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Public universities are continuing the trend of establishing honors colleges and programs in order to attract highly-talented students and provide them with an education that combines the best qualities of elite private colleges with those of public research universities.Are honors programs really a combination of a "liberal arts college in the midst of a prominent research university, with all the advantages of both"? This typical description of public honors programs is sometimes true, sometimes misleading, and fairly often offset by equivalent values that are not mentioned in the hype. What, then, might make a public honors option truly competitive? To understand exactly what these programs offer, parents and prospective students need to look inside honors.