The new generation of students approaching college age is not, as many experts have predicted, more cynical, alienated, pessimistic about the future, attracted to risk, or prone to criminal activities, said author Neil Howe during a plenary address at the Presidents Institute. Rather, prospective students in this “millennial generation,” as Howe calls them, are “attracted to big-name universities, long traditions, and a tight sense of community. They are risk-averse, and they like to work with the best and latest high-technology gadgets.” Howe is an authority on characteristics of different generations in America and author of a 100-page handbook entitled Millennials Go To College: Strategies for a New Generation on Campus—Recruiting and Admissions, Student Life, and the Classroom, designed to help college administrators anticipate how the new millennial generation is changing and will continue to change college life.
    Based on his data and observations, Howe offered college and university presidents a number of recommendations and suggestions as to what to expect and how to plan for the millennial generation.
    The millennial generation is racially and ethnically diverse (38 percent are nonwhite or Latino; 33 percent are Asian), Howe said, adding that the data on cohort characteristics are much more positive than had been predicted. “There has been a 60-70 percent
reduction in the rate of serious, violent crime among this age cohort; rates of pregnancy, abortion, and birth rates are down to one-half of what they were in the early 1980s; drug usage is down; tobacco usage is the lowest ever recorded; and alcohol consumption is down,” Howe reported. In fact, he said, “the millennials are into teamwork, group projects, service learning, and community service. These changes are due to many factors, according to Howe. “The consciousness revolution was ebbing when they came along—by the 1990s, society’s emphasis was on raising a better generation of kids, and there was a more positive depiction of kids in the media and movies. In addition, during this time period, divorce rates were falling, school accountability was up, the U.S. was going through an expansive economic boom period, and child care had become more professional.
    These and other changes in the coming generation will have an impact on colleges in myriad ways, Howe said, and college administrators need to be prepared.

Millennial children have been sheltered, so colleges should:

• play up tradition and the public trust dimension of college policies;
• assume there are no acceptable risks;
• market a safe environment;
• emphasize a top health staff;
• expect in loco parentis to dethrone FERPA; and
• promise protection from corrupting values and commercialism.

The millennial students are confident, happy, and optimistic, so colleges should:

• prepare for students who have a lot and expect a lot;
• stress good outcomes;
• use social norming; and
• create the expectation of success for all, including special needs kids.

This cohort is team-oriented, so colleges should:

• stress friendship and duty to help others;
• showcase groups and team skills; and
• prepare for rapid growth in mainstream political and community organizing.

Millennial students are pressured (an unprecedented number plan to go to college—84 percent in 2002, 66 percent of whom plan on attending a four-year institution), security conscious (84 percent say security is very important), sleep deprived (two-thirds of high school students say they don’t get enough sleep), and planners (88 percent have specific five-year career goals). Therefore, colleges should:

• expect admissions and grading to grow ever more selective;
• retool classrooms for constant testing, feedback, monitoring, and skills
  mastery;
• stress long-term life planning over short-term opportunities; and
• offer a balanced life—not push one thing too much.

They are achievers, with rising proficiency in math and science and higher SAT scores. They spend a lot more time on their homework than previous cohorts; more of them have a stay-at-home parent who is focused on their success; and internships are more popular among this group. This means colleges should:

• expect kids to be more knowledgeable and less creative;
• prepare for standards (the outcomes and assessment movement);
• use objective facts to persuade prospective students;
• provide internship opportunities;
• anticipate a growing student tilt toward math and science over arts and humanities; and
• provide cutting-edge, networked technology for every student.

    Howe’s handbook is available from his company, LifeCourse Associates, for $49 by calling (866) 537-4999. Slides of his presentation at the Presidents Institute are posted on CIC’s website (click here).

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Last updated: March 2003
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