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Honors Conference to Champion Undergraduate Instruction

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Note: This is the first in a series of posts about the National Collegiate Honors Council (NCHC) annual conference next week in Boston.  We will be there, interviewing and reporting on the most interesting sessions and presentations, including those by students.

Almost 2,000 faculty members and students will be in Boston next week to attend the annual conference of the National Collegiate Honors Council (NCHC), where in hundreds of sessions and presentations the value of honors education in our nation’s colleges will be on display.

At least 560 institutions, public and private, will be represented at the conference, which is being held at the Sheraton Boston Hotel.  Honors colleges and programs are transforming American higher education by offering talented students genuine alternatives to the most expensive elite universities.

By emphasizing small classes, honors residence communities, and innovative curricula that are often proving grounds for the best in undergraduate teaching, honors colleges and programs are challenging the higher education system to remain committed to excellence despite demands from those who would emphasize quantity over quality.

The conference theme is “Challenging Structures,” especially those that militate against excellence in undergraduate education.  “We maintain that honors education represents a challenge to the structure of undergraduate instruction,” said Rick Scott, incoming president of the NCHC. “Our gathering in Boston will celebrate teaching, learning, and the honors community.” Dr. Scott is Dean of the Honors College at the University of Central Arkansas.

The featured speaker will be Harvard Professor Michael Sandel, whose famous “Justice” course has long been a favorite among undergraduates.   His thoughts on morality and justice in political life are often contrasted with those of the eminent philosopher John Rawls.

In a world where parents and prospective students are searching for ways to add value to their increasingly expensive college choices, honors programs are the most powerful engine for providing the highest level of undergraduate education within institutions whose overall reputation may not rise to the level of the most elite private schools—and almost always at a much lower cost.

Honors colleges and programs have been a part of the higher education world for decades, but only in the last 20 years or so have public and private institutions turned to honors programs in order to attract and serve the nation’s most talented students.

The NCHC alone has approximately 875 member institutions, ranging from two-year community colleges to leading public universities such as Arizona, Arizona State, Arkansas, Auburn, Colorado, Colorado State, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Iowa, Iowa State, LSU, Massachusetts Amherst, Miami of Ohio, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC State, Ohio University, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Oregon, Oregon State, Pitt, Rutgers, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas A&M, UC Irvine, UCLA, U.S. Air Force Academy,  Vermont, Virginia Tech, Washington, and Washington State.

Private universities include American, Baylor, Denver, DePaul, Drake, Drexel, Elon, Embry-Riddle, Fordham, George Washington, Ithaca, LaSalle, Marquette, Miami, Northeastern, Rochester Institute, Seton Hall, Siena, SMU, TCU, Tulsa, Union College, and Villanova.

Leading Public Universities Differ on Best Online Partners

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Concerned about rising operating costs and uneasy about keeping pace with innovations in online learning, thirteen leading public universities have already taken sides in the emerging battle over which Mass Open Online Course (MOOC) organization offers the best vision for the future.

The fact that online learning will grow as a component in university education is not in question.  That is why EDx, the consortium formed originally by Harvard and MIT to offer free online courses to thousands, and Coursera, a strong recent entrant to the field, are emerging as the go-to entities for both public and private institutions that want to prepare themselves for the next revolution in higher learning.

So far, the upstart Coursera has the lead in total partners, now up to 33 schools.  Edx now has 12 universities, but nine of those are from the University of Texas System, the most recent addition to the EDx consortium.  (See complete list of  schools affiliated with Coursera below.)

The original partners in EDx were Harvard and MIT, each of which contributed a whopping $30 million to the project, giving EDx a funding edge for the time being.  The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is also a major supporter of Edx.  UC Berkeley later joined forces with Harvard and MIT, pledging support in the form of contributions from its outstanding faculty, and then UT Austin and the eight other UT campuses came on board.  UT will contribute another $5 million to EDx platform development, and UT will become a member of the EDx advisory board.  EDx is run by academics, and is a non-profit effort.

Stanford, Princeton, Michigan, and Penn were the first four to join the private Coursera venture, funding by an original $22 million from venture capitalists.  The brainchild of two Stanford professors, Coursera has received a combined $3.7 million in additional equity investment from Penn and Caltech.

