Prior research on impoverished college students in China focused on regular undergraduates from low income families. The psychological characteristics of impoverished students in vocational colleges were not sufficiently studied. This study surveys 2046 sophomore and junior students from the Yuncheng Vocational College in Shanxi province. We find that,compared to the other students,the impoverished students have higher positive affect,growth mindset,basic psychological needs satisfaction,grit,autonomous learning motivations,school performance,autonomous and controlled causality orientation,and lower level of depression. There are no significant differences between the two groups in life satisfaction,negativeaffect,hope,self-efficacy,anxiety,controlled learning motivations,and school engagement. The impoverished students have significant lower amotivational level if job-seeking than those of the non-impoverished students,while the other types of job-seeking motivations are statistically the same between the two groups. They are also significantly more willing to work in the government,public sectors,and state-owned enterprises,while their willingness to work in the private sectors and start up their own entrepreneurship are statically the same as the non-impoverished students. These findings show a stronger risk-aversion tendency among impoverished students. The autonomous causality orientation of the impoverished students is negatively related to the job-seeking amotivation and negatively related to the job-seeking willingness,the impersonal causality orientation is positively related to the job-seeking amotivation and negatively related to the job-seeking willingness,while the relationships of the controlled causality orientation to the job-seeking amotivation and willingness are in between of the other two causality orientation styles. The implications and limitations of this study are discussed.