I thought it was time to raise my head from the ocean of data I am crunching for the 2016 edition of our Review.
Since we have much more–and much better–data this time around, the book itself will be even more data-driven than its predecessors. We will still have narrative profiles for each program/honors college under review, but it’s likely that within each narrative there will be a table that summarizes our findings.
Here is some of what readers will see in the new edition:
Class Sizes–Instead of reporting only the average class size for honors-only classes, we will show, in addition to honors-only class sizes, the average class sizes for mixed sections (classes with honors credit but including some or many non-honors students), and even the class sizes for honors contract sections (regular classes in which honors students do extra work for honors credit). What I can say at this point is that the total class size metric will be based on a combination of the above. This change alone could result is some significant changes in our ratings.
Contract Sections–In the past, we have focused on regular honors sections, and we are somewhat tardy in giving some attention to a fairly widespread practice in honors education: contract sections. These are sometimes called honors options, honors enhancements, etc. As noted above, these sections generally feature an agreement between the honors student and instructor (as approved by honors staff) according to which the student does extra work to earn honors credit. In a few programs, honors contracts may account for more than 30% of the total honors class enrollment in a given term. The 2016 edition will present views on the relative value of these types of classes. There are many pros, as well as some cons. Stay tuned.
Course Offerings, by Academic Department–In the 2014 edition, we tried to give readers an idea of the general range and type of honors classes offered by each honors college or program. Although we did approximate estimates of honors classes by academic discipline, I thought that that aspect of the 2014 ratings was surely the most subjective. This time around, the number of classes by discipline will be strictly quantified so our readers can know how many honors sections are available, and in a ratio to total honors participants.
Courses in “Key” Disciplines–It goes without saying that one person’s choice of “key” academic disciplines will probably not be the same as another person’s choice. What we plan to do is emphasize the classes in disciplines that we believe should be offered by honors programs, regardless of how popular the discipline might be as a major. For example, relatively few college students major in philosophy and many students (and parents) might not place much “value” on courses in that discipline. But honors students are supposed to be different–more motivated, more curious, more open, and more capable of in-depth critical thinking. From the more obviously practical perspective, we also place speech and communications classes in the key group. (One reason we favor small classes for honors students is that those classes typically require students to develop argumentation and group communication skills.)
Other “key” disciplines that we will quantify are biology; business and related disciplines; chemistry; computer science and related disciplines; economics; English; engineering; history; math; physics; political science; psychology; and anthropology/sociology.
So, if you want to know how many honors chemistry sections a program offers, or how many of those relatively scarce honors polysci, econ, or physics sections are available, we will tell you how each program stacks up.
The University of Arkansas and the University of Alabama each have two Truman Scholars for 2016, leading all public universities. Almost half of the 54 Truman Scholars this year are students at public universities, and most are honors students.
Truman Scholars receive up to $30,000 for graduate study. Scholars also receive priority admission and supplemental financial aid at premier graduate institutions, leadership training, career and graduate school counseling and special internship opportunities within the federal government.
Recipients must be U.S. citizens, have outstanding leadership potential and communication skills, be academically excellent and be committed to careers in government or the nonprofit sector.
The Truman program drew 775 candidates nominated by 305 colleges and universities. The recipients were chosen from 197 finalists by 16 independent selection panels on the basis of the students’ academic success and leadership accomplishments, as well as their likelihood of becoming public service leaders.
The program has selected 3,077 Truman Scholars since the first awards were made in 1977.
Below are the 2016 awardees who attend public universities:
Victoria Maloch, a member of the honors college at the University of Arkansas
Daniela Estrada, University of California-Irvine
Elizabeth Hale, an honors program student at Colorado State University
Sarah Hartman, an honors program student at the University of Delaware
Amalia Gomez-Rexrode, University of Michigan
Wendy Ruiz, Florida International University
Dana Sweeney, an honors college student at the University of Alabama
Zoie Sheets, an honors college student at University of Illinois-Chicago
Danielle Neighbour, an honors college student at the University of Arkansas
Hannah Wilson, a McConnell Scholar at the University of Louisville
Chauncey Stephens,a student in the Ogden Honors College at Louisiana State University
Lia Petrose, a student in the honors college at the University of Pittsburgh
Natalie Jones, a member of the honors college at Mississippi State University
Maria Kalaitzandonakes, University of Missouri
Levi Birky, an honors college student at Montana State University
Hannah Kelley, a member of the honors college at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas
Madelaine Britt, University at Buffalo SUNY
Jed Hanson, University of North Dakota
Jeremy Allen, University of Oklahoma
Jory Fleming, a Capstone Scholar at the University of South Carolina
Josh Arens, an honors student at the University of South Dakota
Vaughn Vargas, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
Zoraima Pelaez, a Liberal Arts Honors student at the University of Texas at Austin
Madelyn Fife, an honors student and Huntsman Scholar at Utah State University
Jill Ferguson, a Rodman Scholar at the University of Virginia
By John Willingham
Editor, Public University Honors
When parents and prospective students (not to mention college junkies) want to “know” about a college, what they want most is to get a sense of what it’s “really like,” the inside story so to speak.