According to some analysts, Coursera is perhaps more amenable to both intensive and modest efforts of its participants to develop for-credit online courses.  Schools that simply want something in place to assist them when the online “tsunami” hits can have a low-key Coursera ready in waiting and take a gradual or cautious approach as the case may be.  Some institutions with strong faculty opposition, for example, might prefer Coursera.  This does not mean, however, that Coursera cannot be used as a robust approach to digital learning.

Institutions that want more academic input and control when it comes to aligning digital learning with the best pedagogy might prefer Edx, which may be taking a more measured approach to developing platforms in line with individual campus and faculty expectations.  The UT System chose EDx in part because of the academic control and the fact that UT could have an advisory position.  UT Austin will offer some introductory courses for what are now large classes (more than 100 students) in the relatively near future.  Classes for college credit will not be free.

The University of Washington is currently the only university charging for classes offered through Coursera, because those classes are for credit.

Here are the public universities that have contracted with Coursera: Florida, Georgia Tech, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Ohio State, Pittsburgh, UC Irvine, UCSF, Virginia, and Washington.

These are the private institutions that have joined Coursera:  Brown, Caltech, Columbia, Duke, Emory, Johns Hopkins, Penn, Princeton, Rice, Stanford, Vanderbilt, and Wesleyan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Public vs. Private Universities: Rhodes, Marshall, Truman, Goldwater, Etc….

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In previous posts we have written about the dominance of elite private institutions when it comes to winning prestigious national awards, such as Rhodes, Marshall, Truman, Gates Cambridge, and Goldwater scholarships.  There is no question that Harvard, Princeton, Yale, MIT, Stanford, and a few other elite schools dominate some of these awards, especially Rhodes scholarships.

But what about the performance of other leading private universities, including those in the top tier of the U.S. News rankings?  We have analyzed the record of 20 private universities ranked 24 to 83 in the 2013 U.S. News rankings.  The average ranking for the 20 schools is 54.4.  We then compared their performance with that of the 50 universities whose honors programs we evaluated.  The average U.S. News ranking of the 50 public schools is 74.16, down from an average of 72.82 in 2012.

The 20 private universities are the following: Notre Dame, USC, Wake Forest, Boston College, NYU, Case Western Reserve, University of Miami, Boston University, George Washington, Tulane, Fordham, Northeastern, SMU, Syracuse, American, Baylor, Denver, Marquette, Tulsa, and TCU.

We analyzed the full history of Rhodes, Truman, Churchill, Fulbright, Goldwater, and Udall awards, and we adjusted for size of undergraduate enrollment in the case of Fulbright Student Scholarships because of the high number of those awards (about 1,500) in a given year.  We also analyzed Marshall and Gates Cambridge awards from 2001 through 2012.  One point was assigned for each award.

On a scale with 25 being the highest score, the mean score for the private universities was 7.21 and for the public universities it was 11.86.  Below are some interesting specifics:

  • The University of Tulsa had the highest overall score for the private universities, mainly due to the impressive number of Goldwater awards for undergraduates studying STEM subjects (51), which would place Tulsa at number 9 among all 70 universities in this comparison.  The leaders in Goldwater awards (among our 50 public schools) are Illinois (63), Penn State (61), Virginia (59), Wisconsin (56), Arizona State and Minnesota (54), and Michigan and Washington (52).
  • Overall, the mean score for Goldwater awards (raw numbers) was more than twice as high for the public universities as it was for the private schools (33.7 versus 16.2).
  • The mean score for Rhodes Scholarships was likewise much higher for the public schools, 12.16 versus 5.25.
  • Tulane led private schools in total Rhodes Scholarships with 18, followed by Notre Dame (14), Wake Forest (13), Case Western (10), Boston University (8), USC (8), and Denver (7).  The leading schools among the 50 we reviewed are Virginia (46), North Carolina (41), Washington (39), Wisconsin (31), Kansas and UT Austin (27), and Michigan (25).
  • The four private schools that had a total scaled score that was above the mean for the 50 public schools were Tulsa, Tulane, Notre Dame, and NYU.
  • The strongest performance for private schools was in earning Fulbright awards, probably because of the adjustment for size of undergraduate enrollment.  The mean score for the private schools was 7.21 versus 3 .07 for the public schools.
  • The mean scores for Truman Scholarships were close, with private schools averaging 8.8 and public schools 9.3.  American University and Wake Forest led private schools with 15 Truman awards each, followed by USC (14), SMU (13), Boston College and Tulane (12), and Syracuse and Tulsa (11).  The leading public schools are North Carolina (32), UT Austin (26), Michigan and Virginia (24), Wisconsin and Arizona State (17), and Arkansas and Delaware (16).
  • The public universities in this comparison score significantly higher in earning Gates Cambridge and Marshall scholarships since 2001.  However, NYU students have won an impressive 8 Gates Scholarships, the only private university in this comparison to win more than 3.   Illinois has 10, Penn State 7, Rutgers and Florida 6 apiece, and Georgia, Georgia Tech, NC State, and Michigan 5 apiece.
  • The public universities dominate Udall Scholarships, although American University has 10 and Tulsa 9.   Arizona State has 29, Arizona 21, Penn State 20, Kansas 16, and North Carolina 15.

