Clark Honors College at the University of Oregon has an acceptance rate of 17%, making it highly competitive for students looking to join this prestigious program. The CHC offers students the opportunity to enhance their academic experience by providing a challenging and engaging curriculum that integrates their major with their personal goals and aspirations.

To be eligible for admission into Clark Honors College, students must maintain a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 across all courses taken at the university. If a student’s GPA falls below this threshold, they will be required to meet with a CHC advisor to develop a plan to improve their academic performance. Although there is no minimum ACT/SAT score required for applying to the Honors College, students must demonstrate a strong academic record to be considered for acceptance.

The admission process for the University of Oregon involves submitting an application to the university and indicating interest in Clark Honors College. Students will be evaluated based on their academic performance, extracurricular activities, essays, and letters of recommendation. Those who meet the criteria for admission will be invited to participate in an interview as part of the selection process for the CHC.

Clark Honors College Acceptance Rate

Admission Rate	17%
Minimum GPA Requirement	3.0 cumulative GPA
ACT/SAT Scores	No minimum requirement

Quality of Education at Clark Honors College

Admission into Clark Honors College is highly competitive, with a low acceptance rate of 17%. Students are expected to maintain a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 to stay in the program and receive personalized support if their GPA falls below this threshold. There is no specific ACT/SAT score requirement for admission, placing more emphasis on academic performance and potential.

Relation to University Admission and Quality

Clark Honors College’s selective acceptance rate demonstrates a commitment to maintaining a high-quality academic environment. By prioritizing GPA over standardized test scores, the college highlights the importance of academic achievement and personal growth. This approach ensures that students admitted to the program are motivated, dedicated, and equipped to excel in a challenging academic setting.

Clark Honors College Acceptance Rate

The University of Oregon is a public research university located along the scenic Willamette River. UO houses a Professional Distinction Program that offers students internship opportunities and career workshops. UO also includes the highly ranked College of Education, as well as thriving football and track programs. 

University of Oregon has an acceptance rate of 78%. Applicants can apply via the Common Application, Coalition Application, or a school-specific application. All platforms require a main application essay for UO, and they also provide a second optional essay. Honors College applicants must complete an additional essay. 

clark honors college requirements

Typical Clark Honors College Incoming Students

3.90

median GPA or higher

90+

percentile of test takers

While there is no minimum threshold, our incoming students typically possess a median GPA of 3.90 or higher and score in the 90+ percentile of test takers.

We seek bright, thoughtful, and academically motivated individuals to bring diversity to our community of scholars. If you want to hone your critical thinking, reading and writing skills alongside others who, like you, enjoy exciting, in-depth conversations, then the Clark Honors College is the place for you!

Clark Honors College Graduation Requirements

Clark Honors College curriculum replaces university general education requirements. Students take 1/3 of their classes in the honors college, another 1/3 in their major and the last 1/3 as electives. Generally, you will take one or two classes in the honors college each term.

Classes in the CHC are more rigorous than the general university classes they replace. All CHC courses begin at the 200-level, meaning coursework and in-class expectations are equivalent to those of general university courses designed for second-year students.

Required Courses

Second Language

Two years or completion of second year, third-term proficiency, or demonstration of proficiency by examination.

Science & Math

• HC 207H or HC 209H
• One Course in Quantitative Reasoning or Mathematics
• Two additional approved Science or Mathematics courses

200-Level Arts & Letters and Social Science Series

• HC 221H: Arts & Letters – Ancient World
• HC 222H: Arts & Letters – Modern World
• HC 231H: Social Science – Ancient World
• HC 232H: Social Science – Modern World
• HC 223H Arts & Letters Research or HC 233H Social Science Research

400-Level Colloquia

• HC 421H: Arts & Letters Colloquium
• HC 431H: Social Science Colloquium
• HC 441H: Science Colloquium
• Two additional ellective colloquia

Additional Requirement

• Global Perspectives Requirement (GP) – Take HC 434H or one qualifying non-CHC course
• U.S.: Difference, Inequality, and Agency Requirement (DIA) – Take HC 444H or one qualifying non-CHC course

Thesis

• HC 477H: Thesis Prospectus

Your Degree Guide – An Important Resource

Formerly known as the “Degree Audit,” your UO Degree Guide is found in DuckWeb and tracks your progress towards graduation. The guide monitors the university requirements, Clark Honors College requirements, and the requirements for your majors and minors, all in one place.

The Degree Guide is a resource to assist you in course planning and degree tracking, but it is not an official guarantee of degree completion. You should always consult with your CHC and major advisors to discuss your progress and verify that you are satisfying the necessary requirements.

clark honors college ranking

The Best Honors Colleges
These are honors colleges that are stand-alone schools within a university. They can have the benefit of additional funding, school-wide extracurriculars, and sometimes even additional distinctions at graduation!

