      
University of Massachusetts - Amherst
Commonwealth Honors College
MA GPA: 3.4       
University of Massachusetts - Lowell
Honors College
MA GPA: 3.25       
University of Michigan
LSA Honors Program
MI GPA: 3.9
SAT: 1435-1540
ACT: 32-34
By invitation or application     
University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
University Honors Program (UHP)
MN SAT: 1430-1540
ACT: 35
      
University of Montana
Davidson Honors College
MT GPA: 3.7
SAT: 1270
ACT: 27
    
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Nebraska Honors
NE SAT: 1430
ACT: 31.5
Recommend appkying by Early Notification Deadline
    
University of New Hampshire
University Honors Program
NH GPA: 3.75 Conditional     
University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill
Honors Carolina
NC SAT: 1420
ACT: 31
    
University of Oregon
Clark Honors College
OR GPA: 3.9
Top 90th percentile of test takers on average
    
University of Pittsburgh
Pitt Honors College
PA GPA: 3.8
SAT: 1450-1500
ACT: 32-33
    
University of Rhode Island
Honors Program
RI GPA: 3.6
SAT: 1300
ACT: 27
By Invitation     
University of South Carolina
Honors College
SC GPA: 4.68
SAT: 1440-1520
ACT: 31-34
    
University of South Dakota
Honors Program
SD GPA: 3.7
SAT: 1220
ACT: 27
Top 15% of High School Class
    
University of South Florida
Judy Genshaft Honors College
FL GPA: 4
SAT: 1400
ACT: 31
      
University of Southern California
Trojan Scholar Society
CA         
University of Tennessee - Knoxville
Chancellor's Honors
TN GPA: 3.8
ACT: 28
      
University of Texas - Austin
Honors Programs
TX       
University of Texas - Dallas
Collegium V Honors Program
TX GPA: 3.6
SAT: 1410
ACT: 31
Top 10% of entering class
      
University of Utah
Honors College
UT         
University of Vermont
Honors College
VT   By Invitation     
University of Virginia
Echols Scholars Program
VA         
University of Washington - Seattle
Honors College
WA       
University of Wisconsin - Madison
L&S Honors Program
WI Top 7.5% of College of Letters & Science     
University of Wyoming
University of Wyoming Honors College
WY         
Virginia Tech
Honors College
VA         
Washington State University
Honors College
WA       
West Virginia University
Honors College
WV GPA: 3.7
SAT: 1230
ACT: 26
By Invitation     
Yeshiva University
Jay and Jeanie Schottenstein Honors Program
NY GPA: 3.8 (94/100)
SAT: 1460
ACT: 32
    
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