Most college rankings focus only on what can be measured: test scores, class sizes, financial resources, selectivity, grad and retention rates, the salaries graduates can receive. Some non-numerical ratings–the famous Fiske guide, for example–focus less on formal measures and do offer narratives that provide impressionistic glimpses of campus life. Taken together, rankings and good rating guidebooks provide much excellent information.
But surely a big part of the “what’s it really like” story has to be not only the graduation requirements but also the actual classes and coursework required for graduation. How many courses are available in your student’s proposed major? Are there interdisciplinary seminars? How about access to mentors and support for undergraduate research, both more likely if small classes are offered.
Yes, you can read about courses if you work your way through undergraduate catalogues. In some cases there will be course descriptions. But what you probably won’t find in catalogues are the number of sections and the actual enrollment in each one. What I have found during five years of analyzing public honors programs and colleges is that one cannot come close to understanding the real nature of these programs without poring over the actual class sections–and course descriptions.
When the first edition of A Review of Fifty Public University Honors Programs appeared in April 2012, I realized that it was a tentative step in the process of trying to analyze and report on the most important characteristics of honors programs in prominent state universities.
What I failed to understand was just how “tentative” that first effort was.
The original emphasis was on honors curriculum and completion requirements, and the overriding idea was that the more honors classes a student had to take, the more that student would benefit from what I called “honors contacts” at the time. Honors students would have more contact with professors in smaller honors classes; they would find a ready cohort of serious students like themselves; they would have far more research opportunities, again allowing more contact with professors.
If honors programs sought to provide an Ivy or liberal arts education in the midst of a large public university setting, then the extent of honors contacts within that larger context would measure how well the program was meeting its mission.
I continue to believe the curriculum completion requirements are at the heart of an honors program or college. But those requirements only quantify the total number of credits a student must earn to graduate; they do not speak to the range of honors courses offered in each academic discipline, or to how small the classes really are, or to the type of class experiences that are available (seminars, lectures, labs). The credit requirements do not yield an impression of how creative a program is or how interesting its courses may be.
In other words, the emphasis on the bare curriculum completion requirements does not get at the heart (some might say guts) of an honors program.
Now, with more than 90 percent of our data for the new 2016 edition in house, we have begun to explore the inside of honors education at 60 public universities, which means a somewhat tedious analysis of data for approximately 9,000 honors class sections.
Here are examples of what we learn from this work:
How to develop basic classifications for the honors programs and colleges. The courses tell us whether a given program is a “core” program, a “blended program,” or a “department-based” program. A relatively small program with small, honors-only seminars along with relatively few set science and math requirements is a core program. Generally larger programs (some with more than 6,000 students) can be “blended” or “department-based.” If blended, they will have a large number of all-honors seminars, perhaps one-third to one-half of the total honors courses available, and the remainder of courses will be more narrowly defined by the academic departments. Department-based programs might offer a few seminars but offer most honors sections through the academic departments. If a blended or department-based program has a lot of “mixed” class sections (honors students plus non-honors students in the same sections), we can then pass along this information to readers, who may or may not care that many sections are mixed.
How to asses the size of class sections. We have actual enrollment levels for the 9,000 class sections we review. This will allow us to tell readers about the overall average class size for all honors sections, including mixed sections which tend to be larger. From this, readers will gain an idea of how much close interaction with “honors contacts” is likely.
How many honors classes are “contract” or “add-on” sections. Contract sections require an honors student to sign an agreement with the instructor specifying the extra work the student will do to earn honors credit. Most contract sections have only a very few honors students. The same is generally true of “add-on” sections, but these are somewhat more formal in that they are regularly offered term after term and have more established requirements that honors students have to meet to earn honors credit in a regular section. Readers may or may not like the idea of this type of section. Are they less rigorous? Is the flexibility they allow worth it? Our data indicate that in our data set of 60 programs, these types of classes may be about 25 percent of total honors sections. Please note that about two-thirds of programs offer contract or add-on sections for credit, but only five or six offer them on a large scale.
So…to know what “it’s really like really like” in honors program A or honors college B, you have to put yourself in the classroom, so to speak, and get a feel for the characteristics and subject matter of those class sections. Do you want the feel of a small, closely-knit program with a well-defined curriculum and rigorous seminars? Do you want the intimacy of seminars but also the nuts and bolts offered by a broad range of departmental honors classes? Or, are you mainly interested in having as many class choices in as many disciplines as possible, even if some of your classes will be mixed and relatively larger than the all-honors sections.
Once we have finished our “classroom work,” we should be able to give you a better sense of what 60 prominent honors programs and colleges are, in fact, like.
Note: This post has now been updated on October 7, 2019, to include the most recent data from the 130 public and private universities listed below. Merit scholarships are fewer than ever, and the awards are generally smaller, though some are still generous. In fact, an increasing number of colleges are offering only minimal National Merit Scholarships, if any. Most “merit” scholarships that remain are not linked specifically to National Merit, although finalists do of course make strong candidates for almost any merit awards.
