Survey: Engineering seniors log the most study hours
USA Today
If you're an engineering student, chances are you study about five hours a week more than business and social science majors — and you still may not be fully prepared for class, according to a new survey examining how college students spend their time.
A recent survey finds that engineering students study roughly 19 hours per week.
Full-time college students on average study 15 hours a week, but averages varied by academic majors, says the survey, released today by the National Survey of Student Engagement, based on a spring survey of 416,000 freshmen and seniors at 673 colleges and universities nationwide.
Engineering seniors studied the most, 19 hours on average, and business and social science majors studied the least, about 14 hours. A companion survey found that faculty expectations for study time by major corresponded closely to what students reported. One exception: Social science faculty expected students to spend about 18 hours a week, four more hours than students reported.
Findings come at a time when higher education stakeholders are increasingly demanding evidence that students are learning. A report called Academically Adrift, released in January, found that nearly half of undergraduates show almost no gains in learning in their first two years of college.
Business students — who represent the single most popular undergraduate major nationally — may study less because schools aren't hiring more faculty to meet growing demand for courses, says Sara Robicheaux, business dean at Birmingham-Southern College in Birmingham, Ala.
"When professors have to increase the number of students they teach they compensate by requiring fewer writing assignments and more group projects," she says.
Business majors also may be underestimating their study time, suggests Dan Connolly, an associate dean at the University of Denver's Daniels College of Business. "Much of the work is collaborative, and many students are working in their field ... so it doesn't seem like studying (to them). But in the process of doing all they're doing, they're learning."
The survey found that seniors majoring in business were more likely than seniors in other fields to be working for pay; they reported working 16 hours a week on average vs. nine hours for engineering majors. more>
