A Snapshot of Today’s First Year College Student

Student Demographics:

• Female students are enrolling in college at an almost 3:1 ratio to male students.  According to FAU’s 2005-2006 Quick Facts 61% of the student body is female and 39% is male.
   

• Seventy percent of full-time college freshman work 20 or more hours per week in addition to attending school.

Student Attitudes toward Academics:

• Regardless of levels of preparedness, freshman tends to be highly confident in their abilities, often rating themselves as “above average” in virtually all academic areas.
   

• Thirty percent of college freshman are undeclared and/or are unsure of their major and career plans.  Another 25-30% will change majors within the first year of study.  According to research, 50% of today’s college students will not graduate with the first major they declared.
  

• The lack of focus associated with the senior year (senioritis), will sometimes make for a difficult transition to college life.  It’s not uncommon for freshman to have one, sometimes two “bad” semesters while they figure out high school behaviors don’t necessarily work at the college level.
  

• Sixty percent of all undergraduates express the belief that the chief benefit of acquiring a college education is to increase one’s earning power (show me the $$).

First Year Student Behaviors:

• 65.1% self report arriving late to class(es) frequently or occasionally.
  

• Almost half turn in course assignments that do not reflect their best work; and approximately one-third skip class(es) “occasionally”.
  

• Less than a third actively seeks or utilizes campus services, develop effective study habits, or manage their time effectively.