10 Ways College Is Different In The 2010s Than It Was In The 2000s

Anonymous

I graduated from the University of Georgia in 2004 with a Bachelor's degree(and graduated in 2006 with my Masters). I was 22 years old, and had went there from 2000-2004. Now, as a 37 year old, I've been a adjunct. professor at Georgia since 2012.

Whenever I see college articles, I always see details such as "college students in the 21st century", but a lot has changed in this century. You can't say freshmen entering the 2019-2020 academic calendar are in a different culture than my 2000-2001 freshmen class.

Keep in mind, these are observations I've made, as well as some statistics, and studies.

1. College students these days are more likely to live off-campus.

10 Ways College Is Different In The 2010s Than It Was In The 2000s

Back in my day, if you didn't live on campus for at least your first 2 years, you were a LOSER with a CAPITAL L.

But times have changed. Recent studies have shown that roughly 40% of college students between the ages of 22 are living with their parents, living in an apartment, or some other off-campus housing. This means many colleges are left with empty dorm rooms, and the Greek System literally begging for people to join their frats, and sororities. This may not seem like a high number, but as someone who has been in the college scene for almost 20 years now, this is totally bizarre. I'm assuming a lot of this has to do with the cost of living on campus.

I remember when I was in college, almost everyone I knew at Georgia was living in a dorm, or in a Greek house. However, as a professor, I am now coming across more, and more students living off campus.

2. College students are increasingly shunning off the "party" lifestyle.

?Halloween, circa. 2004
?Halloween, circa. 2004

I decided to mention this, since this goes hand-in-hand with my first point.

I remember in 2004, Georgia's president told us that we had made "progress" because the rate of sexual encounters, drugs, and alcohol had decreased since the "roaring 90s"(he called it). Little did we know this trend would continue on for another 15 years.

How do I define a "party-lifestyle"? Using the BIG THREE(factors): Alcohol, drugs, and casual sex. Alcohol has been the biggest surprise, as studies have shown that we have seen record-low levels in the HISTORY of the USA among college students aged 18-22. Hell, we just had a campaign ran by 18-20 year olds on our campus as to why underage drinking is wrong, and needs to be stopped. Casual sex is the same way-we are seeing more college virgins than we ever have(See Reddit), and because they're virgins...they're not having casual sex.

Which, leads us to drugs, and this one is a bit tricky. We are seeing an overall decrease in drug use, but we are seeing a major increase in marijuana, and a slight increase in psychedelics.

3. College students do most of their communication with each other via electronics.

This is probably becoming more true with anyone, but people don't understand that traditional college students(aged 18-22) today were born between 1996-2000. They grew up as kids with a cell phone in their hands, and constantly on the internet. I know so many students who told me they can't remember the last time they met someone in person, or actually had a full-blown conversation with someone in person.

In my college years, mobile phones were still in their baby stages, the only social networking site we had was Myspace(which was in its baby stages), and the internet wasn't near as prevalent as it used to be. We still met face-to-face, and cherished ACTUAL conversations.

4. College students have completely different worries these days.

This one is a bit vague, but allow me to explain.

When I was in college, many of my peers were worried about when the next party would take place, when we had to apply for graduation, where the fun place was to work, and other nonsensical things. I can't believe I used to worry about the shit I used to.

These days, college students worry about so many things that I would have never worried about as an 18 year old: Student loan debt, their parents finding out about what they did on the weekend, if they can even GET a job after graduation, and other serious issues. Actually, I see this as a positive thing: It seems like college students have legitimate worries, and are increasingly concerned about things that will affect their future.

5. College students aren't as friendly as they used to be

I've bragged on this generation, so now it's time to trash it.

Strictly from observation, my college years allowed me to meet some of the friendliest people I've met in my life. I rarely came across anyone who wasn't friendly.

Unfortunately, it seems like college students these days can't take a joke, get offended by everything, and because they worry so much(see my previous point above), they are just so miserable. Hell, the suicide rate is increasing dramatically on campuses across the country too. I rarely see anyone with a smile, and students these days are so standoffish.

6. College women don't care about their appearance that much anymore

10 Ways College Is Different In The 2010s Than It Was In The 2000s

Let me get this off my chest: I realize that women don't exist to please men. I'm not saying this is a good, or bad thing, this is just another observation.

Back in my days, most of the women worked out to keep thin, and were obsessed with their appearance. Hell, almost every girl on campus was a hottie.

But these days, I see more, and more obese girls between 18-22 years old, and so many of them don't even wear makeup, or simply don't take care of themselves. I see girls with asses that could put our campus Equestrian horses to shame. I see women wearing belly-shirts, and their large stomachs hanging out. I suppose the body-positive movement is why I'm seeing more of this.

7. College students seem to be more closed-minded these days

I remember in college, when we argued, we would often agree to disagree.

That's not the case anymore. College students these days actually disown other people for disagreeing with them. All this has done is divide students based on race, religion, and class. I remember a campus where we all got along back in the good ol days.

8. Baseball is dead on campus

I remember in 2004, Red Sox fans celebrated after they had broke the Curse of the Bambino to win the World Series. Even though most Georgia students were Braves fans, I remember meeting people who rooted for several different teams.

These days, I never come across baseball fans. The MLB season just opened, and nobody talked about it. I've met a handful of Braves fans on campus, and we fucking live in GEORGIA. I should be meeting tons of them.

9. College students these days aren't as smart from an academic standpoint

I'm not saying were were geniuses in the 2000s, but most of his were at least smart enough to pass a class with the flying colors.

I teach American History, and despite that being an easy course, we are getting more, and more students who can't even study. They have no study habits, not yearn for learning, and it's just laziness anymore. I'm surprised they were even able to make it to college, let alone get a degree. We have totally dumbed-down post-secondary education.

10. College students are racially diverse

10 Ways College Is Different In The 2010s Than It Was In The 2000s

I saved the best for last-I'm seeing more non-white students than I ever have.

Have a good night, and thanks for reading this take.

10 Ways College Is Different In The 2010s Than It Was In The 2000s
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