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University of Iowa Honors Program

The University of Iowa Honors Program enriches the intellectual and personal lives of outstanding University of Iowa undergraduates in all colleges and majors. It provides special academic opportunities, extracurricular programs, and social events, many held in the award-winning Blank Honors Center and the University Honors House.

Honors Program staff members help honors students create their own honors curricula to explore interests inside and outside the classroom. Honors students enjoy course options for team and independent learning-by-doing in research, writing, teaching, leadership, and service. They meet with some of the University's best teachers in small seminars designed especially for first- and second-year students and continue to work closely with excellent professors and other honors students in a variety of courses. Extracurricular activities in foreign relations, the arts, volunteering, and other areas give honors students practical experience and connections beyond the classroom. Above all, the Honors Program engages students in intellectual communities where they explore frontiers of knowledge with many of the most interesting people on campus.

The University of Iowa Honors Program admits students directly and automatically from high school, based on high school rank and ACT or SAT score. National Merit Scholars, Presidential Scholars, Old Gold Scholars, National Achievement Scholars, and National Academy of Arts, Sciences, and Engineering students are admitted automatically, as are other students who show great academic promise for college learning and further achievement.

Entering students who are not admitted automatically may become members through a process that requires a high school transcript, a letter of recommendation from a teacher, and a personal letter describing how the student would gain from Honors Program membership.

Entering transfer students must have a cumulative g.p.a. of at least 3.50 and must have earned at least 24 s.h. of college credit in order to be admitted to the University of Iowa Honors Program. Transfer students with less than 24 s.h. of college credit are admitted to the program on the same basis as are students who enter the University directly from high school.

Membership in the Honors Program also is open to undergraduate students enrolled in the Tippie College of Business and the Colleges of Education, Engineering, Liberal Arts and Sciences, and Nursing. Honors Program students must maintain a University of Iowa cumulative g.p.a. of at least 3.33 (B-plus) in order to remain in the program. The Honors Program automatically admits current students if they earn a g.p.a. of at least 3.33 before completing 72 s.h. of course work.

For more information on honors membership requirements, see the Honors Program web site.

Academic Opportunities

Students are free to design curricula that best suit their backgrounds and interests. They may select honors options to meet the requirements of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences General Education Program, their major departments, or elective credit. The Academic Advising Center, departmental honors advisors, and Honors Program staff members are all available to help students develop appropriate study plans.

First-year honors seminars are a great way to begin. Choices continue with a variety of honors seminars that introduce students to exciting topics in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Honors seminars are small and highly interactive, and they cover new topics each semester. In addition to seminars, individual departments offer a wide range of courses for honors credit, from laboratory and discussion sections of introductory courses to specialized studies in students' varied disciplines. Finally, students can request honors designation for any regular University of Iowa course. Honors designation allows students to delve more deeply into a topic, under the instructor's guidance, by developing a study plan that goes beyond the course's normal requirements.

Honors Commendation

Honors in the Major

After students declare a major in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences or enter the Tippie College of Business or the Colleges of Education, Engineering, or Nursing, they should speak with their collegiate or departmental honors advisors about their academic programs. Students who graduate with honors in their majors receive special recognition during commencement, and their permanent academic records note their achievements.

Extracurricular Programs

The Arts Program sends groups of honors students to attend music, dance, and theater events at the University and in the community. Students have opportunities to interact with artists, faculty members, and other honors students through related discussions, lectures, and visits.

The Iowa City Foreign Relations Council hosts luncheon dialogues on relevant international issues. Past speakers include award-winning journalists, Nobel Peace Prize laureates, seasoned diplomats, prominent politicians, and policy analysts. Honors students gain more textured understandings of world affairs by listening to and talking with these expert speakers.

The Volunteer Program provides students with service opportunities at varied organizations in eastern Iowa. Honors students learn more about their communities and related needs, often continuing to volunteer on their own.

The Old Gold and Presidential Scholars Programs emphasize community, cultural, and academic involvement while offering unique team-building components. As part of the programs, scholars may participate in cook-outs, Frisbee games, arts events, canoeing adventures, pizza parties, dinners with faculty members, mentoring programs, and volunteer projects.

The newsletter Honorable Mention is written, edited, and published four times a year by honors students. It informs, educates, and entertains honors students, their families, and University staff and faculty.

The honors web site and electronic mailing list offer resources for honors students. These also tell about past, present, and future honors activities, scholarships, courses, and other opportunities.

The Honors Program advises five major national and international honor societies: Phi Eta Sigma, National Society of Collegiate Scholars, Golden Key, Mortar Board, and Omicron Delta Kappa. The societies provide select students with opportunities to lead, serve their communities, and cultivate academic excellence.

For more information about honors extracurricular programs, see Extracurriculars on the Honors Program web site.

Scholarship Advising

Honors students are awarded national and international scholarships each year. The program provides advising and nominations for Rhodes, Marshall, Gates Cambridge, Truman, Udall, Goldwater, and Jack Kent Cooke Scholarships.

Blank Honors Center

University Honors House

The University Honors House particularly welcomes first-year and transfer students. To learn more about the University Honors House, see the Honors Program web site.

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