Independent study, fieldwork, and peer teaching are particularly well suited to helping outstanding students learn, interact collaboratively, and become contributing members of the academic community. Study options, elements of a study contract, and other components are described. (MSE)

The similarities and differences in college honors programs' objectives, design, administration, finance, recruiting, and public recognition are discussed as a starting point for comparing programs and determining what kind of college program works best. (MSE)

Honors programs are reviewed that use diversity in presentation, approach, and educational context to foster intellectual development. They individualize instruction and encourage students both to form partnerships in learning and to develop their own strategies for integrating information. (MSE)

An examination of the different ways in which the honors concept has been adapted from its elitist British university origins and of the assumptions underlying those adaptations reveals both the virtues and the problems inherent in the Americanization of honors. (Author/MSE)

The steady emergence of small-college honors programs in the early 1970s and the subsequent rapid growth of community college honors programs after 1978 are reviewed. The many successes in these colleges to capitalize on their existing strengths have avoided the problems of larger, university programs. (Author/MSE)

The role of honors programs as models and resources for all college education is described, and a comprehensive set of 22 recommendations for fostering excellence in every higher education unit is provided. (Author)