Most universities now refer to their most valuable merit awards as “distinguished” or “academic” or “presidential” scholarships, avoiding the specific mention of National Merit status. NMS has become somewhat controversial, as has merit aid in general, because many advocates for more equity in higher ed believe merit money should be allocated for need-based aid.
In most cases this does not mean that National Merit Finalists and Semifinalists have a lesser shot at the scholarships, although a few schools now emphasize high test scores more than they do NMS standing. One reason could be that some states have relatively low NMS/PSAT cutoff scores. Students from these states might have, for example, an SAT confirming score of 1420 or so, versus an SAT confirming score of around 1550 for students from states with higher PSAT cutoff scores. It appears that in place of NMS status specifically, an SAT score of 1550 (ACT 35) or higher is now more important that NMS status for selective institutions and programs.
Many of the scholarships offered by the public and private institutions listed below are NOT restricted to National Merit Scholars. We include them to show “full ride” and other high-value options. If you find an error below, please notify editor@publicuniversityhonors.com.
The colleges below in bold are those that still specify National Merit status for at least some of their major awards. These offer National Merit aid of $1,000 a year or more. Although automatic scholarships specifically tied to National Merit status are in decline, National Merit Finalists will almost always be among the top candidates for merit awards.
Many elite colleges and universities offer few or no merit awards of any kind now, because they believe that they need to allocate their funds only on the basis of financial need.
Another post on this site lists the colleges that offer the prestigious Stamps Scholarships.
These range from tuition to full ride, and in some cases, these are the only merit scholarships offered by the college.
And here is a list published by U.S. News that shows colleges with highest percentage of merit aid, based on enrollment. This map does not assess actual net remaining costs after merit aid, however.
In this post, we will provide a table that shows 130 universities, public and private, which provide full or partial tuition, tuition “plus”, or full ride, and full ride merit scholarships. In most cases, the tuition is at least at the in-state level. Tuition “plus” means that the extra award can include stipends or one or more years of housing. Full ride is tuition, room, board, and often additional funds for study abroad, conferences, and other activities.
The more prestigious the university, the more likely it is that the test score and GPA requirements will at least match stats for National Merit Finalists, even if the scholarship is not tied directly to National Merit awards. It is noteworthy that universities previously known for “full rides” have lowered the merit offerings, often to a level below that of a true full ride, especially for National Merit Scholars.
Note: Merit scholarships are constantly changing; the list below is at best a snapshot for 2019-2020.
It is important to know that some of the universities listed offer VERY FEW scholarships of the type listed. For example, the Jefferson Scholarships at the University of Virginia are valued at $150,000 (in-state) and $280,000 (OOS), but only 36 extremely fortunate students are selected from more than 2,000 candidates. These students must be nominated by participating high schools in different regions of the nation.
Again, colleges that continue to offer National Merit-specific scholarships that are greater than $1,000 per year are in bold.
University
Award Type
InState/OOS
Alabama
full ride 5 yrs, 4 yrs housing+stipend, finalist
Both
Appalachian St
Chancellors schols
Both
Arizona
tuition plus, stackable
Both
Arizona State
tuition plus, stackable
Both
Arkansas
equiv full? New Arkansan+Chancellor’s
Both
Auburn
up to full tuition with high test scores, gpa
Both
Baylor
NMS finalist, faculty schol full tuition; gold schols $80k+
Both
Boston College
tuition Presidential Schols only 15/yr
Both
Boston University
tuition Trustee Schols 20 per yr
Both
Case Western
Wolf scholars, full ride; Squire, Treuhaft tuition
Both
Centre
full ride plus, Brown Fellows; several at $20k+
Both
Chicago
$5k to $10k/yr
Both
Cincinnati
full ride Cincinnatus; Presidential NMS $44k
In State
Clark
full ride, five LEEP/yr; others up to $20k/yr
Both
Clemson
full ride 12 National Schols, via honors college
Both
Colorado College
limited number $2500 to $5000/ semester
Both
Connecticut
Stamps full ride very few; nutmeg full tuition?
In State
Cooper Union
half tuition ($22,275/yr) for all enrolled
Both
Davidson
full ride Belk Scholarship
Both
Delaware
trustee scholars, $15k–$17k per year
Both
Denison
from $5k to full tuition
Both
Drake
full ride, six national alumni scholarships
Both
Drexel
up to tuition, Drexel Merit
Both
Duke
several full ride: BN & AB Duke, Robertson, etc.
Both
Emory
Woodruff schols full ride, others partial
Both
Florida
full ride Benacquisto
Both
Florida St
full ride Benacquisto
Both
Fordham
presidential full ride plus $5k/yr
Both
Furman
James Duke schol, tuition plus $5k in stipends
Both
Georgia
Foundation fellows, full, no engineering
Both
Georgia State
Presidential 22k/yr in st; 31k/yr OOS
Both
Georgia Tech
Stamps full ride top 1% Gtech; no NMS spons
Both
Harvey Mudd
tuition 8 presidential schols
Both
Holy Cross
a few tuition grants for specific majors
Both
Houston
NM finalist full tuition; stackable Tier One, Terry
Both
Idaho
full ride
Both
Illinois
Stamps full ride + $12k very few
In State
Indiana
$2k/yr plus Dean’s up to $11k/yr?
