Data were obtained in 1977 via mail questionnaires sent to students at all 1890 and 1860 Land Grant Universities in the South with programs in agriculture, to examine selected background characteristics and subjective perspectives of agricultural economics majors, compared with majors in production sciences and all agriculture curricula. The weighted sample included 272 agricultural economics majors, 1,328 majors in production sciences, and 2,801 agriculture students. Of the three groups analyzed, agricultural economics majors were more likely to have farm backgrounds, education/work experience in agriculture, and greater commitment to careers in production agriculture; parents had primary influence in choice of major. Agricultural economics majors perceived themselves as being friendlier and more altruistic, more sure of their career orientation, more seriously concerned with the state of the nation and the world, and more willing to accept new ideas than other agriculture students relative to non-agriculture students. Implications for education included probable increases in agricultural enrollment, particularly from among students lacking farm backgrounds/experiences, and thus a challenge for agricultural faculty to use experiential learning programs (cooperative arrangements, internships), expose students lacking farm experience to knowledge of occupational alternatives in agriculture, and augment curricula to compensate for agricultural deficiencies in student background. (CM)