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SpeechesToday's College Students: Are they Prepared to be the Next Generation of Leaders?
Graham B. Spanier
For those of you who have already begun to reminisce about your own college days, as a reminder of those wonderful years, I would like to share with you the top four ways you can tell that you've been out of college too long.January 8, 2007 4) A $3 bottle of wine is no longer "pretty good stuff." 3) You go from 130 days of vacation time to just 14. 2) Over 90 percent of the time you spend in front of a computer is for real work. And the No. 1 way you can tell you've been out of college too long, 1) You hear your favorite song on the elevator at work. During my college years phrases like "make love, not war," "power to the people," and the ever-popular "groovy" were all part of the lexicon. Some of you "flower children" of the 1960s might remember those phrases, even if you were like me and never actually spoke any of them. As in every generation, adolescents today have a language all their own, and to help you begin understanding today's college student, I offer a quick primer. Ok? Cool! Remember when a "crib" was somewhere you put a baby to sleep? No more. It's now your place of residence. Dude was once a cowhand on the open range. Now it's just about everyone. Remember when "booty" was a pirate's treasure? Not now. Like it or not, the students of today are shaping popular culture. They are the future, and it is my adventure tonight to calm your fears about the future and help you better understand these mysterious creatures who are our next leaders. I am the president of a university that enrolls 84,000 students, and although I know I don't look it, I am also the father of two recent college graduates. I do know a little bit about students, but I say "a little bit" because as every parent realizes early on, our children know so much more than we do. As Mark Twain once said, "When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have him around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in just seven years." In America today, our colleges and universities enroll nearly 17 million students, with about 40 percent of these being what we consider "traditional" college students, those who are 18 to 24 years old and enrolled full-time. It is the largest and most diverse generation of college students in American history. For the most part, these are the students I will focus on, although there is a healthy and growing "adult" or "non-traditional" student population. It might interest you to know that the most common nontraditional characteristic is financial independence from parents. I suspect that like many of you, I was NOT fortunate enough to be the parent of such an undergraduate. In fact, I thought my initials were ATM for quite some time. The majority of the traditional students that entered college this fall were born in 1988. Remember 1988? To the children born in 1988, voice mail has always been available, Michael Jackson has always been bad, the Soviet Union never existed and is about as scary as the student union, and toll-free 800 phone numbers have always spelled out catchy phrases. As you can imagine, college campuses are undergoing some changes and one very notable change that will continue is the diversity of our student body. National demographic projections suggest that about 65 percent of the growth in population in the U.S. through the year 2020 will be in ethnic minority groups, particularly Hispanic and Asian populations. However, three-fifths of that increase will take place in just three states: California, Florida, and Texas. A quick check of Delaware's Census projections shows that your state, like Pennsylvania, is predominantly white at 75 percent, and will remain that way over the next 20 years. Although there are projected increases in your minority populations and your state's total population, overall projections still show Delaware in the year 2020 as being 79 percent white, 19 percent black and 2 percent other nonwhite people. As you might guess, many universities across the nation will not have student populations that mirror the nation's expected diversity. Something else that may surprise you is the fact that the majority of college students today are women, who make up more than 56 percent of the undergraduate population.[1] Nationally for every 100 men earning a bachelor's degree, 133 women do the same.[2] Today, many of our students aren't even on campus. While overall higher education enrollment in the U.S. is stable, online enrollment is skyrocketing.[3] Roughly one in six students who are enrolled in higher education, that's about 3.2 million people, took at least one online course last fall.[4] That number will continue to grow as more of our wired whiz-kids reach college age. Just the other day I had the opportunity to meet a five-year-old boy who was visiting campus with his parents. They were proudly showing off all the knowledge their son had learned. When asked what country he lived in, the boy confidently declared, "The United States of America Online!" Today's college students are technologically savvy. It's all about connectivity with instant messaging, blogging, and pod casting. More than 2 million American children ages 6 to 17 have their own Web site, and nearly half of all children age 7 and older have their own cell phones.