Honors colleges and programs are as individual as the schools that host them, but they all share some features in common: small classes, usually less than 20 students; interdisciplinary classes, often team-taught; and some kind of experiential education unit, from study abroad to internships to service learning. This article focuses on the importance of honors colleges and keeping the students close to home. Legislatures are becoming keenly aware of the impact of the academic "brain drain"--that is, the fact that bright students lured out of state to attend college don't tend to return home. Because of this, states are now offering incentives to students who stay in their home state to attend an honors college, a strategy that is proving to be a positive one in many states.