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In the KnowThe American Freshman in 1999Students entering college in fall 1999 are more likely to feel “academic disengagement” than any previous freshman class. The annual survey on freshmen attitudes and goals, conduced by the Higher Education Research Institute at the University of California at Los Angeles, finds that a record 40 percent of students reported feeling frequently bored in high school, with 63 percent noting they arrived “late to class” frequently or occasionally. Only 32 percent of freshmen report studying six or more hours a week in high school, down from 44 percent when the question was first asked in 1987. Forty percent report studying less than three hours a week, and 17 percent study less than an hour per week. Despite the decline in time spent studying, a record 34 percent of freshmen maintained an A average in high school, compared with 13 percent in 1969. Only 12 percent of the students report a C average, down from 33 percent in 1969. Besides a declining interest in academics, this year’s class also reports less interest in social issues. For example, only 28 percent of students say they want to “help promote racial understanding,” the third year in a row of declining interest. The 1999 study, based on the responses of 261,217 students at 462 two-year and four-year institutions, also finds that education is becoming increasingly stressful for students. A record 30 percent of students who entered college this past fall report they frequently feel “overwhelmed by all I have to do.” This is the highest level of stress reported since the question was first asked in 1985. Women are nearly twice as likely to report feeling overwhelmed as men. The UCLA freshman study also finds that women spend more time studying, volunteering, participating in student activities, and tending to housework or childcare responsibilities. Men report spending more time exercising, playing sports, watching television, partying, and playing video games. On the positive side, the proportion of freshmen reporting they smoke cigarettes frequently has dropped to 14 percent. This year’s freshmen also report the lowest level of beer drinking in the history of the survey. Copies of the study, The American Freshman: National Norms for Fall 1999, are available for $25 from the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA. A summary of the report can be found at www.gseis.ucla.edu/heri/.
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