[5] In fact, I had one mom report to me that parenting was just not as much fun since the Internet came along. "You can't fool your kids anymore," she said. "They'll just go Google it to see if it's true." (and yes, Google is now a verb.) Today, education is often seen as the great fault line that determines who will be part of the American dream. Over the next decade, nearly two-thirds of all high-growth, high-wage jobs will require a college degree -- yet only one-third of Americans have one.[6] It might surprise you to know that in a recent national survey today's teens said they believe in the American Dream: marriage, owning a home, having a successful career, and having children. In decades past, the transition from adolescence to adulthood was brief. For many teenagers of the 1950s and '60s, soon after high school graduation they were married, became parents, and for many males, assumed the responsibility of being the sole full-time wage earner in the family.[7] Over the last decade, however, the percent of high school graduates choosing to go on to college has reached a national rate of 67 percent, compared to less than 50 percent in 1980. However, in some parts of the country, the number of high school graduates going to college is at a standstill. In 2011, the first Baby Boomers will turn 65 (no need to raise your hands) and within 17 years, 70 million will follow suit.[8] These baby boomers are the parents of today's college students and they are more involved in their child's college experience then ever before, so much so that some have nicknamed them "helicopter parents." I'm sure some of you have heard this terminology before since this phenomenon has gotten nearly as much publicity as Brittany Spear's divorce from Kevin Federline. At Penn State, we forgive those parents who designed their kid's science fair project in grade school, made the Boy Scout pine box derby cars, and did all of the Girl Scout cookie selling we just don't want them to move into the residence halls. This fall, as I have done every year as president, I stayed overnight in the residence halls with students on move-in weekend. I help them move in, eat with them, and share living quarters with them. I do this to keep my finger on the pulse of our student population. It has been an extremely informative experience. One overriding reality is that students come alive after dark and desire to be entertained. They are like bats, owls and vampires, creatures of the night, who avoid 8 a.m. classes, go to the fitness centers after 10 p.m., keep the pizza delivery services going past midnight, and send the president e-mails at 3 a.m., which incidentally is not always the best time to try to make a serious point. This year, during my stay in the residence halls, I noted three distinct trends that I'd like to share with you. The first trend is Facebook, MySpace and YouTube. How many of you have heard of these web sites? Facebook.com is an online community principally for college students. Students can create their own web page, post photos of themselves, find other students from their own university or other universities, reveal personal information, and connect with anyone else who is part of Facebook.com. Every group imaginable can be found here, from the "I Wear Sweatpants Everywhere" group to the "Engineering Students Who Think They're Better Than Everyone Else" group (which incidentally has 267 members). In short, it's an enormous social network of young adults. On my first night in the residence halls this year, I stopped to chat with folks in the next room, where I found five guys and a girl who were talking like old friends, unusual in a dorm full of freshmen who just arrived. They had met over the summer on Facebook. It seems the guys had seen the girl's picture on Facebook and decided they really wanted to get to know her. She was from Virginia and upon arriving at Penn State, she already had established friendships because of this online network. While there is some social value to this relatively new phenomenon, the term "online privacy" is an oxymoron. With this generation, there is no such thing. Their information is available to millions of people online, and this can also cause problems. Some of the things that students choose to post to Facebook could put their safety at risk. In addition, some students have found that potential employers often take a look at Facebook as an unofficial reference check. Not many employers are impressed when they see what they once thought was a responsible job candidate dancing on a keg of beer, in his underwear. Can you say, "Too much information?" The second trend I noted during my overnight stay was poker, a lot of poker. Texas Hold'em to be exact. You can learn it in a few hours. I want you to know that many of today's students have had way more than a few hours of practice. This is a troubling trend, and it's starting in high school. The third trend that I observed was a change in the level of emotional crisis displayed as parents were leaving their children. This year I didn't see the sobbing that I have seen in other years. This year most of the emotion was over such matters as who forgot to pack the computer cable or bring the hangers. Can you guess the reason? Cell phones. These first-year students knew they would be speaking to their parents just a few hours later, and regularly thereafter, so the drop-off was not as traumatic as it used to be when students had to choose between long distance phone charges and pizza. Today's students are very much in touch with their