Here are the honors colleges that are at the top of PrepScholar’s list.

Barrett College, Arizona State University
Location: Tempe, Arizona
Barrett College, the honors college at Arizona State University, is a stand-alone college within the ASU system. Ranked #1 among honors colleges in the United States, Barrett College has a presence on ASU’s four campuses in Phoenix, Mesa, Tempe, and Glendale, Arizona

In the 2021-2022 academic year, Arizona State had an 88% acceptance rate, which means it’s an accessible school for many students. Though Barrett College doesn’t publicize its acceptance rate, it does provide other stats that can help prospective students know where they stand as applicants. For example, the average unweighted high school GPA of students admitted into Barret in 2021 was 3.81. In terms of test scores, the average composite score on the SAT was 1347, and the average composite ACT score was 29. If your GPA and test scores are above average, you have a better shot at getting into Barrett.

Despite the large number of students attending Barrett College, honors class sizes are still small. In addition to offering a required sequence of signature honors courses (the central theme being “The Human Event”), Barrett College allows students to conduct research and thesis projects, has a private writing center for Barrett students, and offers many global internship, study abroad, and real-world service opportunities. Barrett College also provides quality housing facilities for the majority of its nearly 7,100 first- and second-year undergraduate honors students.

Barrett is nationally prestigious, and is among the top 20 universities in the US for recipients of the Fulbright fellowship. It’s also the only honors college that has a Nobel Prize recipient teaching undergraduates.

Schreyer Honors College (SHC), Pennsylvania State University
Location: University Park, Pennsylvania
Schreyer Honors College is Penn State’s honors college. Considered one of the top honors colleges in the nation, Schreyer provides approximately 2,000 honors college “Scholars” with an educational experience that is dedicated to academic integrity, fostering a global perspective, and rich opportunities for leadership and civic engagement.

The acceptance rate to Penn State is about 54%, but the average acceptance rate to Schreyer Honors College is between 8-10%, making this one of the more competitive public university honors colleges. Another unique feature of Schreyer Honors College is it doesn’t consider SAT/ACT scores or high school GPA as part of the application process. Instead, the Schreyer admissions committee is interested in the creative thinking and authenticity applicants demonstrate in their admissions materials.

Schreyer also offers an abundance of honors-specific courses for admitted students. In fact, Schreyer offers over 300 smaller-sized honors courses to its students, usually taught by senior faculty members. Schreyer students also have the benefit of access to priority registration and living learning communities (LLCs) in residence halls that primarily house honors students.

One stand-out offering at Schreyer Honors College is the Integrated Undergraduate Graduate (IUG) Program. The IUG program allows exceptional students to complete their undergraduate and graduate degrees concurrently, or at the same time. Eligible students will be able to meet the requirements for this accelerated program by completing an honors thesis that meets both undergraduate and graduate standards and taking a series of cross-listed undergraduate and graduate courses. If you’re interested in enrolling in an honors college and completing an accelerated graduate degree program, Schreyer could be a good fit for you!

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Clemson Honors College at Clemson University offers honors students a rigorous academic experience. (Spyder_Monkey/Wikimedia)

Clemson Honors College, Clemson University
Location: Clemson, South Carolina
Clemson University’s honors college is called Clemson Honors College. Clemson’s acceptance rate is 62%, and while Clemson Honors College doesn’t publish its admissions rates, it’s likely that getting in is more challenging. That’s because the honors college has more rigorous GPA requirements: the minimum required GPA for the honors college is a 3.7, but most students accepted to Clemson Honors College far exceed that minimum.

There are plenty of benefits to being an honors student at Clemson. Honors students receive priority registration, extended library privileges, and are eligible to apply for research grants to support their Departmental Honors research projects at the beginning of both the fall and spring semesters.

Another stand-out feature of Clemson Honors College is the brand new Honors Residential College (HRC) facility, which includes housing and dining for honors students, administrative offices, a library, study rooms, classrooms, and a kitchen. These facilities are available exclusively to honors students, so you’ll have the space you need to study (and have fun, too).

Clemson Honors College also offers many unique academic opportunities, including the highly selective EUREKA! Program. The EUREKA! Program invites 50 incoming honors freshmen (25 in person, 25 online) to participate in research projects over a five week period before the start of the fall semester. Many EUREKA! Program participants go on to receive elite scholarships and fellowships, such as the Rhodes, Fulbright, Goldwater, Marshall, and Truman scholarships.

