They tend to face many of the same problems. Some scholars would place most first semester freshman in the category of being an academic high-risk student. Honors students, while at the other extreme from the academically high-risk student, do represent a special population with special needs. Such students have high grades from high school, have excelled in most activities, make their own decisions, have read the Catalog and know what is needed for graduation, know how to find resources, and have a plan how to graduate in four years. These students sometimes are overlooked while advising, but special opportunities exist to assist them.
Student athletes are a part of the special population on campus.
There is a tendency to believe that student athletes are already advised in the Athletic Department and no further advising is needed. Some may hear the stories about student athletes and their academic problems across the nation and not worry about them. While these students may have been heavily recruited and while they may receive some special treatment, they still are students in academic programs and provide the advisor with special opportunities to enhance the intellectual development of the individual. The group tends to be part-time students. Many will have family pressures.