 

 

Sample Class of 2016 Admission Stats, Public Honors and Private Universities

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Below are selected admission stats, mostly for the class of 2016, including public and private universities.  We list both public and private schools in this post so that readers can get an idea of comparability.  All of the stats for private schools are for the class of 2016; some of the public school stats are for the class of 2015, and will be listed with an asterisk.  Please note that even though public and private admission stats are often comparable, the acceptance rates may vary greatly and are typically much lower at most private institutions.  The public university stats are for honors programs only, except in the case of UC Berkeley, William & Mary, and the University of Virginia.

Georgia: SAT middle 50%=2110–2240; ACT middle 50%=31–33

Penn: SAT middle 50%= Reading 660–760; Math 690–780; Writing 680–770; ACT 30–34; acceptance rate 12.3%

UC Berkeley: Mean SAT=2068; acceptance rate 21%

Stanford: Median SAT=Reading 730; Math 740; Writing 730; acceptance rate 6.6%

Delaware: SAT middle 50%=2020–2170; mean ACT=33

Wesleyan: SAT average=Reading 730; Math 740; Writing 730; ACT 32; acceptance rate 20%

North Carolina: Mean SAT=1455; Mean ACT=32.5; top 9% of university applicants

MIT: SAT middle 50%=Reading 680–780; Math 740–800; Writing 690–790; acceptance rate 8.9%

Indiana (Hutton): Mean SAT=1372; Mean ACT=31.38

Vanderbilt: SAT middle 50%=1470–1590; ACT middle 50%=33–35; acceptance rate 12%.  (Note: these are sharply higher than 2011 stats.)

Washington*: SAT total average 2070; acceptance rate 26.3%

Davidson: SAT middle 50%=Reading 620–720; Math 640–720; Writing 620–720; ACT middle 50%=29–32; acceptance rate 24.8%

William & Mary: SAT middle 50%=Reading 620–740; Math 630–720; Writing 620–720; ACT middle 50%=28–32; acceptance rate 32%

Dartmouth: Mean SAT: Reading 736; Math 741; Writing 743; Mean ACT 32.5; acceptance rate 9.4%

UT Austin Plan II*: Average SAT=Reading 718; Math 715; Writing 722 (2155 combined); middle 50% ACT 32-33; for class of 2016, acceptance rate was 31%.

Cornell: Mean SAT=Reading 675;  Math 717 (total of 1402); Mean ACT 31; acceptance rate 16.2%

Virginia: Mean SAT=1395; acceptance rate 27.4%

Colgate: SAT middle 50%=Reading 660–740; Math 670–750; ACT 30–33; acceptance rate 29%

Mississippi (Barksdale Honors): ACT average 30.1

Boston University: SAT average 2005; ACT 29; acceptance rate 45.5%

Penn State Schreyer*: SAT average 2070; ACT 32; estimated acceptance rate 10–12%

Tufts: SAT middle 50%: Reading 670–760; Math 680–760; Writing 680–760; ACT 31; acceptance rate 21%

South Carolina*: SAT average 1427; High school GPA (weighted) 4.6

 

 

UI Chicago Honors College Offers Strong Faculty Involvement

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Although the overall honors credit-hour requirements for the University of Illinois-Chicago Honors College are not as extensive as those in many universities, the UIC college places a premium on faculty involvement with students–which may be the most important aspect of honors education.

