Offer an excellent and accelerated general education, focused on the study of classic texts in the liberal arts tradition, in a vibrant intellectual community that fosters friendship, growth in excellent habits of mind and character, and service to the common good.
Jennifer Frey Honors College Dean
College is a pivotal time. During these four years, you will forge an adult identity and make decisions that will affect the trajectory of the rest of your life. While a university education often helps to prepare you for a career, its essential purpose is to prepare you to fashion a meaningful and deeply fulfilling life. Career paths take unpredictable twists and turns, yet you will remain someone who longs to understand the world, to possess what you think is good, and to appreciate what you find beautiful. In the Honors College, we study the liberal arts because they help you to discover what you believe is true, good, and beautiful—and to understand why. This is an education in human freedom, and it builds a foundation for a meaningful life. A student of the liberal arts has reflected deeply about the ultimate questions of human life and is therefore better prepared to face life’s challenges and difficult choices, as well as to appreciate and savor life’s triumphs and joys.
The motto on our academic seal is wisdom, virtue, and friendship, because these are the common goods that we seek together in all that we do in the college. We believe that the study of classic texts is a suitable means to these ends because they address the big questions at the heart of human existence and their value has withstood the test of
In the Honors College, we study the liberal arts because they help you to discover what you believe is true, good, and beautiful—and to understand why.
time. When we study the classics, we enter “the great conversation” with some of the most influential thinkers of our inherited intellectual tradition. We learn from the past in order to have a deeper understanding of the present and to forge a better future together.
Liberal learning is active; it occurs in dialogue with others. We have a firmer grasp of our ideas and values when we are called to respond to those who object or who offer us a different perspective. The best path to grow in wisdom is through friendship with those who are seeking it alongside you. And that is what we hope your experience in the Honors College will be: a place of deep friendship and intellectual curiosity, a place where you grow together through challenging conversation and study, a place where you become more human and more humane.
If you are someone searching for answers to life’s questions, then I invite you to visit our residential college at utulsa. This might be the place where you belong.
Who am I? What purpose do I have in the world?
What obligations do I have to others? What is justice?
Do we have free will? Does God exist? How can I know?
What is love, and is anything most worthy of our love?
Is beauty subjective? If not, how is it defined? Am I free?
Is there a highest good, an end that ought to order our lives?
How should I live my life? What is goodness?
Who am I? What purpose do I have in the world?
What obligations do I have to others? What is justice?
Do we have free will? Does God exist? How can I know?
What is love, and is anything most worthy of our love?
Is beauty subjective? If not, how is it defined? Am I free?
Is there a highest good, an end that ought to order our lives?
How should I live my life? What is goodness?
Who am I? What purpose do I have in the world?
What obligations do I have to others? What is justice?
Is there a highest good, an end that ought to order our lives?
How should I live my life? What is goodness?
Who am I? What purpose do I have in the world?
What obligations do I have to others? What is justice?
Do we have free will? Does God exist? How can I know?
What is love, and is anything most worthy of our love?
Is beauty subjective? If not, how is it defined? Am I free?
Is there a highest good, an end that ought to order our lives?
Is beauty subjective? If not, how is it defined? Am I free?
Is there a highest good, an end that ought to order our lives?
How should I live my life? What is goodness?
Who am I? What purpose do I have in the world?
Is there a highest good, an end that ought to order our lives?
Our goal in the Honors College is to educate our students to lead flourishing lives of purpose and meaning no matter what career path they ultimately choose to pursue. By learning from great thinkers of the past, we prepare you for a life that is worth living. Everything we do at the College is animated by our core values: Wisdom, Virtue, Friendship.
Regardless of your interests or career goals, there is a place for you at the Honors College.
The best questions require a lifetime of study.
A two-year program integrating Honors education with another utulsa major or College
Complete Honors Classic Texts Core + any utulsa major requirements for graduation
Classic Texts Core tailored to chosen utulsa major
Conversational, seminar-style classes
Community events, colloquia, and research opportunities
Service in community
Capstone Honors thesis
2
Classic Texts Major A four-year program dedicated to studying Classic Texts in the Honors College
Complete Honors Classic Texts Core + Classic Texts major requirements for graduation
Classic Texts Core courses count toward major
Conversational, seminar-style classes
Community events, colloquia, and research opportunities
Service in community
Capstone Honors thesis
We believe that education is the cultivation of human potential into human excellence.
