The Honors Program at Iowa State University was established in 1960. The Honors Program coordinates academic courses, offers seminars, provides research grants and study abroad opportunities in order to provide an intellectually stimulating environment to students who participate in the program. Students must complete an honors project in order to graduate with the Honors distinction. This collection contains publications produced by the Honors Program, including a student literary magazine, the announcement listing honors courses and seminars, a directory of Honors graduates, and programs for poster presentations.

The Honors Program at Iowa State University was established in 1960 under the guidance of then Dean of Instruction W. Robert Parks. Initially, honors students engaged in individual study or research. In 1963, the first optional honors course was offered (Psychology 234, Developmental Psychology). In the 1970s, under the direction of Edwin Lewis, honors courses were developed in order to increase interaction among Honors students and give them special educational experiences. Lewis was also instrumental in the development of a Student Advisory Board for the program. As the program matured and expanded, student research projects culminated in poster presentations. Students who completed honors research projects graduated with the Honors distinction.

When the Honors Program was first envisioned it was designed for students who had proven superior academic ability at Iowa State, thus freshmen were excluded from participating. The Freshman Honors Program was initiated in 1973 on a trial basis. A research component, the Freshman Mentor Program, was adopted in 1987.

The Honors Program is housed in the Jischke Honors Building, where it has resided since the building's construction in the fall of 2002. The program had previously been housed in Osborn Cottage. Currently (2012) the Honors Program coordinates academic courses, offers seminars, provides research grants and study abroad opportunities in an effort to provide an intellectually stimulating environment to well over 1,000 student participants.

This collection (1969-[ongoing]) contains publications produced by the Honors Program, including a student literary magazine, the announcement listing honors courses and seminars, a directory of Honors graduates, and programs for poster presentations. The Honors Family at Iowa State University is a directory of Honors graduates that is published annually with updated information supplied by the graduates. Early directories also contain information on the creation of the Honors Program. Listings of Honors Program offerings can be found in the Courses and Seminars bulletin. Poster presentations are held at the end of the fall and spring semesters. Programs for the presentations can be found in this collection. Reports submitted for Honors research projects can be found in the Honors Project Records, RS 3/3/3.

The collection is listed alphabetically.