Students are assigned a faculty fellows, usually from the major department.  “Honors College Fellows come from departments in all colleges across the UIC campus. These faculty members apply for appointment as Fellows to have the opportunity to work with talented undergraduates, and to help such students perform at their highest level of ability. Busy both as scholars and as teachers, the Fellows of the Honors College deserve thanks from the entire UIC community for their support of Honors College students, which leads students to success at UIC and beyond.”

Some departments, such as business, engineering, biology, and psychology, have 20 or more honors advisors each in order to keep up with the demand for the most popular majors.   And in departments with clear specialty areas (business, engineering), there are advisors from each speciality area (management, marketing, accounting, chemical engineering, mechanical engineering, etc.).  Students must meet with their honors fellows at least twice a semester, but often meet much more frequently.  Students who fail to keep their required appointments are reported to honors staff.

As an honors advisor, the Fellow:

• Helps the student decide on honors activities each semester;

• Serves as the student’s and the Honors College’s agent in the home department;

• Provides guidance for the student’s independent study or research, working with the student directly or suggesting other appropriate faculty members with whom the student might work;

• Encourages and advises the student regarding the student’s Honors College Capstone Project, which is typically completed during the last two semesters before graduation. The Fellow might serve as the faculty advisor for this project, or might help the student find other appropriate faculty advisors. The capstone generally also fulfills requirements of departmental honors programs (research projects, senior papers or theses, etc.) leading to graduation with departmental honors.

As a mentor in a more general sense, the Fellow:

• Welcomes the student as a member of the academic community, encourages the student to identify with that community, and develops a relationship with the student that fosters such identification. In the relationship with the student, as in all UIC faculty-student contacts, the Fellow is sensitive to all issues as described by the university’s Nondiscrimination Statement.

• Encourages the student to pursue academic excellence;

• Serves as a source of information about the department, the campus, graduate school, and careers;

• Helps the uncertain or immature student develop academic or professional goals and strategies for achieving them;

• Serves as a sponsor and advocate for the student — encouraging the student to take advantage of academic opportunities, calling departmental colleagues’ attention to the student’s abilities, writing letters of recommendation, etc.;

• Identifies highly talented students at the earliest possible stage and calls them to the attention of the department and the Honors College;

• Encourages outstanding students to apply for major awards (Fulbright, Marshall, Mellon, NSF, Rhodes, Truman, etc.) and helps them become competitive for such awards;

• Serves as an ambassador for the Honors College in his or her home department, college, and across the campus.

The strongest departments nationally at UIC are clinical psychology (42), criminology (19), education (38), english (41), fine Arts (45), history (36), mathematics (36), nursing (11), occupational therapy (4), pharmacy (14), physical therapy (16), public affairs (37), public health (16), social work (24), and sociology (41).  Engineering overall is ranked at number 68.

Our admission stats for UIC Honors College are outdated, but they show a minimum SAT/ACT of 1240 and 28, respectively, along with a high school rank in the top 15 percent.  Continuation in the program requires a 3.4 GPA.  Honors students may choose to live in honors floors in several living/learning residence halls on campus.

Texas Tech Honors College Offers Direct Paths to Law, Medical School

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The Honors College at Texas Tech University is one of only a few honors programs that offer fast-track options to attend law or medical school at the same university, and the joint program between the honors college and the medical school even allows honors students to skip the MCAT before entering med school.

The joint Early Acceptance Program allows Honors College students to waive the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT) and to apply early to the School of Medicine during their junior year.

“To be eligible for the Early Acceptance Program, you must be enrolled in the Honors College, have entered Texas Tech University as a freshman, maintain residency in the state of Texas, and acquired a composite score (earned in one test administration) of at least 1300 on the SAT or at least 29 on the ACT upon matriculation at Texas Tech University.”

