The Honors Program was launched at the University of Oklahoma by George Lynn Cross in 1963 with professor Paul Ruggiers, who served as the first director until 1969. The program provided small classes in honors courses taught by outstanding professors for students who desired increased academic challenges.

The program continued to grow under the Jeffrey Marshall, director from 1969 to 1974; Gwen Davis, 1973 to 1987; and Nancy Mergler, who became the fourth director in 1987. A member of the psychology faculty, Mergler later went on to be Provost of the Norman campus in 1996.

The Honors program is a major attraction for outstanding high school graduates. By the year 2000, the University of Oklahoma ranked first in the nation per capita among public universities in the number of national merit scholars enrolled. Almost 10 percent of the entering freshman class had been selected as state Regent's Scholars for ranking in the top one half of one percent nationally in standardized academic test scores.

When David Boren became president of the University in 1994, one of his goals was to provide intense intellectual challenges at a comprehensive public university that would equal those available at smaller private institutions. In order to put more emphasis on the Honors Program and to provide it with more resources, the University of Oklahoma Board of Regents in 1996 approved President Boren's request to elevate the Honors Program to college status. At Boren's recommendation Steve Gillon, professor of American History at Oxford University in England, was named as the first Dean. Gillon, a distinguished scholar who had taught at Yale and Brown Universities before going to Oxford, was also widely known as the official historian of national television's History Channel.

A combination of private gifts, including one anonymous gift of $5 million from an OU graduate, and public bond funds helped make possible the expansion of the faculty and the restoration and expansion of the existing honors residence hall as it became home to the new Honors College.

Investments in the Honors College have enriched the entire university as all honors faculty teach classes in their own fields outside of the Honors College. In addition, the Honors College serves as a catalyst for enhanced academic achievement at the entire university. More than half of the students who end up graduating with honors degrees were not qualified to enter the program when they first enrolled as freshman. They earn admission to the program during their college careers through improved academic performance. By the year 2000, 1700 undergraduates were participating in the Honors Program each year.