UCM Honors College

Honors colleges offer several benefits to students, serving as the exemplar of a “high impact practice.” An honors experience leads to greater success as measured by GPA, credits earned, retention, and graduation rates (Diaz et al., 2019). This is especially true for underrepresented students (Seifert et al., 1994), as honors colleges are designed with the very inclusive, evidenced-based practices that have been linked to more advantageous outcomes for this populace (for example, community-building, dedicated advising, mentoring, small class sizes, and financial resources).   The Honors College at the University of Central Missouri is designed to enrich the educational careers of highly motivated, creative, and dynamic undergraduate students.

 

The core mission of The Honors College is to support an inclusive environment that stimulates critical thinking, interdisciplinary problem-solving, intellectual curiosity, and a global perspective. These factors will ultimately cultivate a student and faculty community of forever learners.

 

This charge is in direct congruence with UCM’s larger mission of “disseminating knowledge that transforms students into leaders who possess the aptitudes, skills, and confidence to succeed” and its core values of Community, Diversity, Excellence, Learning, Opportunity, and Service.

 

In conjunction with the National Collegiate Honors Council guidelines, our mission is accomplished through opportunities available only to Honors College students that are, “measurably broader, deeper, or more complex than comparable learning experiences typically found at institutions of higher education.” Such opportunities include a unique learning community that offers hands-on and experiential activities for our students. Currently, the Honors College at UCM serves over 200 students representing all four academic colleges and nearly every discipline on campus. For an overview of our program, please access our brochure here. Additional information about our program requirements  and benefits can be found here and here respectively.