Both
Iowa
NM finalist $3k/yr plus others up to $8500/yr
Both
Iowa State
full tuition
In State
Kansas
$10k year; KU Excellence $16.2k/yr OOS
In State
Kent St
$1k to $3k
Both
Kentucky
Singletary, Patterson tuition + housing stipend, might be stackable with others
Both
Kenyon
multiple half and full tuition; others at $25k/yr
Both
Lehigh
NMF $1k-$2k; Founders, Trustee full/half tuition
Both
Louisville
NMF $20k; Brown scholars (10) tuition plus
Both?
Loyala Chicago
$17k to $25k/yr
Both
LSU
Stamps 10/yr full ride plus; also others $9k/yr
Both
Maine
NM semifinalist tuition plus
Both
Maryland
full ride Banneker/Key 150 per year
Both
Massachusetts
tuition credits plus, Chancellor’s, Dean’s etc.
Mostly OOS
Miami Univ
NMS $1-2k; others half/full tuition acc to sat/act
Both
Michigan St
“Distinguished” schols award then tuition and/or full ride
Both
Michigan
up to $20k per year; a few Stamps, full ride
Both
Michigan Tech
Leading Scholar award, in-state full ride, OOS tuition
Both
Minnesota
Gold Scholarships 10k year + $1k NM finalist
Both
Minnesota Morris
NM finalists, full tuition; plus others up to $4k/yr
Both
Mississippi
appears to approach full ride
Both
Mississippi St
full ride presidential SAT 1450+ or maybe lower
Both
Nebraska
tuition Regents ACT 32+
Both
Nevada Las Vegas
NM finalist $10k/yr plus $5k study abroad
Both
Nevada Reno
NM finalist $16k/yr plus others stackable
Both
New Hampshire
$5k-$10k
Both
New Mexico
NM finalist In state tuition & housing, OOS $36k
Both
New Mexico St
tuition & fees + $5k stipend + one yr housing
Both
NJIT
tuition plus, must be in honors college
Both
North Carolina
full ride few Robertson Scholars
Both
NC Charlotte
Levine full ride, 20 per year
Both
North Carolina St
full ride Park Scholars mostly in state or region
In Region
Northeastern
NM finalists =”competitive” award, $25-$30k???
Both
Notre Dame
Stamps full ride; a few others at $25k/yr
Both
Ohio St
54k to full ride (for Eminence Fellows) 25/yr
Both
Ohio Univ
Cutler scholarship = $92k across 4 years
Both
Oklahoma St
NM finalists full ride OOS $145k
Both
Oklahoma
1560 SAT =full ride; NM finalist only= 80% total cost in state, but stackable options too
Both
Oregon
NM finalist $2k/yr; Stamps full ride, 10; presidential = $9k yr
Both
Oregon St
$40k total presidential scholarship
Both
Pitt
full ride Chancellor’s Scholarship, 10-12 yr
Both
Purdue
Beering and Stamps full ride+, few; trustees $10k or $12-$16k OOS
Both
Rhodes
several from $22k to $35k
Both
Rice
tuition for income $65-$130; half tuition for income < $200k
Both
Richmond
up to $2k NM only; 5k to full ride for Richmond Scholars
Both
RIT
$2k plus $20k per year nms finalists
Both
Rose-Hulman
Class of 1940 schol half of total cost
Both
Rochester
2k to full tuition Dean’s Scholarships
Both
RPI
Rensselaer medal $25k/yr math & science
Both
Rutgers
$1k NM only; $3500 to $28k other awards
Both
Santa Clara
Johnson schols (5) full ride; presidential full tuition
Both
SMU
NMF only $5k; full tuition and fees presidential
Both
South Carolina
Top Scholars (40) $127k to $176k OOS), avg SAT 1552
Both
Southern Illinois
full ride Chancellor’s
Both
Southern Miss
NMF full ride; NMSF tuition
Both
Stevens Inst Tech
tuition Neupauer, Stevens
Both
St. Louis Univ
NMF only $2k; tuition Presidential; others $8-$23k
Both
Swarthmore
McCabe Schols tuition minimum; up to full cost dep on need
Both
Syracuse
1870 schol =tuition; Coronat tuition plus lib arts
Both
TCU
NMF $2k/yr; tuition Chancellors 1500/34 tests
Both
Temple
$3k to full tuition for President’s scholars
Both
Texas A&M
$33k minimum total; also Brown Schols full ride
Both
Texas St
10 k/year NMF
Both
Texas Tech
NM finalist full ride
Both
Trinity San Antonio
tuition, 20 awarded, Trinity Tower; also Murchision $26k/yr
Both
Truman St
full ride 12 Pershing Scholarships + $4k
Both
Tulane
tuition plus, Dean’s Honor, Paul Tulane, 5 Stamps full ride
Both
Tulsa
tuition Presidential, about 65 per year
Both
UCF
full ride Benacquisto
Both
USF
full ride Benacquisto
Both
UCLA
Regents Scholars $2k/year; 150 for all UC Campuses
Both
UC Berkeley
Regents Scholars $2k/year; 150 for all UC Campuses
Each year, we provide an update of Goldwater scholarships won by public university students, and public universities did extraordinarily well in 2016, winning 136 out of 252 scholarships awarded this year. The percentage of scholars is slightly down from 2015, when 152 out of 260 scholars were from state universities.
