Incoming college freshmen have always always been stressed out. Between harder classes and roommate problems and living away from home, freshman year can bring an awful lot of angst.
But according to a recent survey, it's getting worse. College freshmen seem to be more stressed out than ever and report record low levels of emotional health – largely because of the economic downturn.
According to the annual American Freshman National Norms Fall 2010 Survey, which was released on January 27, 2011 by the Higher Education Research Institute (HECI), the economic downturn is having a direct impact on students' emotional well-being.The survey reported a dramatic increase in students who ranked their emotional health level as below average. Moreover, the percentage of students who reported their emotional health as "above average" was down 3.4 percent since 2009, and down over 12 percentage points since the survey began in 1985.
Stressed Out Students: It's the Economy
According to the HECI survey, the increase in student stress seems to have quite a bit to do with worries over the economy. Students report angst over both the rising cost of tuition and the rising student loan debt levels they're acquiring to pay for college. Contributing to this stress is the rising number of students who report that one or more of their parents are unemployed.
In addition, according to the survey, more students than ever before are motivated to go to college primarily because they believe it will increase their earning power. But at the same time, these students are seeing from older peers how hard it can be to get a job after graduation, and are fully aware that members of their generation many not be as well off as their parents.
This can be a pretty depressing scenario. Students are motivated to get an education to move up the economic ladder, but the economic ladder seems to be shrinking before their eyes. Students believe college is the best ticket to success, but only because not going to college is such a fast ticket away from success.
Gender Gap in Emotional Well Being
Another disturbing finding: female students report even lower levels of emotional health and higher levels of stress than male students. This "emotional well being gap" has been growing for some time, but it's now reached record highs. The percentage of male students who reported above average emotional well-being was 13 percent higher than the percentage of female students who felt this way.
Female students were also over twice as likely to report that the process of getting into college was extremely stressful. While only 18 percent of male students reported that they had felt "extremely overwhelmed" during their senior year of high school, 39 percent of female students reported feeling extremely overwhelmed.
The Future of Student Stress?
So is the level of student stress going to continue to grow without end? It's hard to say. On the one hand, the economy will (hopefully) improve eventually, which will make it easier for students and their families to pay for college. If more jobs become available and unemployment falls, students will feel more confident that their investment in college is a good one.
On the other hand, if the price of college continues to increase at a pace much higher than inflation, college will become harder and harder to pay for, and student loan debt will rise and rise. If something isn't done to make college more affordable, this may continue to be a major source of stress for students.
For helpful articles about freshman year, check out this Freshman Year Survival Guide!
Naomi Rockler-Gladen - Instructional designer and freelance writer, Naomi Rockler-Gladen writes some of Suite101's most read work.
