Insights Blog Posts

College Students Support Legal Abortion

May 28th, 2019

A national abortion debate erupted after Alabama lawmakers passed a bill banning abortion in almost all cases and other states moved to ban abortion at six or eight weeks of pregnancy. Because unintended pregnancy and abortion rates are highest among people aged 18–24, according to research published in the Journal of Adolescent Health, the laws […]

How College Students Would Spend Money if Student Debt Were Canceled

May 21st, 2019

Graduating from college with a mountain of student debt is the new normal. The average student loan borrower graduated $28,650 in debt in 2017, according to the nonprofit the Institute for College Access and Success. But nearly 400 young men had that huge weight lifted off their shoulders on Sunday when billionaire investor Robert F. […]

How Involved Are Parents In the College Admissions Process?

May 20th, 2019

The college admissions scandal sparked a national discussion about problems with the college admissions process and the unfortunate role some parents play. It also raised a larger question: Just how involved are parents in the more basic aspects of the college admissions process, such as selecting which schools are worth applying to? And how helpful […]

Climate Change Concerns Most College Students

May 17th, 2019

More than 27,000 plant and animal species worldwide are currently threatened with extinction, and a 2018 report from the World Wildlife Fund predicts that climate change could cause half of the world’s species to become extinct by 2100. In recognition of Endangered Species Day, we surveyed college students about their feelings on climate change and […]

67% of Students Would Rather Have Free Tuition Over a Prestigious Diploma

May 14th, 2019

71 percent of students with financial aid vs. 55 percent of students without would would prefer free tuition at a school nobody has heard of over paying tuition at a prestigious university. More Asian students (42%) prefer a prestigious university over free tuition than students of any other race. As 2020 presidential contenders hit the […]

7 Charts to Explain College Students’ Relationships With Their Mothers

May 12th, 2019

Today is Mother’s Day in the United States, and to celebrate mother’s everywhere, we uncovered the top stats on student opinion of their mothers. These stats are based on last year’s Mother’s Day poll conducted among 14,490 students attending four-year colleges or universities across the United States. To find the correlations, we used College Pulse Insights — […]

Should the NYT Have Published Trump’s Tax Return Data?

May 9th, 2019

59 percent of college students said it was “Appropriate” for the NYT to publish the data Only 19 percent of students said it was “Inappropriate” Male college students were 2X as likely as female students to say it was inappropriate for the NYT to release data on Trump’s taxes The New York Times recently released […]

Half Of College Students Have Experienced Suicidal Thoughts

May 8th, 2019

51% of college students have experienced suicidal thoughts LGTBQIA+ students (71 percent) are are nearly 1.6X as likely as straight students (45 percent) to have experienced suicidal thoughts For students who have experienced suicidal thoughts, classes are the primary source of stress (47 percent) Suicide is the second leading cause of death for Americans between […]

30% of US College Students Say Meghan And Harry’s Baby Should NOT Have US Citizenship

May 7th, 2019

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry welcomed a baby boy into the world on Monday, and a royal announcement shared that the family was “delighted with the news.” The Duchess of Sussex, an American citizen, married into the British royal family last year. While the family hasn’t announced any decisions about the baby’s citizenship — or […]

Do College Students Think Your Job Contributes To Society?

May 6th, 2019

69% of college students say having an occupation that contributes to society is “extremely” or “very” important to them 40% say truck drivers contribute “a lot” to the well being of society vs. 15% who say the same of politicians. 61% of white students vs. 45% of black or African-American students say members of law […]

Play Like a Girl? Female College Athletes Say They Are Less Feminine

March 27th, 2019

After the U.S. Women’s national soccer team won the 2015 World Cup then President Obama congratulated the team for helping redefine what it meant to play like a girl. “This team taught all of America’s children that playing like a girl means you’re a badass,” said Obama at an event honoring the team. But despite viral […]