We provide this update because Goldwater scholars are all still undergraduates, and their selection is an indication of the undergraduate research opportunities at their universities. The Goldwater Scholarship is also a strong predictor of postgraduate success.
“The Goldwater Scholars were selected on the basis of academic merit from a field of 1,150 mathematics, science, and engineering students who were nominated by the institutional representatives of 415 colleges and universities nationwide,” according to the Goldwater Foundation.
“One hundred forty-four of the Scholars are men, 108 are women, and virtually all intend to obtain a Ph.D. as their degree objective. Thirty Scholars are mathematics majors, 157 are science and related majors, 59 are majoring in engineering, and 6 are computer science majors. Many of the Scholars have dual majors in a variety of mathematics, science, engineering, and computer disciplines.
“The one and two year scholarships will cover the cost of tuition, fees, books, and room and board up to a maximum of $7,500 per year.
“Goldwater Scholars have very impressive academic qualifications that have garnered the attention of prestigious post-graduate fellowship programs. Recent Goldwater Scholars have been awarded 86 Rhodes Scholarships, 125 Marshall Awards, 134 Churchill Scholarships, and numerous other distinguished fellowships such as the National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowships.”
In 2015, six public universities had the maximum of four Goldwater scholars, but in 2016 there are four: CUNY Macaulay Honors, Maryland, the University of North Texas, and Wisconsin. In 2015, ten public universities had three scholars, and ten also have three scholars in 2016: Arizona State, Auburn, Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland-Baltimore County, Miami Ohio, Montana State, Oklahoma, Pitt, and Stony Brook.
Here are the public universities with two Goldwater scholars in 2016:
Alabama
Arizona
Arkansas
Connecticut
Delaware
Georgia
Illinois
Kansas
Kansas State
Michigan
Minnesota
NC State
South Carolina
South Dakota
Utah
UC Santa Barbara
Iowa State
Youngstown State
Ohio State
William and Mary
West Virginia
The University of Houston–Downtown, located on the historic Buffalo Bayou in the heart of our nation’s fourth largest city, is one of four distinct universities within the University of Houston System. With an enrollment of over 14,000 students, UH-D is the second largest university in Houston, exceeded only by the University of Houston flagship campus located just 5 miles to the south.
UH-D is also the most ethnically diverse university in Texas, and ranks among the top 40 schools in the nation for graduating African-American and Hispanic students with bachelor’s degrees.
UH-D attracts talented students with 44 undergraduate majors, 8 master’s degree programs, and one of the lowest tuition rates of four-year universities in the state. For students interested in taking on an extra challenge, however, the University Honors Program is a good option.
The University Honors Program admitted its first students in 2014. In the fall of 2016, approximately 30 incoming freshmen will join the 50 students currently enrolled in the program.
Interested students must complete a written application. While applications are reviewed holistically, priority consideration is given to students meeting established criteria for SAT/ACT scores, high school GPA, and high school class rank. According to Mari L. Nicholson-Preuss, Ph.D., Director of the University Honors Program, the written application “provides students with the opportunity to elaborate on their academic experience and achievements in the areas of scholarship, leadership and citizenship.”
The application includes a required essay, an optional personal statement, and space for a URL in case the applicant would like to submit a link to supplemental information, such as a portfolio or a YouTube video.
Should a student’s high school record fall short of the criteria required for priority consideration, Dr. Nicholson-Preuss encourages him or her to apply by submitting, along with the application, a high school transcript as well as additional evidence of achievement.
According to Dr. Nicholson-Preuss, “[t]he options for additional evidence are rather broad and should allow the student to build a case as to why they should be admitted to the program. Supplemental evidence could include AP/IB scores, letters of recommendation, completion of leadership programs, capstone projects, service projects, University Interscholastic League, and other academic awards and honors, portfolios and writing samples.”
Once accepted into the University Honors Program, students commit to meet with both the director and a peer mentor each month, to attend one hour of weekly honors study hall each week, and to participate in at least 3 honors events each semester. Freshmen and sophomore students are expected to enroll in at least 30 credit hours per academic year, including 18 hours in Honors sections over the 2 years. In order to graduate from the University Honors Program, a student must maintain a 3.25 GPA and complete 30 hours of Honors credits.
Program perks include an Honors Lounge, the peer mentor program, social events such as attending a Houston Astros baseball game, scholarship opportunities, special lectures, invitations to community events, priority course registration, smaller classes, and opportunities to represent the university in public.
Honors students also have opportunities to take “linked courses”, and benefit from overlapping content or focus. The Honors Program is also developing additional thematically linked courses, focusing particularly on those that enhance UH-D’s commitment to service-based learning, community engagement, and social justice issues.
