The University of Georgia Jere W. Morehead Honors College was recently ranked the No.1 honors program or college in the nation by College Transitions, publishers of the best-selling guide, Colleges Worth Your Money.

College Transitions identified three general characteristics—selectivity, benefits offered, and program rigor—for which each honors program or college was scored. Those scores were then standardized, weighted and totaled.

Selectivity, which included test scores, GPA, and acceptance rate, accounted for 25% of a school’s overall score. Rigor, or the number of honors credit hours students are required to take as well as minimum GPA required to remain an honors student, also accounted for 25% of the overall score. The remaining 50% was dedicated to benefits, which included living-learning opportunities, research offerings, and support for applications to national and other competitive scholarships.

“This ranking is a testament to the talent and hard work over many years of our faculty, students, and staff,” said Meg Amstutz, dean of the Morehead Honors College. “We attract many of the nation’s best students to UGA through the Honors College, and they bring terrific leadership and energy to the campus.”

The 2023-2024 first-year honors class held an average GPA of 4.2, an average SAT score of 1506 and an average ACT score of 34. These outstanding students participate in small classes, internship programs, domestic and international travel study, research, and many other programs for academically talented students.

The Morehead Honors College is also home to recipients of some of the nation’s most prestigious and competitive academic awards. UGA’s Major Scholarships Office is housed in the College, and its staff work with all UGA students across campus as they apply for national, high-level scholarships.

In the last academic year, Honors student Mariah Cady was one of only 32 students nationwide named a 2024 Rhodes Scholar, marking the second year in a row that a UGA student has won the honor. UGA is one of only five public universities in the U.S., in addition to the nation’s service academies, to have a Rhodes recipient this year, and UGA has been a top 3 producer of Rhodes Scholars among public institutions for the last 30 years.

Also in the last academic year, Honors students Elaine “Lainey” Gammon and Sara Logsdon were named Goldwater Scholars; Alex Drahos was one of 60 undergraduates from across the nation to be selected as a 2024 Truman Scholar; and Ashni Patel was selected for the Schwarzman Scholarship.

The Morehead Honors College also supports the Center for Undergraduate Research Opportunities (CURO), which is open to all undergraduates pursuing faculty-mentored research, including students in their first year of study at the University of Georgia. Through the Major Scholarships Office and CURO, the Honors College supports all undergraduates at the institution.

“Being named the top honors college in the country is a remarkable honor and one that speaks volumes about the quality of our programs and the extraordinary achievements of our students,” said UGA President Jere W. Morehead. “This recognition underscores our ongoing commitment to academic distinction and student success at the University of Georgia.”

A Franklin College proposal for an Honors Program at UGA was adopted in March 1960. That fall, 43 students enrolled in the first Honors courses, which included chemistry, history, philosophy, geometry, French and political science.

In 1973, the UGA Foundation trustees created the Foundation Fellowship, the premier academic scholarship at the University of Georgia. In 1996, a $31 million gift from alumnus Bernard B. “Bernie” Ramsey elevated the Foundation Fellowship to the ranks of America’s best.

The college was named in honor of UGA President Jere W. Morehead in 2021. Morehead served as director of the Honors Program from 1999-2004. The naming of the college was the culmination of a nearly $12 million fundraising campaign led by the UGA Foundation and its emeriti trustees to strengthen the Honors Program.Today, the Morehead Honors College serves more than 2,800 undergraduates from across campus each year, including 550 incoming first-year students in fall 2023. Students in the Honors College may choose any degree program at UGA.