Money Top Goal of College Freshmen

I had breakfast today with Nathan Dungan, author of the riveting "Prodigal Sons & Materials Girls: How Not To Be Your Child's ATM". Nathan is doing ground-breaking research on the spending trends of teens and their attitudes towards money. Check him out at www.sharesavespend.com and buy the book if you want a scare, a challenge, and some hope.

Nathan forwarded this on to me from UCLA:

UCLA survey shows that being financially well off is more important to students than a meaningful philosophy of life.
By Peter Y. Hong
Times Staff Writer

The Beatles had a hit on college campuses with a song that began: "The best things in life are free, but you can keep them for the birds and bees. Now give me money. That's what I want."

That was more than 40 years ago, but those words ring especially true to college students today, according to a national survey of student attitudes.

A record-low percentage of college freshmen said it is very important or essential to "develop a meaningful philosophy of life." Meanwhile, interest in being "very well off financially" was at 73.8%, the highest level in 13 years.

Those findings appear in the American Freshman Survey, an annual study released today by UCLA. The survey, which has been conducted for 38 years, is the longest-running assessment of student attitudes and plans.

This year's study surveyed 267,449 students at 413 colleges and universities, and was statistically adjusted to reflect the 1.2 million full-time freshmen in 2003.

Fewer than 40% of current college freshmen believe it is important to develop a meaningful philosophy. The absence of introspection is a far cry from the peak year of 1967, when 86% of freshmen said it was important to find a meaningful life philosophy.

By Peter Y. Hong
Times Staff Writer

Comments

[Maggie Sue]

Great information here. Just what I needed to complete my essay. Thanks. In my opinion the internet is the key to success!