This is an exciting time to be part of the new Honors community at UH-D, as it continues to develop additional Honors courses and innovative plans for the future.
Thirteen of the 35 Gates Cambridge Scholars for 2016 are from public universities, and another three scholars are from the U.S. Naval Academy. Our special congratulations to new scholars from the University of Oregon and the University of South Carolina for being the first from the schools to win the award. They and several other winners this year are present or former honors program students.
Gates Cambridge Scholarships are the most generous awards we track. They cover tuition (“composition fees”) of about $30,000 a year at the University of Cambridge for one to three years of graduate study. Scholars also receive annual stipends of about $21,000 for housing and maintenance. Other benefits include the costs of airfare to and from England, conference travel, and annual retreats to the lake country.
Successful candidates must have at least a 3.70 GPA and be graduating seniors or graduates. Although many Gates Cambridge Scholars are STEM students, the award is not restricted to scholars in the STEM disciplines. About 95 scholars are chosen annually from more than 4,000 candidates.
Below are the students from U.S. public universities along with excerpts from the bios each composed for the Gates Foundation:
Sanna Alas, UCLA
Growing up a child of immigrants in the heart of Orange County, I was graced with the so-called hyphenated identity of a Muslim-Syrian-American. That hyphen, the moment of mediation between two seemingly disparate things, has served as the foundation for my academic interests and future aspirations. It fuels my passion for intersectional issues as an activist and advocate for educational and environmental justice in South Los Angeles.
Miriam Alvarado, UC Berkeley
Originally from California, I have been lucky enough to spend the last three years in Barbados studying physical activity and health disparities. I originally came to the Caribbean as a Fulbright Fellow, and was later affiliated with the University of the West Indies, Cavehill….Before coming to Barbados, I was a Post Bachelor Fellow at the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation and focused on the Global Burden of Disease and social determinants of health. I received my MPH from the University of Washington, and have a BA in Economics and Development Studies from the University of California, Berkeley.
Eric Bringley, South Carolina
I grew up in Columbia, South Carolina loving computers and mathematics for as long as I can remember and grew to love chemistry early in high school. While attending the University of South Carolina, I studied chemical engineering with minors in chemistry and mathematics…. I wish to make contributions to global problems through computational modeling. My PhD will consist of stochastic and multilevel modeling of a variety of chemical systems including combustion engines of biofuels. Eric is a senior in the University of South Carolina Honors College.
Daniel Charytonowicz, Delaware
As an undergraduate Biomedical Engineering student at the University of Delaware, I developed a strong interest in biomedical technologies through a combination of research experiences and self-started software development projects. I have always had a passion for computer related technologies, and am looking for ways in which to apply this knowledge towards expanding the capabilities of modern healthcare. Daniel is a senior in the University of Delaware Honors Program.
Ryan DuChanois, Arkansas
Born and raised in a small town in Arkansas, I proceeded to pursue a bachelors of science in civil engineering at the University of Arkansas with a desire to address water concerns around the globe. My undergraduate experience provided water-related research and service opportunities in nations such as South Africa, India, and Ethiopia. These experiences continuously reminded me that many people have limited or contaminated water supply despite the fact water is a fundamental physiological need. Ryan is a senior in the University of Arkansas Honors College.
Amelia Fitch, Oregon
I grew up in Astoria, Oregon, a small pocket of beautiful coastal and temperate rainforest in the Pacific Northwest. During my undergraduate years at the University of Oregon, I worked on two majors, Biology and Environmental Science because I couldn’t choose between the two distinctly different departments. I have both a passion for a mechanistic understanding of the natural world and conservation of these phenomena. During my MPhil in Biological Science, I will pursue this amalgamation of conservation and biology through research in aquatic ecosystems. Amelia is a senior in Clark Honors College at the University of Oregon.
Larry Han, UNC Chapel Hill
As the son of immigrants from China, I had always wanted to reconnect with my roots and study at a Chinese institute of higher learning. Through the Schwarzman Scholars program, I studied public policy and health economics at Tsinghua University in Beijing, China. Previously, I focused my undergraduate studies in biostatistics and infectious diseases at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill. A Morehead-Cain Scholar and Phillips Ambassador, I co-lead an NIH-funded randomized controlled trial to improve sexual health delivery in Guangzhou, China.
Alex Kong, Kansas
When I was about six years old, I announced to my parents that I would one day be a scientist, unaware of what a scientist actually did. Growing up in Lawrence, Kansas, a mere seven-minute drive from my future university, I was able to learn just that. At the University of Kansas, my love for the sciences deepened, as did my passions for creative writing, performing a cappella music, and pipetting my way to carpal tunnel syndrome. Alex is a senior in the University of Kansas Honors Program.
Joanna Lawrence, Wisconsin
I developed an interest in archaeology as an undergraduate student at the University of Wisconsin. After I withdrew from my former career as a ballet dancer, my passion to create physical expressions of myself found satisfaction in uncovering the memories of selves expressed in the physical objects they left behind. As an archaeologist, I am interested in the everyday experiences of Bronze Age people in northern Europe.
