Honors Colleges and Programs in Arkansas

Modified: 2025-09-02 1:46 PM CDST

Honors Arkansas was born at an NCHC meeting. The idea was to link all of the honors colleges and programs in Arkansas so that they could work together to promote honors education.

Honors Arkansas Member Institutions (as of December 2024) **

• Arkansas State University
  • The Honors College
    • "The Honors College is where you begin to discover yourself. It challenges you to pursue new heights you didn't realize were possible"
• Arkansas State University-Mountain Home
  • Fran Coulter Honors Program
    • "The program was created to honor the beloved professor and first lady of ASUMH."
• Arkansas State University-Newport (web page address pending)
  • The program director is Joe Campbell (joe_campbell@asun.edu). Dr. Campbell is also Dean for General Education, and their assistant director is Traci Burgess (traci_burgess@asun.edu). Dr. Burgess is the Chair for Humanities and Social Sciences. 
• Arkansas State University-Three Rivers
  • "Honors College, ASUTR was created to provide opportunities and support for academically capable and engaged students who want to begin their higher education experience at a nearby, accessible college."
• Arkansas Tech University
  • University Honors
    • "Arkansas Tech University's Honors Program is designed to elevate the college learning experience. To maintain a sense of community and enhance personal learning skills, honors courses are conscientiously designed to be small in size and to promote interaction, not only with peers, but with professors as well."
• Harding University
  • Honors College
    • "The Honors College seeks to cultivate opportunities for highly motivated students to grow in leadership, service and academic excellence through shared experiences that are informed by faith and focus on the development of the whole person."
• Henderson State University
  • Honors College
    • "The Honors College is an integrated set of courses, seminars, colloquia, independent study projects and other events designed to add unique dimensions and depth to the capable student’s university experience."
• John Brown University
  • Honors College Program
    • "In the Honors Scholars Program (HSP), you have opportunities to co-teach with a professor, conduct research, take educational trips, study abroad, present your research at regional and national conferences and participate in a community that will encourage you in your academic and professional pursuits."
• National Park Community College
  • Honors Program
    • "The Honors Program is designed to promote critical thinking, stimulate intellectual growth, and provide a humanistic perspective to complex issues using an interdisciplinary approach."
• Northwest Arkansas Community College
  • Honors Program
    • "As an NWACC honors student, you'll experience small and challenging classes led by out-of-the-box thinkers. Instructors utilize seminar-style discussions, research projects and experiential pedagogy (such as field trips, service learning and simulations) within their honors classes."
• Ouachita Baptist University
  • Carl Goodson Honors Program
    • "The Carl Goodson Honors Program was established to further academic excellence and inspire intellectual curiosity for qualified students."
• Southern Arkansas University
  • SAU Honors College
    • "Students in the Honors College find honors-credit courses challenging and rewarding. Enrollment in honors classes does not simply earn students extra written assignments. Unlike how high school AP classes are often seen as a necessary grind, honors classes are interesting and intellectually stimulating."
• University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff
  • Carolyn F. Blakely Honors Program
    • "The Honors Program at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff is a unit for academically oriented and motivated students.  It offers a planned set of arrangements to serve the needs of talented, gifted, and committed students who are receptive to serious academic challenges.  Our goal is to produce a program that attracts and retains high-achieving scholars with an interest in becoming well-educated and well-rounded people willing to make their respective communities and nation a better place to live, work, and learn."
• University of Arkansas at Fayetteville
  • Honors College
    • "Here at the University of Arkansas Honors College, our goal is to build a diverse, transformative community of students and faculty that prepares graduates who excel professionally, flourish personally and lead globally."
• University of Arkansas at Fort Smith
  • Myles Friedman Honors Program
    • The program consists of a unique honors general education curriculum with international focus, exciting travel study classes, service opportunities, independent study project options, and provides you with the opportunity to be identified as a cum honore graduate of the University."
• University of Arkansas at Little Rock
  • Donaghey Scholars Honors Program
    • "The Donaghey Scholars Honors Program offers a distinctive learning environment for undergraduate studies. The program replaces the University’s core courses with an interdisciplinary curriculum that emphasizes critical thinking through the reading of primary texts, writing, and discussion."
• University of Central Arkansas
  • Honors Education
    • "Students in Honors at UCA say that it has helped make their transition to college easier: connecting them with peers and faculty who care about their success, improving their grades by enhancing writing and critical thinking skills, and giving them a deeply rewarding educational experience. The University of Central Arkansas has a variety of honors programming opportunities available for students."
• Philander Smith College
  • McKinley Newton Honors Academy
    • "The McKinley Newton Honors Academy was founded in 2001 and named for one of the College’s most distinguished and admired teacher-administrators...those who participate in the Honors Academy receive an enriched academic and extra-curricular experience in this special program."
• Lyon College
  • Honors Fellows
    • "The Honors Fellows Program is a rigorous course of study designed to provide highly skilled, motivated students the opportunity to study, hone their research skills, and exchange ideas in a challenging and supportive academic environment."
• Williams Baptist College
  • The Coe Honors Program
    • "Come to Williams as a Coe Scholar – a member of a select group of exceptional WBU students who participate in an enhanced undergraduate experience. Students admitted to the Coe Honors Program are women and men of outstanding academic achievement, high ideals and a scholarly heart."

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