On My Honor: A Quasi-Experimental Analysis of Honors Students’ Perceptions of Workload and Cognitive Challenge

The assumption that honors programs are more academically challenging is rarely interrogated. Using multi-institutional, longitudinal quantitative data from a larger study, we use quasi-experimental methods to examine students’ experiences of course rigor, including workload and cognitive challenge, for honors participants compared to non-participants. Honors students perceive greater workload but not cognitive challenge in their first year, especially in terms of the amount of reading and writing they are asked to do. In their fourth year, honors participants experience less cognitive challenge than non-participants. Results of subgroup analyses suggest that these differences are likely driven by students who participate in centralized honors programs rather than departmental honors as well as those attending more selective institutions, with implications for honors program instructors and administrators.