Rutgers University Honors College
Location: New Brunswick, New Jersey
The Honors College at Rutgers University is both a stand-alone school and a student living-learning community. The goal of the honors college is to blend the classroom and the community to create a transformative learning experience for its students.

The Rutgers acceptance rate is 67%, and while the honors college doesn’t publish its admissions rates, it’s safe to assume that getting in is more competitive. The test scores of accepted students reflect that idea: the median SAT score for the Honors College class of 2022 is 1530 (the composite SAT score for non-honors students is 1300).

Luckily for incoming students, there isn’t a separate or additional application for the Honors College. The Honors College admissions committee uses the general Rutgers application to determine who will be admitted into the honors program.

Once admitted into the college, honors students have access to top-notch facilities and academic resources. The Honors College at Rutgers has its own state-of-the-art building, which is the hub for honors courses and seminars, research opportunities, an Innovation Lab, on-site academic advising, and lounges where honors students can build community and even get to know live-in faculty.

One of the best things about the Honors College at Rutgers is that all honors students receive a four year renewable scholarship. The Honors College also provides additional scholarship opportunities for study abroad, research projects, and even has an Honors College Student Emergency Fund for students who encounter unexpected financial hardship.

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The University of Texas at Austin takes the top spot in our list of the best honors programs in the United States. (Kumar Appaiah/Flickr)

Best Honors Programs
The biggest difference between an honors college and an honors program is that honors colleges are stand-alone schools within the university system, and honors programs are not. For our list, we focused on finding the best university-wide honors programs in the United States.

Plan II Honors Program, University of Texas at Austin
Location: Austin, Texas

The College of Liberal Arts at the University of Texas at Austin offers the Plan II Honors Program, which is an interdisciplinary arts and sciences major with a core curriculum. Unlike stand-alone honors colleges like the ones listed above, the Plan II Honors Program is housed within UT’s College of Liberal Arts.

Sometimes called a “public Ivy,” UT has a 32% acceptance rate. Plan II, however, usually receives around 1400 applications every year and only admits around 175 freshman honors students every fall. (In other words, getting into Plan II can be a little tough!)

Plan II Honors is a prime example of the difference between an honors college and honors program. As an honors program, Plan II Honors doesn’t have its own housing, nor are its programs consolidated in one stand-alone honors college. However, Plan II does have its own scholarship and grant programs, study abroad opportunities, and student clubs.

A major perk of the Plan II Honors Program at UT is its flexibility. For students who are interested in double majoring, combining multiple UT honors programs, or even getting a second degree concurrently, Plan II Honors is a great choice. Over 70% of Plan II Honors students complete the requirements for a second, third, or fourth major, and close to 35% complete the requirements for a second degree. That makes the Plan II honors program great for ambitious students who are pursuing a more interdisciplinary course of study!

Echols Scholars Program, University of Virginia
Location: Charlottesville, Virginia
The honors program at the University of Virginia (UVA) is called Echols Scholars Program. UVA’s Echols Scholars Program is housed within the College of Arts & Sciences at UVA.

The acceptance rate to UVA is around 23%, making it one of the most competitive schools on our list. Luckily, all applicants to the College of Arts & Sciences first-year class are automatically reviewed for admission to Echols. Each new class of Echols students typically has approximately 200 students, so if you want to get into Echols, you’ll need to make sure your UVA application stands out from the crowd.

The key value that defines the Echols is that students get the opportunity to shape the program. For instance, the Echols Council is a student-led governing body that represents Echols students and works with the honors program’s administration to design and implement initiatives that give students the best learning experience.

Another unique opportunity that the Echols Scholars Program offers is the Echols Interdisciplinary Major. The Echols website explains, “The principle underlying the Echols Interdisciplinary Major is that no existing major, or combination of majors, fully satisfies a student’s broader interests.” This means that Echols students have the chance to create their own course of study that best fits their future career goals. If you want the chance to chart your own course in college, you may be a great fit for the Echols Scholars Program.

University Honors Program, the University of Kansas
Location: Lawrence, Kansas
The University of Kansas Honors Program, which is more commonly referred to as “University Honors,” is a campus-wide honors program open to students of all majors.

The acceptance rate to KU is about 91%, but acceptance to the University Honors Program is highly competitive. The average GPA for freshmen entering the honors program is 3.95, which is much higher than the average GPA of all incoming freshmen, which is 3.6. To get into the honors program, students have to apply to University Honors as part of the KU admissions application, which requires you to submit an additional essay and short answer response.

