Differential tuition at Clark Honors College

What is differential tuition?

To provide the benefits that are available to honors students, Clark Honors College charges differential tuition — additional tuition above that which the university collects for undergraduate tuition. These funds enable CHC to offer an academic and community experience that is distinct and unique on the University of Oregon campus.

At CHC, our students have access to specific and unique resources, which differential tuition makes possible. These resources include:

  • Smaller class size

CHC students experience the benefit of smaller classes, crucial to active engagement, learning, and individualized mentoring, while at the same time enjoying all the benefits of a large research institution. Our average class size is 16 seats, with a maximum enrollment of 19 seats.  

  • Specialized experiential learning

Specially-developed CHC courses provide students with real-world experiences, such as the Calderwood Seminars in Public Writing, the Inside-Out Program, and UO Forensics (speech, debate, and mock trial).

  • Concentrated advising resources

CHC offers a foundation of concentrated advising resources, including  a dedicated First-Year Advisor who not only steers students academically but helps students form a cohort and community; an Assistant Dean of Advising and Strategic Partnerships who develops CHC-specific research opportunities, internships, and mentorships; peer mentors who can guide CHC students from their own experience in the honors college; and every member of our faculty is also an academic advisor, creating a distinct and unique partnership between students and CHC professors.

  • All of our classes are taught by experienced professors, many of them award-winning teachers, not graduate students
  • The CHC provides assistance and close mentoring in the application process for prestigious national and internship scholarships such as Rhodes, Marshall, Goldwater, Udall, Mitchell, etc.; mentored research opportunities that include payment for work as undergraduate student researchers; awards and scholarships specifically for CHC students, and supplemental funding for living expenses for unpaid or low-paying internships
  • CHC students also enjoy priority early registration for every term, including summer, for all UO courses, not only CHC

In order to offer these resources, students are charged differential tuition each academic term  (with the exception of summer terms) that a student is enrolled in courses at the University of Oregon (whether they are taking honors college courses or not), up to 12 academic year terms.

For academic year 2023-24, there will be five different rates of HC differential tuition:

  1. Students who began prior to Fall 2020 when the UO implemented the guaranteed tuition program; referred to as “continuing students”: $1010.09 a term.  Once a student has paid CHC differential tuition for 12 academic year terms, differential tuition is waived.
     
  2. Students who began in Summer 2020 to Spring 2021 and are covered by the UO 2020 cohort’s guaranteed tuition program: $987.75 a term. This rate remains the same for up to five years.  Once a student has paid CHC differential tuition for 12 academic year terms, differential tuition is waived.
     
  3. Students who begin in Summer 2021 to Spring 2022 and are covered by the UO 2021 cohort’s guaranteed tuition program: $1002.56 a term.  This rate remains the same for up to five years.  Once a student has paid CHC differential tuition for 12 academic year terms, differential tuition is waived.
     
  4. Students who begin in Summer 2022 to Spring 2023 and are covered by the UO 2022 cohort’s guaranteed tuition program: $1007.58 a term.  This rate remains the same for up to five years. Once a student has paid CHC differential tuition for 12 academic year terms, differential tuition is waived.
     
  5. Students who begin in Summer 2023 to Spring 2024 and are covered by the UO 2023 cohort’s guaranteed tuition program: $1010.09 a term. This rate remains the same for up to five years. Once a student has paid CHC differential tuition for 12 academic year terms, differential tuition is waived.

  

The CHC differential tuition charge for established UO students who join CHC as “lateral transfers” is based on the year the student academically began at the UO. For example, a UO undergraduate who started in Fall 2019 but joined the CHC in Fall 2020 will be considered a “continuing student” and not part of the UO 2020 guaranteed tuition cohort.

Students with high financial need as demonstrated on the FAFSA or ORSAA can qualify for an honors college tuition remission scholarship. To be considered for these scholarships, students submit their FAFSA or ORSAA by the priority deadline set by the Office of Financial Aid, which administers this process. If a student has filed a FAFSA or ORSAA, they do not need to contact CHC directly to see whether they will be awarded an honors college tuition remission scholarship.  

Note: Dreamer students, including students who have Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status or Temporary Protected Status (TPS), as well as other undocumented students who are ineligible to submit a FAFSA may submit an Oregon Student Aid Application (ORSAA), which is an alternative to the FAFSA.

 

Additional Information