Honoring Diversity: How Flexibility and Transparency in Admissions Matters

Session Abstract: This poster session presents findings from the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), investigating whether honors participation overall, and honors testing and admissions policies specifically, are predictors of diverse discussions. This study uses responses from the core NSSE survey and the Honors Education consortium, given to 38,935 students at 22 institutions. A series of regression models suggests that honors participation is a positive predictor of discussions with diverse others. Looking within honors participants, additional regression models suggest that more flexible admissions policies, such as later entry points and qualitative criteria, are positive predictors of diverse discussions, whereas a lack of transparency related to admissions policies is generally a negative predictor. Understanding of these differences can help institutions determine the effectiveness of various admissions policies in terms of encouraging diverse interactions.

Keywords: student engagement, honors programs, testing policies, admissions policies, diverse interactions

Contributing Authors: C. H. Kevin Lee – University of South Florida