Good News: Virginity Increases on College Campuses
At least two studies, reported in USA Today, show that more U.S. college students are choosing to remain virgins.
Stanford University sociologist Paula England has surveyed more than 17,000 students from 20 colleges and universities since 2005, and has found 24 percent of college seniors report they are virgins. Unfortunately, she has also discovered an increase in the number of “hookups” among other students — casual relationships that often include sex.
A recent report from the National Center for Health Statistics shows that among 20- to 24-year-olds, 15 percent of women and 18.5 percent of men report never having had sexual intercourse, an improvement from 2002.
“It’s very encouraging to see college students choosing not to have sex,” said Chad Hills, analyst for sexual health at CitizenLink. “Sex outside of marriage brings emotional brokenness, pregnancies and a host of sexually transmitted diseases.”
Some studies find virgins in even higher numbers, according to the USA Today report. A 2007 study of 1,500 Duke University freshmen and seniors found that about 53 percent of women and 40 percent of the men said they were virgins.