Matthew Leming, UNC Chapel Hill
I grew up in a Navy family, moving around five different states before attending high school. As a student in the 5-year Computer Science BS/MS program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (with a minor in Russian language!), I became interested in computational analysis of diffusion MRIs of the brain as a means of detecting neurological disorders. This research took me to laboratories in St. Petersburg and London, as well as many hours on Linux machines at the UNC medical school. Matthew is an Honors Carolina student at Chapel Hill.
Connor Richards, UC Riverside
As an undergraduate studying physics at the University of California, Riverside, I worked alongside faculty searching for evidence of new physics at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC)…. My field is elementary particle physics, meaning that I am interested in what makes up the universe at the most fundamental level. Dark matter and other questions about the universe have long fascinated me, and I hope to help answer these during my career. Connor is in the University Honors Program at UC Riverside.
Yevgen Sautin, Florida
I was born in Kiev, Ukraine, lived in Japan as a young boy, and grew up in Gainesville, Florida, where I went to school at the University of Florida. Since childhood I have been fascinated by history. As an undergraduate student, I began studying Chinese, which quickly became a lifelong pursuit. At Cambridge I will be pursuing a Ph.D. in Modern Chinese History, researching Manchuria in the early post-war period. At the time Manchuria was a fiercely contested space both geopolitically and in terms of its identity. Yevgen is a participant in the University Scholars Program at Florida.
Daniel Stevens, UCLA
As an undergraduate at UCLA, I fell in love with the language, literature, and linguistics of Ancient Greek. The entire classical world fascinated me, and I enjoyed exploring its mix of cultures and its wide range of both art and philosophical thought….Building upon this work, in my PhD, I will focus on how the concepts of covenant and promise were used in an early Jewish Christian text to provide a group identity and hope for an audience that had previously faced hardship and displacement from their property and were expecting to soon face more of the same.
Three prominent public universities–Florida, Maryland, and Washington–will begin using the application process developed by the Coalition for Access, Affordability, and Success (CAAS), a recently formed consortium of more than 90 leading public and private colleges and universities.
Our guess is that the three schools will opt for the new process in summer 2016. (Note: the University of Washington never used the Common App previously.)
Note: A list of all public universities listed as CAAS members as of March 9, 2016, is below.
According to a Scott Jaschik article in Insider Higher Ed, member schools “are creating a platform for new online portfolios for high school students. The idea is to encourage ninth graders begin thinking more deeply about what they are learning or accomplishing in high school, to create new ways for college admissions officers, community organizations and others to coach them, and to help them emerge in their senior years with a body of work that can be used to help identify appropriate colleges and apply to them. Organizers of the new effort hope it will minimize some of the disadvantages faced by high school students without access to well-staffed guidance offices or private counselors.”
To qualify, as of now, for membership in the CAAS, a school must have a six-year graduation rate of 70 percent or higher. Several prominent public universities that qualify have not yet joined, among them all of the University of California institutions, UT Austin, and UW Madison.
Jaschik writes that the UC campuses have not joined because of present concerns about the ability of community college transfers to use the process effectively. UC schools have strong and highly successful articulation agreements with the state’s community colleges.
UT Austin questions the fairness of the new process, at least in its initial form. “Associate director of admissions Michael Orr said UT did not apply to the coalition because of criticisms of the programs, including the coalition’s failure to consult with high school counselors,” according to Jameson Pitts, writing for the Daily Texan.
“The argument within the community … has been that there is a concern that students with means will be the ones that will be able to take advantage of that opportunity the most,” Orr said. He did not rule out the possibility of joining the Coalition if concerns about fairness can be resolved.
Several voices in the higher ed community have opposed the Coalition, saying that students are already over-focused on preparing for college admission and that the new approach will favor more privileged students.
Our question is this: If the new process is designed to help students who cannot afford college counselors and lack effective guidance in their schools, how will the students find out about the process in the first place and learn to use it to good effect?
Whatever the possible shortcomings may be, the CAAS has gained the membership so far of the 36 public universities listed below. It is important to note that only Florida, Maryland, and Washington have decided to use the CAAS process exclusively. The other schools listed below will, as of this date, use either the Common App or the CAAS process.
Clemson
College of New Jersey
Connecticut
Florida
Georgia
Georgia Tech
Illinois
Illinois St
Indiana
Iowa
James Madison
Mary Washington
Maryland
Miami Ohio
Michigan
Michigan St
Minnesota
Missouri
New Hampshire
North Carolina
North Carolina State
Ohio St
Penn State
Pitt
Purdue
Rutgers
South Carolina
SUNY Binghamton
SUNY Buffalo
SUNY Geneseo
Texas A&M
Vermont
Virginia
Virginia Tech
Washington
William and Mary
E. Gordon Gee is the current president of West Virginia University and the former president of Ohio State. He is a man of many opinions, well known in the higher education community.
“When honors colleges deliver on their promises, they are being anti-elitist,” Gee writes in his article “Access, not Exclusion: Honors at a Public Institution.”