“The Honors College and the Texas Tech School of Law have collaborated to create two exciting new opportunities for Honors students who plan to attend law school. The Early Decision Plan allows eligible students who intend to attend the TTU Law School to receive notice of their acceptance as juniors but complete their undergraduate degrees prior to entry into the law school. The Early Admission Program (“3+3 Plan”) allows eligible Honors Arts & Sciences students to enter law school prior to graduation after they have completed 100 hours of coursework. The “3+3″ program enables eligible students to complete both a baccalaureate and a doctor of jurisprudence in approximately six years.” [Emphasis added.]

Eligibility for the honors college as a freshman requires a minimum SAT score of 1200 or an ACT of 26  or a place in the top 10 percent of the applicant’s high school class to be considered for admission.  Admission is not, however, guaranteed with these credentials.  Applicants with International Baccalaureate diplomas are assured of admission.  Current students are also considered for admission if they have earned a 3.4 GPA.

The regular honors curriculum requires 24 hours of honors course work for freshman entrants, and 27 hours for students who enter later.  Six hours must be in upper-division courses, six must be in 3000-4000-level courses, and freshman entrants must also complete a first-year series.

In order to graduate with highest honors, students must also complete an additional six hours of research and thesis work.

The honors housing at Tech appears to be a strong option: students in Gordon Hall share two-bed suites that have private baths and that share a common living area with the adjoining suite.  Gordon hall as its own laundry, and the Fresh Market Cafe serves both Gordon and neighboring Bledsoe Hall.  Gordon Hall is on the east side of campus, closest to science and engineering classrooms and farther from business, English, foreign language, and philosophy classrooms.



U.S. News 2013 Rankings Even Tougher on Publics

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The 2013 U.S. News rankings are out and, for the most part, the results are not kind to public universities, probably because the emphasis the magazine places on financial resources hits financially strapped state universities the hardest.   In An Alternative List of 2013 U.S. News College Rankings we analyze the rankings of the publics more closely, similar to our post How Much Do U.S. News Rankings Favor Private Universities?

For now we can say that the average drop in the rankings for the 50 universities whose honors programs we evaluated is about 2 places, with some schools falling 7, 8, or even 10 places in the rankings.  Of the 50 universities, a whopping 33 saw their rankings decline; 9 rose in the rankings; and 8 remained the same.  In such a difficult year, public universities that held their own or only lost one or two places were fortunate.

By far the most stunning improvement was by Stony Brook University, which improved from 111 to 92.  Were it not for this impressive 19-point rise, the average decline of the publics would have been even worse.

Along with Stony Brook, these universities rose in the 2013 rankings: Arizona, Binghamton, Florida, UC Irvine, UCLA, UC Santa Barbara, University at Buffalo, and Wisconsin.  UC Berkeley remained at number 21 and Michigan fell one spot to number 29.  In the post linked above, we argue that both are significantly underrated by U.S. News.

As we noted in the post linked above, we believe that U.S. News emphasizes a university’s financial well-being in ways that magnify the real impact of money on higher education.  Specifically, we suggest that the three magazine categories of financial resources, faculty resources, and alumni giving nudge the rankings toward wealthy private institutions.

Below are the 50 universities whose honors programs we evaluated, with their 2013 ranking listed first, following by their 2012 ranking:

Alabama–2013 (77); 2012 (75)

Arizona–2013 (120); 2012 (124)

Arizona State–2013 (139); 2012 (132)

Arkansas–2013 (134); 2012 (132)

Auburn–2013 (89); 2012 (82)

Binghamton–2013 (89); 2012 (90)

Clemson–2013 (68); 2012 (68)

Colorado–2013 (97); 2012 (94)

Connecticut–2013 (63); 2012 (58)

Delaware–2013 (75); 2012 (75)

Florida–2013 (54); 2012 (58)

Georgia–2013 (63); 2012 (62)

Georgia Tech–2013 (36); 2012 (36)

Illinois–2013 (46); 2012 (42)

Indiana–2013 (83); 2012 (75)

Iowa–2013 (72); 2012 (71)

Iowa State–2013 (101); 2012 (97)

Kansas–2013 (106); 2012 (101)

Maryland–2013 (58); 2012 (55)