The University Honors program at KU is built on the concept of experiential learning. To graduate from University Honors, students are required to earn “Honors Experience” units by engaging in Enhanced Learning Experiences (ELEs). ELEs at KU include opportunities in public service, cultural literacy and social justice, global citizenship, aesthetic engagement, professional development and social entrepreneurship, leadership, and research. Honors students can even propose alternative experiences of their own design to meet the ELE requirement.

Honors College, University of South Carolina

Location: Columbia, South Carolina
The Honors College at the University of South Carolina is one of the larger honors college programs on this list, with roughly 2,300 students, but that doesn’t mean they receive fewer resources. In fact, the honors college offers nearly 600 honors courses, as well as the option (only available to honors students) to design your own major. Average class size for honors college classes is only 16, so students there also get more one-on-one interaction.

The acceptance rate to the University of South Carolina is roughly 68%, with an estimated SAT midrange of1100-1300 and an estimated ACT midrange of 21 to 29 for South Carolina residents, and an SAT midrange of 1250-1400 and ACT midrange of 28-32 for nonresidents. For the honors college, the SAT midrange is 1410-1520, the ACT midrange is 32-34, and the average weighted GPA of admitted honors students is 4.77.

Honors college students benefit from additional perks like honors-specific living communities in particular dorms and strong financial aid packages. The Honors College at the University of South Carolina has also received the highest ranking among public school honors programs for the fifth straight time by the publication Inside Honors.

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An impressive 87% of Macaulay Honors College students graduate debt free! Beyond My Ken/Wikimedia

Best “Bang for Your Buck” Honors Programs and Colleges
If you’re looking to get the most out of your educational dollars, you might consider enrolling in an honors college or program that offers financial assistance. Here are two honors colleges that can give you a top-tier education without breaking the bank.

Macaulay Honors College, City University of New York (CUNY)
Location: New York City, New York
Macaulay Honors College is the independent honors college housed within the City University of New York (CUNY). Macaulay is affiliated with eight senior colleges within the CUNY system and has a presence on the following CUNY campuses: Baruch College, Brooklyn College, City College, Hunter College, John Jay College, Lehman College, Queens College, and the College of Staten Island (CSI). And guess what? All of these campuses are located in New York City!

CUNY is pretty selective—the university’s acceptance rate is about 51%. Macaulay itself is also competitive, offering just 520 seats to incoming students across all eight campuses each year. To apply to Macaulay, prospective students must submit a high school transcript, resume, two letters of recommendation, and two maximum 500 word essay responses.

While Macaulay scholars will spend most of their time studying at their home campus, they will have the opportunity to attend lectures, seminars, and even take courses at the other CUNY campuses in New York City. In fact, Macaulay makes learning about New York City a key feature of its honors education. To that end, Macaulay students receive free admission to hundreds of the city’s cultural institutions, and participate in required honors seminars that use New York City as a teaching tool.

Besides its exceptional honors education, perhaps the most appealing thing about Macaulay Honors College is its financial aid package. Macaulay offers all of its students a merit scholarship package that includes tuition and a laptop computer, plus access to funding to support study abroad, research, and internship opportunities. Most impressively, 87% of Macaulay students graduate debt-free!

Macaulay’s excellent academics—they even have a Nobel Prize winner on faculty— and its generous financial aid package makes it an excellent value. High-achieving students who have limited funds (but want to get a top-tier education!) should definitely consider CUNY’s Macaulay Honors College.

The University of Alabama Honors College
Location: Tuscaloosa, Alabama
The honors college at the University of Alabama, which enrolled students call “UA Honors,” is a stand-alone college within the larger University of Alabama campus.

Admissions into UA Honors is equally competitive: applicants must have a minimum ACT score of 30, minimum SAT score of 1360, and a 3.5 high school GPA or higher to get accepted to UA Honors. There is a fast track into UA Honors for certain students: National Merit Finalists and National Achievement Finalists are admitted automatically once they complete the honors application.

UA Honors offers admitted students tons of academic opportunities. One of the most prestigious is the Randall Research Scholars program, which is the first interdisciplinary research program in the United States. Randal Research Scholars learn how to combine computing skills with their academic interests to perform high-level research in their field.

UA Honors also offers top-tier leadership and service opportunities through the University Fellows Experience. This four-year program allows students to develop elite leadership skills while empowering them to give back to the community around them through service and mentorship. The combination of academics and service offered by UA Honors helps honors graduates stand out as they embark on their future careers.

The amazing academic and extracurricular activities available through UA Honors comes at a reasonable price, too. That’s because UA Honors offers some of the most generous merit aid packages in the country to its students. At least eleven different types of merit and need based scholarships are available to UA honors students. On top of those scholarships, UA Honors students are eligible for study abroad scholarships and research fellowships.