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At College Board Meeting, Researchers Challenge Views of 'Millennial' Students

By ERIC HOOVER

New York

Recently the student-affairs office at a small Southern university received a telephone call from a concerned parent. The weather had just turned cold, and the parent wanted to know if someone could make sure that little Johnny was wearing his sweater.

Richard A. Hesel got big laughs when he shared that anecdote with a room full of admissions deans here on Wednesday. After all, many people at the College Board's annual conference will tell you that today's college students are more sheltered than ever by "helicopter parents." It was an effective story, but it also illustrated a crucial point: Much of what colleges think they know about students comes from anecdotes, not long-term data.

Mr. Hesel, principal and co-founder of the Art & Science Group, a college-marketing company, cautioned his audience against buying wholesale into popular conceptions about so-called Millennial students, whom he described as far more complex in reality than they are in stereotypes. "Most Millennial theory is based on generalizations," Mr. Hesel said, "and those generalizations are very dangerous."

During the presentation, "Millennial Students: What Do We Know and What Does It Mean for Admissions?," Mr. Hesel and John H. Pryor, director of cooperative institutional research at the University of California at Los Angeles, took several swipes at widespread assumptions about contemporary students. Because those assumptions are based largely on the characteristics of affluent white young adults, they suggested, colleges should not cling to admissions and marketing policies that rely too heavily on superficial definitions of who Millennials are, what they like, and what they want from colleges.

Millennials Rising, Accuracy Falling

Mr. Pryor, who leads UCLA's annual survey of college freshmen, presented longitudinal data that challenged several findings by William Strauss and Neil Howe, authors of Millennials Rising (Vintage Books, 2000), a widely read book. For example, Mr. Pryor said that while the authors found that today's students were spending more time on homework than their predecessors did, UCLA's surveys have found that the time students spend on homework has been declining over the last decade. He also said his data revealed that students were becoming more preoccupied with finding lucrative careers—not less so.

Mr. Hesel previewed the results of a forthcoming report on a recent study of Millennials, which was conducted by the Art & Science Group and the College Board. One notable finding: Almost half of today's students do not think of themselves as "Millennial students," a reminder that generational labels, particularly those applied by older generations, are as tricky as they are broad.

What should admissions officials think about as they ponder the complexity of Millennials? "Sincerity," Mr. Hesel said. Many prospective students, he continued, are cynical about colleges' marketing efforts. Given that, he urged deans to avoid hyperbole, clichés, and meaningless tag lines in their recruitment materials—anything that might make them look like "another high-priced commodity."

Mr. Hesel also advised colleges to demonstrate and encourage a sense of humor in the admissions process; to involve parents of prospective students in constructive ways; not to dwell on their campus history and traditions; to express progressive views on social and racial equality; and to simplify information about paying for college.