Massachusetts–2012 (97); 2012 (94)

Michigan–2013 (29); 2012 (28)

Michigan State–2013 (72); 2012 (71)

Minnesota–2013 (68); 2012 (68)

Mississippi–2013 (151); 2012 (143)

Missouri–2013 (97); 2012 (90)

Nebraska–2013 (101); 2012 (101)

North Carolina–2013 (30); 2012 (29)

NC State–2013 (106); 2012 (101)

Ohio State–2013 (56); 2012 (55)

Oregon–2013 (115); 2012 (101)

Penn State–2013 (46); 2012 (45)

Pitt–2013 (58); 2012 (58)

Purdue–2013 (65); 2012 (62)

Rutgers–2013 (68); 2012 (68)

South Carolina–2013 (115); 2012 (111)

Stony Brook–2013 (92); 2012 (111)

Texas A&M–2013 (65); 2012 (58)

UC Davis–2013 (38); 2012 (38)

UC Irvine–2013 (44); 2012 (45)

UCLA–2013 (24); 2012 (25)

UC San Diego–2013 (37); 2012 (38)

UC Santa Barbara–2013 (41); 2012 (42)

University at Buffalo–2013 (106); 2012 (111)

UT Austin–2013 (46); 2012 (45)

Vermont–2013 (92); 2012 (82)

Virginia–2013 (24); 2012 (25)

Virginia Tech–2013 (72); 2012 (71)

Washington–2013 (46); 2012 (42)

Washington State–2013 (125); 2012 (115)

Wisconsin–2013 (41); 2012 (42)

 

 

 

 

 

New for Fall 2013: Florida Changes Completion Requirements

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This post about the University of Florida Honors Program is the first post about honors changes effective for Fall 2013.  We  anticipate several additional posts in this series, including upcoming discussions of Indiana University’s Hutton Honors College, the South Carolina Honors College, the Texas A&M Honors Program, and others.

Previously students in UF honors had to complete four honors courses and at least one enhancement experience, which could be an internship, study-abroad course, research project, or a leadership activity.

But in some cases students found it difficult to complete these requirements, so now program completion requires at least cum laude achievement in the college of the student’s major along with 14 honors points, eight of which must be academic (A) points and six of which must be enrichment (E) points.

Below is a list that shows the point correlations to course and enrichment activities:

Activities worth 1 Honors point

  • 1- or 2-credit Honors course (grade of B or higher) (A)
  • Apply for a nationally competitive scholarship or fellowship (e.g., Rhodes, Marshall, Truman, Goldwater, Fulbright) (A)
  • Induction into Phi Beta Kappa or Phi Kappa Phi (A)
  • A publication in a refereed undergraduate journal (such as the UF Journal of Undergraduate Research) (A)
  • Complete a minor (A)
  • A regional conference presentation in a discipline relevant to the student’s major (A)
  • Short-term study abroad (E)
  • Participate in a Partners in the Parks program (E)
  • Participate in leadership activities (e.g., hold a leadership position in a student organization or activity) (E) (note: a maximum of 3 points is allowed for this type of activity)
  • Participation in a leadership conference (e.g. LeaderShape, Gatorship, UF Women’s Leadership Conference) (E)
  • Participation in a Florida Alternative Breaks trip (E)

Activities worth 2 Honors points

  • 3+ credit Honors course (grade of B or higher) (A)
  • Graduate course (grade of B or higher) (A)
  • A publication in a refereed professional journal (A)
  • Complete a second major (A)
  • Faculty-directed independent study or research (A)
  • A national conference presentation in a discipline relevant to the student’s major (A)
  • Six-week summer or semester study abroad (E)
  • Complete at least 50 hours of community service (documentation required, hours may come from multiple sources) (E)
  • Complete an internship at least 45 hours in duration (E)

Activity worth 3 Honors points

  • Complete an Honors thesis as part of requirements to graduate magna cum laude or summa cum laude (A)
  • For students in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, complete the CALS upper-division honors program (A)

Please note that IDH 4917, Honors Research, and IDH 4905, Independent Study, do not count as  Honors courses for these purposes, but they do serve as proof of faculty-directed independent study or research; that is, you may not receive points for both IDH 4917/4905 and performing research/independent study.  The same comment applies for IDH 4940 and internships.