parents, so the transitional ritual is less traumatic than before. A recent national survey found that three out of four college parents are in touch "two to three times a week" with their children, with more than one in three communicating on a daily basis. In my experience, this is a gross underestimate. My own daughter called me two or three times a DAY through college, which I must admit I loved. If you were like me in college, calling home was for emergencies. In fact, many of us went to college with the express thought of escaping our parents. The downside to all this connectivity is that a lot of today's students are not as independent as they need to be at the time they graduate from college. Failing to develop skills such as time management, conflict resolution, and decision making is a concern. Students call parents, even from other times zones, to ask for driving directions from Mapquest, to have them Google an answer to a question, to check on plane schedules, and to ask if they should take Tylenol or Advil. On the other hand, the upside of connectivity is that today's students are closer to their families. Remember when the mantra of a previous generation was "don't trust anyone over 30?" Today's college students consult their parents on everything from what classes to take to what detergent to buy. (My daughter avoided the detergent question by bringing her dirty laundry home). Students of today expect everyone to be as connected and instantly reachable as they are, and they can't fathom a world without remote controls, microwaves, cable television, and gadgets that make their lives easier. This is a generation of students best known for their ability to multi-task. That is, do many things at once. In fact, more than half of 13-to-24 year-olds watch TV and surf the Net at the same time.[9] But don't get your hopes up. All this connectivity does not mean that today's youth tell their parents everything. About a year ago, the daughter of one of my friends told me she had gotten a tattoo of a Japanese symbol put on her hip. "Please don't tell my parents," she begged. "What does the symbol stand for?" I asked. "Honesty," she said. Many in this audience may recall an era when campuses were doing away with a number of rules and regulations that had previously governed students. As students were drafted in the military and 18-year-olds gained the right to vote, students began arguing for personal freedoms they believed were deserved. Colleges and universities responded by abolishing policies considered to be in loco parentis, a Latin term that means "in place of a parent." Now, the tables have turned. Many parents of college students today want closer supervision of their children. They want to know what we are doing to serve, protect, and pay attention to them. Interestingly, students are seeking more student support services as well. Today's reality is that many students arrive at college with a host of physical and mental health needs. Many of our students are already taking medication prescribed by psychiatrists and family physicians at home. Many students have already been in therapy and seek counseling services upon arrival.[10] In a national survey, 85 percent of health center directors reported an increase in "severe" psychological problems over the last five years and 60 percent report that a record number of students are using campus counseling services for longer periods.[11] Our campus counseling centers are changing to meet these growing needs. A variety of factors are responsible for this rise in counseling and prescription needs including cultural pressures, family dysfunction, problems stemming from intimate relationships, and excessive alcohol use. In fact, the number one drug of choice for teens is alcohol. By the time they reach the eighth grade, nearly 50 percent of adolescents have had at least one drink, and more than 20 percent report having been "drunk." [12] So a large number of students go to college as experienced drinkers and many continue this behavior. High-risk drinking among college students is a serious concern on our nation's campuses. In fact, in a national study 44 percent of all college students reported engaging in high-risk drinking within a given two-week period, and this figure has remained about the same for a decade.[13] Most of today's college students have never had to share a room, and may have never shared a bathroom. While I recall arriving at college with a basic green desk lamp in one hand and a suitcase in the other, today's students bring a van, sometimes even a U-Haul, to transport all of their gear; computers, stereo equipment, futons, rugs, a semester's supply of energy drinks, and more. Some college dorm rooms are better stocked than Circuit City. All of this occurs in the context of more than 63 percent of undergraduates nationwide receiving some form of financial aid. But the gadgets and possessions they bring with them to campus are NOT luxuries; they are deemed necessities by today's college student. You may think that with all I have told you today society is really rolling the dice with the next generation. But I am pleased to say that in my interactions with students I have found them to be largely responsible and ambitious. Working students are ubiquitous in American higher education. In fact, 75 percent of college students hold jobs as compared to 68 percent of the Baby Boomer generation.