Millennial Facts & Myths
Millennial Fact: Campus safety is increasingly important to students and parents.
Our findings concur with the Millennial generation theory that students and their parents are more concerned about the safety of college campuses. In fact, 72 percent of students indicated that the safety of the campus was very important to them in college consideration and choice and 86 percent reported that it very important to their parents. It should be noted, however, that our research was fielded in the aftermath of major acts of violence on U.S. college campuses which may have distorted our findings.
Millennial Myth: A college's history and "institutional heritage" matter to all students and should be played up in recruiting messages.
Contrary to conventional Millennial wisdom that encourages colleges to emphasize their school's history and traditions to prospective students and parents, studentPOLL found that a small percentage of students surveyed considered a school's history and traditions as "very important" in their college decision-making process.
Millennial Myth: Increasingly students want to attend college with their high school friends.
Only 11 percent of respondents surveyed indicated that it was very important to have their friends from high school attend the same college. Furthermore, only 11 percent of these students indicated this factor was very important to their parents in college choice. In sharp contrast to this Millennial-generation theory, nearly half of students indicated that it was not important at all for them to apply to or enroll at a college where many of their friends from high school would be.
Compared to students from lower- and middle-income families, students from high-income families were even less likely to say that attending college with their high school friends was very important to them (14% HI, 23% MI, and 34% LI).
Millennial Myth: Student interest in "making a contribution to society" is on the rise while interest in "having lots of money" is declining.
studentPOLL and CIRP's Freshman Survey data conclusively show that interest in "being financially well off" remains high and at levels comparable to previous generations.
Millennial Myth: Students are more intellectually oriented and less career focused than previous generations.
Again, studentPOLL's findings and CIRP's data demonstrate that students are very much career focused, but equally interested in the academic aspects of college that challenge them intellectually.
Millennial Myth: Students will increasingly be interested in small colleges.
Students appear to be equally interested in small and larger colleges and universities. However, CIRP's 2007 Freshman Survey data suggests that preference for size is more likely a factor of affordability and whether an institution—large or small or public and private—can offer them generous financial assistance or a lower tuition cost.