Nearly half of all incoming college freshmen earned an \A"" average in high school, according to the results of a national survey released Monday. The study also showed a rising interest in political affairs among freshmen after three decades of general decline.
Researchers at the University of California Los Angeles polled more than 280,000 incoming freshmen at 437 four-year colleges and universities on a variety of topics in the annual survey.
Linda Sax, a UCLA education professor and director of the survey, said grades of incoming high school students are higher than ever. The study showed 45.7 percent of freshman report earning an ""A"" average in high school, compared to 44.1 percent last year and a low of 17.6 percent in 1968.
Sax said this may reflect high school grade inflation caused by an increasingly competitive college admissions process.
""Young people are putting much more stress on themselves today to achieve, and I think grade inflation has been one way to try to respond to some of those student demands,"" said Luoluo Hong, UW-Madison dean of students.
Seven out of 10 students attending private universities earned ""A"" averages in high school, the study showed, as compared to 34.4 percent of students at public four-year colleges. The study also showed 50.1 percent of incoming female freshmen maintained an ""A"" average in high school, while only 40.1 percent of freshmen males did the same.
For the second consecutive year freshmen reported an increase in ""keeping up to date with political affairs."" Currently, 32.9 percent of freshmen view following politics as a ""very important"" or ""essential"" life goal, 1.5 percentage points higher than last year.
Sax attributes this rejuvenation in political awareness to recent events such as the terrorist acts of Sept. 11, 2001 and the disputed presidential election of 2000.
""It would be nice if we could continue in this direction, although the reasons aren't so nice,"" Sax said.
In 1966, during the Vietnam war, 60.3 percent of incoming freshman reported following politics. Percentages fell following the war, held steadily during the 1980s and fell drastically from 1992 to 2000, Sax said.
""In the Vietnam era the campus really took a stand on what was happening. I think if we did that then we'd show the nation we have an opinion,"" UW-Madison freshman Jackie Bateman said.
The survey also showed the percentage of freshmen identifying themselves as ""liberal"" or ""far left"" fell to 27.8 percent compared to 29.9 percent in 2001.
When asked whether ""federal military spending should be increased,"" 45 percent of students agreed ""somewhat"" or ""strongly."" In 1993, the last time this question was included in the survey, 21.4 percent of students answered the same.
Support for same sex marriage rose to 59.3 percent, compared with 57.9 percent last year and 50.9 percent when the question was first asked in 1997.
Today, 39.7 percent of incoming freshmen agree that marijuana should be legalized, compared to 36.5 percent last year and a low 16.7 percent in 1989.
