Trends Among Honors College Students: An Analysis by Year in School

Abstract

This study sought to determine whether honors college students differed with regards to academic achievement, academic self-concept, general self-concept, educational aspirations, and career aspirations as a function of their class standing. Participants included 298 honors college students from a large, Midwestern university. A demographic questionnaire, the general academic subscale and the general-self subscale of the Self-Description Questionnaire III (Marsh & O'Neill, 1984), and the Leadership and Achievement Aspirations subscale of the Career Aspirations Scale (O'Brien, 1992) were used. Results indicate significant differences between juniors and seniors with regards to academic self-concept, educational aspirations, and career aspirations. Implications for honors faculty and administrators are discussed.