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University of Iowa Honors Program

The University of Iowa Honors Program provides talented-and-gifted education for college students. Honors enriches the intellectual and personal lives of outstanding undergraduates across the University. It provides academic opportunities, extracurricular programs, special recognitions, and social events, many held in the award-winning Blank Honors Center. It sponsors two living-learning communities: Honors House in Daum Hall and Honors Nexus in Mayflower Hall. It also includes all members of Iowa Writers, a living-learning community for students with talent and interest in writing.

The Honors Program welcomes students into a community of opportunity that features learning by doing. Its many course sections and seminars connect small classes with some of the top teachers on campus. Honors designations let students turn any other course into an honors course through extra projects. The staff helps students create their own honors majors and arrange internships, service learning, study abroad, teaching, and other experiences in order to explore their interests within and beyond the classroom.

Within the Honors Program, the Iowa Center for Research by Undergraduates, matches students with mentors and money for research. Honors Writing Fellows and Honors Editing Fellows refine writing skills. Participants in the Iowa Policy Research Organization analyze policies for Iowa’s legislature. Members of the Aces Program for Analysis, Advocacy, and Action prepare for public argument and scholarship competitions. Guests at Honors Dinners practice intellectual conversation. A host of honors activities engage students in the arts, sciences, politics, international relations, mock trials, diverse cultures, varied cuisines, movie making and watching, and field trips. Honors also offers inventive programs for campus and community volunteering.

Honors admits students who show great academic promise for college learning and further achievement. Its members include National Merit Scholars, Presidential Scholars, Old Gold Scholars, National Hispanic Scholars, Tippie Scholars, China BESTS, National Achievement Scholars, and students in the National Academy of Arts, Sciences, and Engineering.

Based on grades and test scores, the Honors Program admits many students directly and automatically from high school. Entering students also may become members by submitting a high school transcript, a letter of recommendation from a teacher, and a personal letter saying how the student expects to gain from participation in the University of Iowa Honors Program.

Honors offers membership to students who earn high grades at the University. It also includes new transfer students who have a cumulative g.p.a. of at least 3.50 and have earned at least 24 s.h. of college credit may be admitted to honors. (Transfer students with fewer than 24 s.h. of college credit enter honors on the same basis as do students who enter the University directly from high school.)

To remain in the Honors Program, students must maintain a University of Iowa cumulative g.p.a. of 3.33 or higher. To graduate as a member of the University of Iowa Honors Program, students also must complete at least one Honors Commendation, awarded for 12 s.h. sets of courses or experiences provided by the Honors Program. For more information, see Admissions/Honors Memberships on the honors web site.

Academic Opportunities

The University of Iowa Honors Program helps tailor opportunities to different educational needs and goals. Its curricula are broad, flexible, and challenging. Students can take honors courses in any and every semester at Iowa. Most connect small, highly interactive classes of honors students with especially distinguished professors. Many offer new topics each term.

Honors encourages early connections among honors students. In 143:020 Honors Primetime Workshop, entering students can earn an initial semester hour of honors credit for short courses a few days before fall classes begin; 143:030 Honors First-Year Seminar awards 1 s.h. for fall semester work with top professors on their current inquiries; and an all-honors section of 010:003 Accelerated Rhetoric meets the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences' General Education Program rhetoric requirement, which is usually taken during the first or second semester at the University. There are honors sections of courses approved for other areas of the General Education Program and for the Courses in Common program, too.

Honors designations can complement further honors opportunities: honors advanced seminars, honors major seminars, honors studies, even honors practicums (for research, teaching, or service). Many students crown their educations with an honors thesis or project in their major.

Honors Commendations

The Honors Program and the University president join in awarding Honors Commendations to students who complete at least 12 s.h. of honors course work with a grade of B-minus or higher in each honors course or a comparable level of accomplishment in honors experiences beyond the classroom. There are many ways to earn an Honors Commendation, and many students complete several. Students who entered the University in fall 2008 or later must earn at least one Honors Commendation in order to graduate as a member of the Honors Program. Beginning spring 2011, the University will record Honors Commendations on students' transcripts. See Academics/Honors Commendations on the honors web site for more information.

Honors in the Major

Most majors offer upper-level honors courses, honors seminars, independent research, or opportunities to pursue an original honors thesis or senior project under the guidance of a faculty member. Each college and department determines its own requirements for graduation with honors from that unit, and faculty members in each department serve as honors advisors.

