Findings from the 2009 Administration of the Your First College Year ...

Table 26Change in First-Year Students' Time AllocationPercentage reporting that they spent:Duringfirst-yearof collegeDuring lastyear ofhighschoolPercentagePointChange6 or more hours per week:Studying/homework 68.1 48.4 +19.7Online social networks (MySpace, Facebook) 28.3 20.2 +8.1Socializing with friends 75.7 69.6 +6.1Partying 17.0 12.4 +4.6Student clubs and groups 10.1 18.2 -8.1Watching TV 16.4 25.2 -8.8Exercising or sports 28.6 49.9 -21.31 or more hours per week:Household/childcare duties 23.8 62.9 -39.1Volunteer work 29.8 57.0 -27.2Playing video/computer games 31.9 35.4 -3.5Table 27 lists a variety of activities and behaviors that students typically take part induring high school and/or in college, as well as the change in the percentage of enteringfreshmen and students at the end of the first year who reported “frequently” performing theseactivities. The data show an interesting pattern of shifting behavior from high school to college.On the whole, far fewer students in college than in high school reported “frequently” doingactivities such as socializing with someone of another race/ethnicity (68.3% at college entry vs.53.9% at the end of the first-year of college), attending religious services (41.2% vs. 23.5%),discussing religion (34.7% vs. 26.6%), discussing politics (37.8% vs. 25.2%), and performingvolunteer work (36.5% vs. 14.5%). Internet usage was an exception to this pattern. At the end ofthe first year, more students than at the beginning reported “frequently” using the Internet to doresearch or homework (84.2% vs. 81.0%).25