This study presents data from a representative survey of 1,765 full time American college students from 4-year colleges in the United States about their experiences with romance at college. The study helps its readers to answer questions such as: What percentage of college students are married? What percentage are in a serious relationship? What percentage are in a casual or exploratory relationship? What percentage are not seeking romance at the current time? What percentage are not in a romantic relationship at the moment?
The report also presents data on how easy or difficult students feel it is to find a romantic partner on campus, and whether or not their college experience met their expectations in this sphere of life.
Students also comment on how aggressive or not they find their peers in their search for romantic partners and whether they would like them to be more or less assertive in this quest.
Data is broken out by more than 20 institutional and personal variables including but not limited to: income of family of origin, race/ethnicity, religion, gender, regional origins, current employment status, sexual orientation, major field of study, age, year of school standing, type of college, size of college, tuition level of college, and many other variables.
Just a few of this 96-page report’s many findings are that:
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Close to 40% of those from rural areas were either married or in a serious relationship versus only a little more than 28% of those who grew up in cities with more than 350,000 people.
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Approximately 18.65% of students found it easy or very easy to find a romantic partner on campus.
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More than 20% of straight students but only about 10.6% of gay students found it easy or very easy to find a romantic partner on campus.
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First year students and sophomores were more likely than juniors or seniors to believe that a romantic relationship would hurt their academic performance.