“I know that many honors colleges and programs struggle with perceptions of elitism on their campuses, but we should never mistake an elite education for an elitist one,” Gee says.
Citing New York Times columnist Frank Bruni’s much discussed piece, “A Prudent College Path,” Gee says public honors colleges (and programs) offer a place for highly talented students who have either declined admission to expensive private elites or have been denied such admission because of capricious admissions decisions.
“A lower price tag is one reason. Here is another outlined in Bruni’s column: honors programs promise a more inclusive environment of devoted, highly driven students within an even more diverse campus population.
“The obvious way that honors colleges are about access is that they give individual students access to the kind of educational opportunities and environment that they might not have been able to afford otherwise.”
But greater access for talented students isn’t the whole story. Gee writes that “their presence enriches the entire campus and our state.”
“When we bring more honors students to our campus, we are raising the level of discussion in every classroom, not just honors classes.
“When we have more students who know how to balance working smart and playing smart, we are helping teach all of our students how to work and play smarter.
“When we have more students engaged in going first in the classroom, we create an environment where more are encouraged to go out into the world with boldness and confidence.
“When we keep talented students at our land-grant universities, we are also keeping them in our state, contributing not just to the university’s academic mission but also to its mission to serve the citizens of the state.”
Gee writes that the WVU Honors College enrolls more than 2,200 students, including 739 entrants in 2015-2016–up from 580 the previous academic year. Under the leadership of honors college Dean Kenneth P. Blemings, the new students begin making their contributions as soon as they arrive on campus.
“All of them participated in a day of service that had them giving back to the community that they were just joining. That kind of service is good for them and for our city.
“The honors commitment to service takes place not just in one day or at one place. Honors students on campuses across the country are providing great service to their communities.
“Many honors students at WVU are not going to spend just four years giving back; many are going to stay in our state and give back to the community for years to come.”
The most prestigious scholarship–a rare “full ride”–at the University of Texas at Austin is the Forty Acres award. Only 15-20 of these scholarships are granted in any given year. One notable fact about the scholarships is that more than half are awarded to Plan II Honors and/or Business Honors Students. One of the most common majors of Forty Acres Scholars is the combined Plan II/Business Honors major.
Bear in mind that Plan II only has about 700 students out of 39,000 undergrads on the UT Campus, which was originally assigned to, yes, forty acres of land in Austin. About three quarters of all Forty Acres Scholars are in some kind of honors program, with Plan II predominating. Others are engineering honors and the Turing Scholars program for computer science.
Both Plan II and Business Honors are highly selective. In this post on UT’s Business Honors Program, we wrote that by “’highly qualified’ we mean enrolled students with an average ACT of 33, and SAT of 1477 (higher than the 1466 average for the Wharton School at Penn), and an average high school class standing in the top 2.27%.”
For Plan II, the admissions statistics show that enrolled students had middle 50 percent SAT scores of 2090–2270 and middle ACT scores of 32–34.
It is likely that many Forty Acres Scholars have even more impressive credentials. The most recent group of scholars with Plan II, Business Honors, or both majors is below:
Susie and John L. Adams Forty Acres Scholarship Henry Boehm
Majors: Business Honors; Plan II Honors
Honors Programs: Business Honors; Plan II Honors
Hometown: Waco, TX
High School: Vanguard College Preparatory School
Ray and Denise Nixon Forty Acres Scholarship Michael Everett
Major: Business Honors
Honors Program: Business Honors
Hometown: Southlake, TX
High School: Carroll Senior High School
BHP Forty Acres Scholarship
Chevron Enrichment Award Alejandra Flores
Major: Business Honors
Honors Program: Business Honors
Hometown: Laredo, TX
High School: United South High School
Sarah M. and Charles E. Seay Forty Acres Scholarship Chandler Groves
Majors: Business Honors; Plan II Honors
Honors Programs: Business Honors; Plan II Honors
Hometown: Southlake, TX
High School: Carroll Senior High School
Elizabeth Shatto Massey Forty Acres Scholarship Mandy Justiz
Majors: Biochemistry; Plan II Honors
Honors Programs: Dean’s Scholars; Plan II Honors
Hometown: Austin, TX
High School: St. Andrew’s Episcopal School
Barbara and Alan Dreeben Forty Acres Scholarship Seth Krasne
Majors: Business Honors; Plan II Honors
Honors Programs: Business Honors; Plan II Honors
Hometown: El Paso, TX
High School: Coronado High School
Charline and Red McCombs Family Forty Acres Scholarship Alex Rabinovich
Majors: Business Honors; Plan II Honors
Honors Programs: Business Honors; Plan II Honors
Hometown: McAllen, TX
High School: McAllen Memorial High School
Lowell Lebermann Scholarship Francesca Reece
Majors: Government; Plan II Honors
Honors Program: Plan II Honors
Hometown: Euless, TX
High School: Trinity High School
Madison Charitable Foundation Forty Acres Scholarship Audrey Urbis
Majors: Business Honors; Plan II Honors
Honors Programs: Business Honors; Plan II Honors
Hometown: Brownsville, TX
High School: Los Fresnos High School
