A recent survey of over 250,000 college freshmen at 464 universities administered by the Higher Education Resource Institute at UCLA suggests that academic apathy has become a prevalent concern. Freshmen overwhelmingly report boredom in class or frequent absence for oversleeping. Since 1992, there has been a decrease in concern with promoting racial and environmental awareness. Students still believe in the American Dream but do not strive for morality in their lives and communities with the idealism of past generations. Seeking material wealth, today's freshmen enter college with their sights set fixedly on the ends to which their diploma will transport them rather than on the experience of an education itself.
Freshmen are more frequently unprepared for college as well.
With lax high-school graduation requirements, many suffer from senioritis and remain unchallenged during their final year, which makes the transition to college difficult. Additionally, high school's rigidly structured daily schedule leaves students little independent work time and hinders personal discipline in their academic endeavors. Compounding these concerns with new social pressures which deter freshmen from their academic pursuits provides for a very turbulent first year indeed. College freshmen have reported an increase in professional aspirations, with many students intending to pursue a graduate degree. And, although local bars' attempts to prevent underage drinking often seem futile, UCLA's study indicates that beer consumption among college freshmen has declined from a reported 75 percent in 1981 to 50 percent in 1999.