CAMPUS & CAREER GUIDE : Study Finds That Students View College as Means to an End

You consider yourself to be fairly bright. You’re in college, mostly because you want to make good money. (Yes, it is ironic that you are piling up the student loans like never before.) And the competition is so keen in the job market, you plan to get a graduate degree--especially if you are a woman.

In these times, however, that business degree is losing some of its ‘80s go-go luster. But President Clinton is talking national health care, so you’re more interested than ever in medicine or a related health career.

Nonetheless, you’re stressed. Really stressed. Maybe that’s why you procrastinate on your homework and show up late for class. And maybe that’s because you’re recuperating from the six hours or more of socializing you do each week.

If the above description fits, congratulations: You are the typical 1993-94 college freshman, according to the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA.

Those are just some of the connect-the-dots factoids that the educational think tank, in conjunction with the American Council on Education, found in its comprehensive survey of aspirations, activities and attitudes among 221,000 full-time students who entered 427 colleges last fall.

Alexander W. Astin, survey director and UCLA professor of higher education, said the picture that emerges from this year’s survey is a “nice package . . . of stress-related, competitive-oriented findings.”

He said the responses show that today’s freshmen are “seeing college more in pragmatic terms rather than in intrinsic terms, or even (as a way to) have fun and learn about themselves or the world. It’s more a means to an end.”

The UCLA survey, the most recent in a 28-year study, found that for a record number of freshmen, degrees will be like a Jacqueline Susann novel--one is not enough. Sixty-five percent fully intend to get their bachelor’s on the way to a master’s, doctorate, law or medical degree. That figure represents a sharp increase from the 55% just the year before.

And for the first time, the survey found that the majority of those who plan to seek doctoral degrees are women, not men. This is a dramatic turnaround from the late 1960s, when many men declared their intention to venture further into the labyrinth of academe, but only 8.5% of women did.

Why the interest in doing so?

As The Man said: It’s the economy, stupid.

And don’t today’s freshmen know it. When asked the most important reason for getting a higher education, the most frequent answer was “get a better job” (82.1%), with “to make more money” and “learn more about things” in a virtual dead heat for second place. Asked about their objectives, more freshmen said they wanted to be “well-off financially” (74.5%) than “raise a family” (70.6%) or “help others in difficulty” (60.5%).

The survey also showed that more freshmen were picking their schools based on low tuition and the availability of financial aid.

“These findings suggest that the students may be more interested in graduate degrees because they think the advanced training will give them a competitive edge in their quest for jobs and financial security,” said Astin.

In fact, the pressure of competition manifested itself throughout the survey results. The UCLA study found that record numbers of freshmen:

* Tried to increase their chances of getting into college by applying to more than one institution (70.3%)

* Were mailing off their high school transcripts to four or more universities (22.2%).

* Felt “overwhelmed by all I have to do” (23.2%).

* Missed class because they were sick (4.7%).

* Were working full-time while going to school (5.6%).

Academically, fewer freshmen were pursuing business degrees (16.1%), marking a steady six-year decline, while interest in the allied health fields climbed during the same period to a new high (15.8%).

Whatever their studies, freshmen had big academic hopes. Most expected to pull a B average or to be named to an honor society, and the lowest number ever said they expected to “fail one or more courses.” And why not? They came to campus with the best high school grades of any entering class in nearly three decades--27% listed an A-minus average or better.

Astin said those marks, part of the much-condemned grade inflation in the educational ranks, are just another manifestation of competition. The expectations of parents and students are putting pressure on teachers to be easier with grades and improve the chances of getting into college, he said.

Yet once they land on campus, more students than ever are admitting they have large holes in their academic robes. Nearly 12% said they needed tutoring in science and nearly 29% said they needed remedial work in math.

Still, the survey showed some fairly sloppy study habits as well. Freshmen said they were studying far less than their older brothers and sisters did; only 33.7% hit the books six hours a week or more, compared to 43.7% in 1981.

And in an admission that would surely steal the magna off anyone’s cum laude , a third said they had been bored in class (slightly more than in 1990), two-thirds said they didn’t complete their homework on time (slightly less than in the 1970s) and more than 50% said they had shown up late for class (no change). All this bears out an impending disappointment with higher education, as fewer students than ever said they expected to be satisfied with their college experience.

Politically, this freshman class is more willing to stake out positions on both ends of the spectrum. For the first time since 1972, less than half said they were “middle of the road” (49.9%).

Even with their more sharply divergent political views, the freshmen reflected a consensus of social preferences, the study noted. Although the numbers weren’t as high as in former years, overwhelming majorities of freshmen still want the government to crack down on polluters, promote energy conservation and protect consumers’ interests.

Support for gun control is at its highest (81.8%), as well as support for legalizing marijuana (28.2%) and willingness to reduce the federal deficit by raising taxes (31.4%). Seventy-two percent said the wealthy should pay more taxes.

Although nearly 39% said they had participated in demonstrations, an activity protected by the 1st Amendment, 62.7% preferred prohibitions against racist or sexist speech, a movement that is counter to the 1st Amendment.

When it came to matters of the heart or other physical regions, 44.8% said it was OK for people to have sex if they merely liked each other. Twenty percent said they had discussed “safe sex” and 62.4% agreed that abortion should be legal.

Nearly 68% said they performed volunteer work. More than 54% were beer drinkers but only 11.6% said they smoked cigarettes.