Note also that the maximum number of points that can be earned for community service is two; that is, performing 100 hours of community service is not worth four points.

sis as part of requirements to graduate magna cum laude or summa cum laude (A)

  • For students in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, complete the CALS upper-division honors program (A)

Please note that IDH 4917, Honors Research, and IDH 4905, Independent Study, do not count as  Honors courses for these purposes, but they do serve as proof of faculty-directed independent study or research; that is, you may not receive points for both IDH 4917/4905 and performing research/independent study.  The same comment applies for IDH 4940 and internships.

Note also that the maximum number of points that can be earned for community service is two; that is, performing 100 hours of community service is not worth four points.

 

 

 

What Are the Oldest University Buildings in America?

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The link below is to a brief but interesting article by a friend and colleague, David Walsh, who is the editor of the History News Network .   In Oldest University Buildings in America he lists the ten oldest U.S. university buildings still in use today.  If you think the oldest building is at Harvard, you are mistaken.

Colorado State Honors: Well-structured, Good Housing and Food, Great Scholarships

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Our planned post on updates and improvements to honors programs will appear in the near future, and we hope at least a few programs will provide information about new scholarship opportunities.  In the meantime, thanks to the transparency of the Colorado State site, we can report that there are some great opportunities for entering honors students there, even if they are out-of-state residents.

All students admitted to the honors program receive a $1,000 scholarship, and remain eligible for renewal through four years if they maintain program requirements.

But highly qualified OOS students are eligible for a $9,000 renewable scholarship, whichcovers about three-fourths of the OOS tuition and fees.  To be eligible, applicants must meet the February 1 priority deadline and have a 1300/ACT 29/ and at least a 3.8 GPA.

All National Merit finalists, Boettcher finalists and scholars, Monfort Scholars, National Hispanic Scholars, and National Achievement Scholars also receive this scholarship automatically if they apply by the February 1 priority deadline and list CSU as their first choice school.

The good news doesn’t end there.  OOS students with SAT 1230/ACT 27 and a GPA of at least 3.6 are eligible for a $7000 a year scholarship.

The regular application deadline for honors is March 1.  Admission is based on a combination of test scores and GPAs, allowing students with very high GPAs to be admitted with somewhat lower test scores.

The average SAT of admitted students is 1340, ACT 31, and weighted GPA 4.15

But admission is also likely with the following test/GPA combinations:

SAT 1310/ACT 30/ GPA 3.7;

SAT 1280/ACT 29/GPA 3.8;

SAT 1240/ ACT 28/ GPA 3.9;

SAT 1200/ACT 27/ GPA 4.0.

All also require a recommendation from a high school counselor, who will be contacted.

Automatic invitations are issued to students with the following combinations of test scores and GPAs:

SAT 1400/ACT 32/GPA 4.0;

SAT 1440/ACT 33/GPA 3.9;

SAT 1490/ACT34/ GPA3.8.

Once admitted, students can choose between two honors tracks.  Track 1 requires 13 hours of honors core classes and seminars; 6 hours of honors credit in the department, college, or major; and a total of 4 hours for honors research and thesis.

Track 2 is essentially an honors in the major track.  It totals 17 hours of honors credit, including the 1 hour freshman honors seminar, 12 hours in the major, and 4 hours for the thesis and research.

The strongest departments at CSU are biological and agricultural engineering 23rd in the nation; civil engineering, 37; environmental engineering, 41;  and overall engineering, 67. Chemistry ranks 45th, statistics 40, and all science departments are ranked number 82 or better in the nation.  Of special importance to pre-vet students is the very high ranking–number 3 in the nation–of CSU’s vet school.

Honors students have a great residential opportunity.  About 240 of the 360 new honors entrants each year can enjoy the amenities of the Honors Academic Village.  The residence hall features two-person suites with a private bath.  Immediately adjacent is one of the best campus dining facilities, Rams Horn Hall.  After freshman year, honors students may live in nearby Edwards Hall, an older facility with traditional rooms and corridor baths.

 

 

Transfer and current CSU must have 3.5