[14] They spend more than $200 billion a year on goods and services. Despite the sometimes negative perceptions about today's college students, I have found them to be socially conscious, optimistic, forward-thinking and anything but homogenous. Sixty-six percent of college freshmen in a nationwide annual survey said it was essential to help others who are in difficulty, the highest response in 25 years.[15] The volunteer growth rate for college students is more than double for all volunteers at 30 percent.[16] In that same survey, nearly 40 percent of the respondents said that becoming a leader was very important to them and our nation. They are passionate about a number of causes. An interesting note is that in 1969, an era that we often associate with protest, only 16 percent of college students nationally took part in an organized demonstration. In 1999, that figure rose to 41 percent. [17] Today's students are more accepting of personal differences in race, ethnicity and sexual orientation than was their parent's generation. They are flexible, and they need to be. Today's high school graduate can expect to change jobs at least 12 times in his or her lifetime. Their technology skills make them a valuable commodity in the business world. I recently talked to a student who said she met her boyfriend online and when she introduced him to her family, her father asked the young man what kind of line he had used to pick her up. The young man responded, "I just had a regular 56K modem." The traits I'm describing are actually some of the ones needed to spur economic growth in any state; technical savvy, talent, and interpersonal skills. In addition, today's students are more health conscious, environmentally friendly, and list among their top 10 concerns education, poverty and equal rights.[18] In fact, 61 percent in a recent survey said they feel personally responsible for making a difference in the world.[19] Nine in 10 describe themselves as optimists and see themselves as cutting edge.[20] According to some respected observers, these students will entirely recast the image of youth from downbeat and alienated to upbeat and engaged with potentially seismic consequences for America. [21] For these reasons and many more I, for one, am optimistic about today's college students as our future leaders. [1] Horn, Laura, Katharine Peter, and Kathryn Rooney, "Profile of Undergraduates in U.S. Postsecondary Institutions: 1999-2000," Education Statistics Quarterly, Vol. 4, Issue 3, Fall 2002, National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, Washington, D.C. [2] Conlin, Michelle, "The New Gender Gap," Business Week, May 26, 2003. [3] Golden, Daniel, Degrees@StateU.edu, Wall Street Journal, May 9, 2006. [4] The Sloan Consortium report, "Making the Grade," released November 2006 and reported by the Associated Press, www.sloan-c.org/ [5] Pew Internet & American Life Project, "Bloggers: A Portrait of the Internet's New Storytellers," as reported in The New York Times, July 20, 2006. [6] Marklein, Mary Beth, "Should Government Take A Yardstick to Colleges?" USA Today, November 14, 2006, cover story. [7] Schneider, Barbara, and David Stevenson, The Ambitious Generation, Yale University Press, New Haven, 1999, p6. [8] "Future Trends Affecting Higher Education," 2003 Education Commission of the States, Denver, Colorado, http://www.ecs.org/html [9] Baker, Stephen, "Channeling the Future," Business Week, July 12, 2004. [10] Kitzrow, Martha Anne, "The Mental Health Needs of Today's College Students: Challenges and Recommendations," NASPA, Vol. 41, No.1, Fall 2003. [11] Kitzrow, Martha Anne, "The Mental Health Needs of Today's College Students: Challenges and Recommendations," NASPA, Vol. 41, No.1, Fall 2003. [12] Alcohol Alert, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, April 2003, No. 59, http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/aa59.htm [13] Busteed, Brandon H., "Confronting the Threat of High-Risk Drinking," Association of Governing Boards, Number 25, Winter 2005, citing statistics from the Harvard School of Public Health's College Alcohol Study. [14] Bronson, Po, "Dear Graduates: Hillary Clinton Has Got You All Wrong," Time, Tuesday, May 23, 2006. [15] Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA Cooperative Institutional Research Project Freshman Survey, as reported in USA Today, May 2006, http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2006-01-25-freshmen-survey_x.htm [16] Corporation for National & Community Service federal agency report released October 16, 2006 [17] Vito, Melissa, speech "Protest, Alcohol, and Community Service: Thirty Years of College Student Trends," Fall 2004; information taken from a study by UCLA professor Alexander Astin. [18] "Generation Y gets Involved," by Sharon Jayson, USA Today, October 24, 2006, Nation Section. [19] USA Today article referenced above, based on aa survey by two Boston-based companies, Cone Inc. and AMP Insights. [20] Millennials Rising: The Next Great Generation, Vintage Books, New York, New York. [21] Quote from Millennials Rising: The Next Great Generation, Vintage Books, New York, written by Neil Howe and William Strauss, as mentioned in story at www.jsonline.com Privacy and Legal Statements | Copyright Please direct questions about this website via E-mail to Doug Stanfield, or to telephone number (814) 865-7517 Questions about the content should be directed to the Office of the President via E-mail to president@psu.edu, or to telephone number (814) 865-2507 The Pennsylvania State University ©2006 |
