In the extreme, this redistribution can reduce the effectiveness of the University's academic resources, outweighing the potential communal benefits of general honors. The difficulties in the designation process lead students to lack confidence in the validity of selection. If the privileges of honors seem undeserved, then those who are not designated honors come to resent those who are. Honors can thereby excessively partition the campus community. Significant benefits accrue to those designated general honors students.
Honors classes are small, intellectually rigorous, and discussion-oriented.
Such an environment stimulates collegial interaction and challenges both students and faculty to realize their potential. Using general honors to provide these special opportunities coincides with the University's desire to attract top-notch students. In this way, general honors functions as a recruiting tool. Having such a recruiting tool helps Penn compete with peer institutions, especially those in the Ivy League. In addition, many of the students recruited through general honors contribute an intellectual bent that might otherwise not exist at the University.