The Freshman Honors Program has been offering guidance to incoming students since 1973, when it was simply an experimental program. Since then, the program has grown to include hundreds of freshmen each year.

“It is a good way for high-achieving students to make a transition from high school to college life,” said Anne Fleisher, undergraduate assistant in the honors program and senior in chemical engineering.

Liz Beck, director of the Honors Program, said the Freshman Honors Program brings in approximately 8 percent of entering freshmen students from high school.

On average, about 1,700 students are eligible for this program but only 550 apply, Beck said.

Freshmen are invited to take part in this program if they have an English ACT score of 24 or higher and were in the top 5 percent of their graduating high school class, or have a composite ACT score above 30.

There are approximately 1,400 students in the Honors Program – 410 of whom are in the Freshman Honors Program – and 250 professors teaching and mentoring.

During the fall semester, students must take an honors section of English 105 as well as an honors seminar that focuses on getting freshmen accustomed to the university. The seminars are led by two students, generally sophomores, who help roughly a dozen students become acclimated to the campus.

The seminar also includes an accelerated version of Library 160.

In their second semester in the program, students are invited to research under professors with similar interests or take honors sections of courses, which are generally structured differently than other sections.

Nick Swaggert, member of the Freshman Honors Program, said being in the program has helped him commit to his grades. Swaggert earned the second-highest grade-point average on his floor last semester.

“They are the least time-consuming classes,” said Swaggert, freshman in chemical engineering.

There are social benefits of the program as well.

“It is a chance to meet and interact with other students that share the same academic and leadership goals,” Swaggert said.