Honors College - The University of Tulsa
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The University of Tulsa Honors College

The best questions require a lifetime of study.

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.

From the Dean | Curriculum | Honors Housing
Faculty & Academic Advisory Board | Honors Summer Academy

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.

Jennifer Frey Honors College Dean
Letter from the Honors College Dean

Learn

  • Learn through questioning
  • Learn through reading
  • Learn through seeing
  • Learn with faculty
    • Learn through questioning

      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.

      Honors Curriculum

    • Learn through reading

      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.

      McFarlin Library

    • Learn through seeing

      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.

      Special Collections

    • Learn with faculty

      Faculty at the Honors College are accomplished writers, researchers, and international scholars. Led by Dean Jennifer Frey and Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs Matthew Post, our faculty are dedicated to the mission of the Honors College at The University of Tulsa: to offer an excellent and accelerated education, focused on the study of classical 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.

      Honors College Faculty & Academic Advisory Board

    Grow

    • Grow through opportunity
    • Grow through travels
    • Grow through research
    • Grow through service
      • Grow through opportunity

        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.

      • Grow through travels

        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.

        Center for Global Engagement

      • Grow through research

        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.

        Tulsa Undergraduate Research Challenge

      • Grow through service

        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.

        Civic Engagement

      Belong

      • Belong through community
      • Belong in Hardesty Hall
      • Belong among friends
        • Belong through community

          At the Honors College, friendship is a vital component to a holistic learning experience. 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.

        • Belong in Hardesty Hall

          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.

          Honors Housing

        • Belong among friends

          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.

        Ready to get started?

        Step 1

        Apply to The University of Tulsa

        Bayless Plaza at The University of Tulsa in the summer

        Join a cadre of high-achieving students across a diverse range of top-ranked programs in a transformative academic environment where your personality and scholarly work are equally valued. Whether you’re from down the street or around the world, pursue your passion and become part of a close-knit community at one of the world’s best universities.

        Bayless Plaza at The University of Tulsa in the summer

        Step 2

        Apply to the Honors College

        TU Honors College applications are accepted Oct. 1 through Feb. 1 for March 15 decision response.

        Eligibility Requirements

        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

        Use the email address and password from your TU application to access the Honors College application below.

        Step 3

        Schedule a visit

        Your college experience will shape you forever. Explore your future at TU by visiting our beautiful campus, engaging with stories of current students and meeting admission counselors. During a visit, you’ll tour campus with a University Ambassador, meet with a professor who shares your academic interests, and hear from an admission counselor about the many opportunities awaiting you at TU.