The Honors College offers an integrated, holistic, and transformative liberal arts education, which allows you to pursue a more specialized program of study within any major offered at utulsa. By studying classic texts within a community that seeks wisdom, virtue, and friendship as common ends, you will confront the most profound and enduring questions of human existence, as explored by some of the most influential thinkers within our inherited intellectual tradition.
The Classic Texts Core is the heart of the Honors College. These courses are designed to immerse and engage you in the “great conversation” of our inherited tradition, encompassing philosophy, history, literature, religious studies, and the foundations of the modern social, political, and natural sciences.
The Department of Special Collections and University Archives at McFarlin Library hosts worldclass collections of rare books, manuscripts, photographs, artwork, and other objects. They also offer an important array of research materials for scholars worldwide as well as utulsa faculty and students.
Honors students seek to grow in virtue through their service to the community at large.
The Honors College is committed to helping you grow in knowledge, virtue, and friendship. Through special academic programs, student leadership opportunities, and civic service requirements, the Honors College will enable you to find your purpose in the world.
The Honors College is committed to offering unique study abroad opportunities that integrate place and culture into the study of Classic Texts. Studying abroad allows Honors students to deepen their appreciation for various cultures, histories, and perspectives on what it means to be human.
The Honors College partners with the Tulsa Undergraduate Research Challenge (TURC) to provide extraordinary research opportunities for Honors Students. TURC aims to create leaders in scholarship, research, and public life through an emphasis on undergraduate research and community involvement.
True Blue Neighbors develops and formalizes partnerships with organizations in our community and beyond. These relationships allow Honors College students to deepen their understanding of social issues and contribute to organizations that serve community needs. With over 100 partnerships in the Tulsa area, True Blue Neighbors helps to bridge the gap in education, food security, youth mentorship, and other areas of need.
Volunteer, special project, and service learning opportunities through True Blue Neighbors all satisfy Honors College civic service requirements.
Learn more about True Blue Neighbors >
The Honors College is an intellectual community that shares a common goal: the search for wisdom. At utulsa, you will have the opportunity to make lifelong friendships with peers, professors, and mentors. All Honors College faculty are specially chosen for their exceptional teaching style, commitment to the vision of the College, and personal investment in the success of their students. In seeking to learn and grow together, we strive to create a community of faculty and students that can be called a collegium in the fullest sense of the word.
At the Honors College, friendship is a vital component to a holistic learning experience.
The Honors College experience extends far beyond the walls of the classroom. Honors Suites are situated in utulsa’s newest luxury residence, and are reserved for Honors students to learn, grow, and belong together during their time in the Honors College. With easy access to classrooms, dining facilities, and other campus amenities, Hardesty Hall provides a wonderful space to live and make lifelong friends.
• Coed by suite
• 308 residents
• Multiple student lounges
• Easy access to Honors faculty offices and class spaces
In the Honors College, you will join a vibrant intellectual community of students and professors. Being a part of the Honors College community includes participating in a variety of intellectual, cultural, and social experiences: from symphonies and ballets, to tailgating and movie nights, to field trips, banquets, and symposia. These opportunities allow you to make new connections with friends and faculty, and explore and cultivate new passions outside of the classroom.
Learn more about Honors Housing >
Honors College students receive a $2,000 scholarship that is renewable every year, depending on continued eligibility.
Presidential Scholarship recipients are awarded full tuition for eight semesters. Eligible students must have a 4.0 grade point average and must submit a separate application and resume.
The university, along with the Oklahoma Board of Regents and the Board of Trustees, will invest over $285,000 per student (estimated $71,250 per year for four years) through the National Merit Semifinalist Package.
The Honors College offers personal coaching for nationally-competitive scholarships and fellowships. The University of Tulsa students and alumni have won more nationally competitive awards than all other Oklahoma colleges combined.
*Recipients of these full-tuition scholarships are not eligible for the Honors College Scholarship.
the University of Tulsa
For information about applying to utulsa, visit utulsa.edu/admission.
The Honors College applications are accepted October 1 through February 1. Students can apply to the Honors College from their utulsa application portal.
IMPORTANT DATES
• Application open: Oct. 1
• Application deadline: Feb. 1
• Response: Mar. 15
The Honors College implements a holistic approach to application review.
Average Scores
• 4.0 GPA weighted
• Recommended Test Scores
• ACT 29
• SAT 1340
• CLT 90
