College Confidential

Remember the days when movies like “Love Story” recounted the joys of campus courtships?

Things have changed, according to the Wall Street Journal’s Sue Shellenbarger, who says that today’s pragmatic students are more focused on grades and careers than on moonlight serenades.

One survey found that nearly 20 percent of young marrieds or those in serious committed relationships were more likely to have met at the office than at school. This all makes sense. After all, since today’s competitive work environment requires post-graduate degrees and flexible re-location plans, it could take years before most young people put marriage and family on the front burner.

This may help to explain the casual attitude toward the opposite sex that has resulted in 76 percent of students reporting that they “engaged in hookups, which usually stop short of intercourse, according to a study of 4,000 students by Stanford University.”

On the flip side, more students report having fun on group dates and developing meaningful platonic friendships while in school.

Deborah Lambert writes the Squeaky Chalk column for Accuracy in Academia‘s monthly Campus Report newsletter from which this feature is excerpted.