Gifted students in the United States are often underserved. Collegiate honors programs are a proven way to provide for gifted students' special needs. Many gifted students attend community colleges, and these institutions have a set of challenges to starting and maintaining thriving honors programs, including accusations of elitism and lack of resources. Community colleges in Appalachia have an additional set of challenges to face, including high proportions of first generation students, rurality, and poverty. Efforts for thriving honors programs need to be effective and efficient at meeting gifted students' needs, but there is little research on the programs at these institutions and how students perceive their experiences.
This study is a qualitative case study of the honors program at a small, rural, Appalachian community college in Kentucky. The aim of the study is to assess how students in the program perceive the degree to which the program is meeting their intellectual, social, and professional needs. Students were interviewed with open-ended questions about their experiences in their honors program, including why they joined, the positive aspects, and what needs improvement.
It is found that overall, students positively perceived their experience with the honors program, particularly the interdisciplinary discussion format to the coursework, meeting students from other campuses, relationships with faculty, opportunity for travel, and professional development. The negative perceptions students identified were need for more funding and resources, help with transfer to senior institutions, and challenges with honors contract classes.
More research into the intersection of gifted students, honors programs, community colleges, and Appalachia is needed to adequately meet the needs of this underserved population. In order to fulfil their social contract of serving the educational needs of their communities, community colleges should offer thriving honors programs for their gifted students, especially in Appalachia, where other opportunities can be severely limited.
","abstract_html":"<p>Gifted students in the United States are often underserved. Collegiate honors programs are a proven way to provide for gifted students' special needs. Many gifted students attend community colleges, and these institutions have a set of challenges to starting and maintaining thriving honors programs, including accusations of elitism and lack of resources. Community colleges in Appalachia have an additional set of challenges to face, including high proportions of first generation students, rurality, and poverty. Efforts for thriving honors programs need to be effective and efficient at meeting gifted students' needs, but there is little research on the programs at these institutions and how students perceive their experiences. </p> <p>This study is a qualitative case study of the honors program at a small, rural, Appalachian community college in Kentucky. The aim of the study is to assess how students in the program perceive the degree to which the program is meeting their intellectual, social, and professional needs. Students were interviewed with open-ended questions about their experiences in their honors program, including why they joined, the positive aspects, and what needs improvement. </p> <p>It is found that overall, students positively perceived their experience with the honors program, particularly the interdisciplinary discussion format to the coursework, meeting students from other campuses, relationships with faculty, opportunity for travel, and professional development. The negative perceptions students identified were need for more funding and resources, help with transfer to senior institutions, and challenges with honors contract classes. </p> <p>More research into the intersection of gifted students, honors programs, community colleges, and Appalachia is needed to adequately meet the needs of this underserved population. In order to fulfil their social contract of serving the educational needs of their communities, community colleges should offer thriving honors programs for their gifted students, especially in Appalachia, where other opportunities can be severely limited. </p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Helton, Melissa Renee"],"institution":"Eastern Kentucky University","degree_name":"Doctor of Education (EdD)","degree_level":"Doctoral's","degree_discipline":"Educational Leadership and Policy Studies","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2017,"date_issued":"2017-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2017-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:15:47Z","subjects":["Appalachia","community college","gifted students","honors programs","Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research","Gifted Education","Higher Education"],"languages":[],"rights":["Copyright 2017 Melissa Renee Helton"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://encompass.eku.edu/etd/531","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Helton, Melissa Renee"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Encompass Digital Archive, Eastern Kentucky University"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Educational Leadership and Policy Studies"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Doctoral's"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Education (EdD)"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["Eastern Kentucky University"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Appalachia","community college","gifted students","honors programs","Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research","Gifted Education","Higher Education"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright 2017 Melissa Renee Helton"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://encompass.eku.edu/etd/531"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Gifted students in the United States are often underserved. Collegiate honors programs are a proven way to provide for gifted students' special needs. Many gifted students attend community colleges, and these institutions have a set of challenges to starting and maintaining thriving honors programs, including accusations of elitism and lack of resources. Community colleges in Appalachia have an additional set of challenges to face, including high proportions of first generation students, rurality, and poverty. Efforts for thriving honors programs need to be effective and efficient at meeting gifted students' needs, but there is little research on the programs at these institutions and how students perceive their experiences.
This study is a qualitative case study of the honors program at a small, rural, Appalachian community college in Kentucky. The aim of the study is to assess how students in the program perceive the degree to which the program is meeting their intellectual, social, and professional needs. Students were interviewed with open-ended questions about their experiences in their honors program, including why they joined, the positive aspects, and what needs improvement.
It is found that overall, students positively perceived their experience with the honors program, particularly the interdisciplinary discussion format to the coursework, meeting students from other campuses, relationships with faculty, opportunity for travel, and professional development. The negative perceptions students identified were need for more funding and resources, help with transfer to senior institutions, and challenges with honors contract classes.
More research into the intersection of gifted students, honors programs, community colleges, and Appalachia is needed to adequately meet the needs of this underserved population. In order to fulfil their social contract of serving the educational needs of their communities, community colleges should offer thriving honors programs for their gifted students, especially in Appalachia, where other opportunities can be severely limited.
"]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["application/PDF"]},{"key":"dc:source","label":"Dc Source","values":["Encompass Digital Archive: Online Theses and Dissertations"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Student Perceptions Of The Honors Program At An Appalachian Community College"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:creator":["Helton, Melissa Renee"],"dc:description.abstract":["Gifted students in the United States are often underserved. Collegiate honors programs are a proven way to provide for gifted students' special needs. Many gifted students attend community colleges, and these institutions have a set of challenges to starting and maintaining thriving honors programs, including accusations of elitism and lack of resources. Community colleges in Appalachia have an additional set of challenges to face, including high proportions of first generation students, rurality, and poverty. Efforts for thriving honors programs need to be effective and efficient at meeting gifted students' needs, but there is little research on the programs at these institutions and how students perceive their experiences.
This study is a qualitative case study of the honors program at a small, rural, Appalachian community college in Kentucky. The aim of the study is to assess how students in the program perceive the degree to which the program is meeting their intellectual, social, and professional needs. Students were interviewed with open-ended questions about their experiences in their honors program, including why they joined, the positive aspects, and what needs improvement.
It is found that overall, students positively perceived their experience with the honors program, particularly the interdisciplinary discussion format to the coursework, meeting students from other campuses, relationships with faculty, opportunity for travel, and professional development. The negative perceptions students identified were need for more funding and resources, help with transfer to senior institutions, and challenges with honors contract classes.
More research into the intersection of gifted students, honors programs, community colleges, and Appalachia is needed to adequately meet the needs of this underserved population. In order to fulfil their social contract of serving the educational needs of their communities, community colleges should offer thriving honors programs for their gifted students, especially in Appalachia, where other opportunities can be severely limited.
"],"dc:format":["application/PDF"],"dc:identifier":["https://encompass.eku.edu/etd/531"],"dc:publisher":["Encompass Digital Archive, Eastern Kentucky University"],"dc:rights":["Copyright 2017 Melissa Renee Helton"],"dc:source":["Encompass Digital Archive: Online Theses and Dissertations"],"dc:subject":["Appalachia","community college","gifted students","honors programs","Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research","Gifted Education","Higher Education"],"dc:title":["Student Perceptions Of The Honors Program At An Appalachian Community College"],"dc:type":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Educational Leadership and Policy Studies"],"thesis:degree_level":["Doctoral's"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctor of Education (EdD)"],"thesis:institution_name":["Eastern Kentucky University"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:15:47Z"}