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. To graduate with honors in any major, students also must graduate as members of the University of Iowa Honors Program.

Extracurricular Programs

The University of Iowa Honors Program offers honors students a rich variety of activities outside the classroom. Many honors students find extracurricular programming a good way to meet people, get involved, and learn more about the world around them.

Honors Arts 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.

Honors Discourses stages small-group discussions with professors and other experts on hot topics of the day. Students tap the latest scholarship in developing their personal positions.

Honors Diversity offers a wide range of events to expand cultural horizons and enlarge personal perspectives. These include feasts, films, dances, documentaries, and more.

Honors Gallery takes advantage of the Blank Honors Center’s design to display art. It exhibits student works throughout the year, and it complements these with receptions and other events.

Honors Media can record honors events of all kinds and help present them. Honors Media also holds movie nights, to screen and discuss feature-length films.

Honors Volunteers 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 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 Presidential Scholars Community introduces recipients of Iowa’s top merit scholarships to four years of adventures in service, team building, and more. Scholars participate in cookouts, arts events, canoeing adventures, legacy projects, pizza parties, dinners with faculty, mentoring programs, and volunteer projects.

Honors advises four major national and international honor societies: Phi Eta Sigma, National Society of Collegiate Scholars, Mortar Board, and Omicron Delta Kappa. It also works closely with Phi Beta Kappa in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. These societies provide select students with opportunities to lead, serve their communities, and cultivate academic excellence.

For more information, see Activities on the Honors Program web site.

Financial Support

The Honors Program helps students apply for many scholarships, awards, and prizes. The program offers its own scholarships to selected continuing honors students across the University.

Iowa students win major national and international scholarships each year. Honors provides advising and nominations for Rhodes, Marshall, Gates Cambridge, Churchill, Truman, Udall, Goldwater, Fulbright, Humanity in Action, National Science Foundation, and other prominent scholarships. Its Aces Program for Analysis, Advocacy, and Action readies top students for national and international scholarship competitions by educating them for public participation. The Iowa Center for Research by Undergraduates provides research stipends for students and travel grants for those who present work at conferences. Announcements about scholarships and other awards appear on the Honors Program web site and electronic mailing list. Honors Program scholarships are not available to incoming first-year or transfer students.

See Scholarships on the Honors Program web site for more information.

Facilities

Blank Honors Center

The Honors Program makes its home in the Blank Honors Center, a new facility for fostering community among honors students. The Blank Honors Center offers extended hours, social areas, a kitchenette, quiet study areas, classrooms, a computer lab with 24 workstations, office space for honor societies, honors advising for students, and offices for Honors Program staff. The center also has rooms for meetings, events, presentations, and conversation. Honors staff members are always on hand to help students.

Honors Living-Learning Communities

The Honors Program supports two University of Iowa living-learning communities and participates in a third. Living-learning communities are located in University residence halls. All members of Honors House, Honors Nexus, and the Iowa Writers are members of the Honors Program.

Honors House fills Daum Hall and links to the Blank Honors Center by a skywalk. Honors House provides a convenient place for residents to socialize and study with each other. It also sponsors cultural, academic, and social events for honors students living in Daum Hall. It organizes group outings to arts events, workshops on scholarship and research opportunities, volunteer activities, and dinners with faculty members. Honors House welcomes first-year, transfer, and returning honors students.

Honors Nexus occupies a wing of Mayflower Hall. This living-learning community helps its members launch individual and team projects in art, research, service, and leadership, providing a strong start for a university education. It holds a wide variety of social events, and its members participate in the full range of honors courses and activities. Honors Nexus welcomes first-year, transfer, and returning honors students.

The Iowa Writers living-learning community uses Stanley Hall to stay connected with resources such as the International Writing Program and the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, which are located nearby. It sponsors social events, readings, and writing activities for its members, who submit writing samples when they apply to join the community. All students admitted to the Iowa Writers community become members of the Honors Program, so they can take advantage of the full range of Honors Program courses and activities. Iowa Writers welcomes first-year students.

Students must apply to join the University's living-learning communities; see Living-Learning Communities on the University Housing web site for application and other information about the communities. For additional information about the honors communities, see Places/Living-Learning Communities on the honors web site.