Lewis Honors College

HS Seniors: Join us for the Lewis Look Prospective Students: Learn more about admission

By the Numbers

100% Experiential Education Participation

96% First-Year Retention Rate

90% Employment or Graduate/Professional School

Mission in Action

Explore Your Purpose

Honors advisors and the Center for Personal Development counselors partner with students in their exploration of purpose to cultivate well-being, leadership, and career readiness.

Honors at Kentucky has a long and proud history, dating back to 1959, and thousands of students have passed through our program, exploring themselves and the boundaries of thought with outstanding faculty.

Jacqueline Coleman, Christian Brady, Laura Bryan, Conner Brumley

Lead With Integrity

Providing leadership development opportunities enables students to fulfill their experiential credit while bolstering lifelong skills to apply as a graduate student or employee.

The Honors classes I took my freshman year exposed me to ideas that I would not have otherwise thought deeply about. The topics we discussed have allowed me to engage with current events and the social sciences more than I would have been able to otherwise.

Asa O'Neal '25

NSF Graduate Research Fellow, Barry M. Goldwater Scholar, Astronaut Scholar

Maddie Duff waving with other graduating students walking

Why Honors?

Honors Residential Experience

Center for Personal Development

Internship, Research, Education Abroad, Service-Learning Opportunities

Dr. Kenton Sena with HON 152 students outdoors

Dedicated Honors Faculty

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News and Events

This fall, the Lewis Honors College (LHC) launches its “Ideas that Matter” series, a program connecting students with leading scholars, innovators and changemakers on issues shaping today’s world — from free speech and artificial intelligence to nonprofit innovation.

Lewis Honors College introduces ‘Ideas that Matter’ program series

By Adrienne Clarke

Sep 16, 2025

This fall, the Lewis Honors College (LHC) launches its “Ideas that Matter” series, a program connecting students with leading scholars, innovators and changemakers on issues shaping today’s world — from free speech and artificial intelligence to nonprofit innovation.

The 2025 Hall of Distinguished Alumni inductees on campus Sept. 12, 2025. Photo by Tim Webb.

UK honors 2025 Hall of Distinguished Alumni

By Meredith Weber

Sep 15, 2025

From Kentucky to every corner of the globe, University of Kentucky alumni are shaping lives, advancing knowledge and creating change. This weekend, 20 (including 4 Honors alumnae) of those leaders and innovators were inducted into the UK Hall of Distinguished Alumni, the highest honor bestowed by the UK Alumni Association.

Exceeding interest and enrollment expectations

Sep 12, 2025

Purpose. Intellect. Integrity. These are the primary attributes that the second-largest class of incoming first-time first-year students will have the unique opportunity to develop as part of the University of Kentucky Lewis Honors College. Preliminary enrollment numbers indicate that this year’s cohort will be the most distinguished, well-rounded, and academically prepared group of scholars in Lewis Honors College history.

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Ideas That Matter: Dr. Neal Hutchens on the First Amendment

Sep 18, 5:00 pm - Sep 18, 6:00 pm

Lewis Scholars Lounge

420 Hilltop Ave, Lexington, KY

Donuts and Fruit with the Dean

Sep 24, 9:30 am - Sep 24, 11:00 am