69% of Freshman Class Entered College as Virgins, Survey Finds

The Crimson’s annual survey of the freshman class found that 69 percent of incoming students came to college without having had sexual intercourse, the highest reported percentage in 11 years.

Of female respondents, 76 percent said they had never had sex, while the figure was only 61 percent among male respondents. The majority of all respondents who reported having sex, 57 percent, said they have only had one sexual partner.

Nine percent of respondents reported first having sex in 11th grade, the second largest reported category.

The data aligns with other studies showing that teenagers have become less sexually active over the last two decades. The percentage of surveyed incoming students who have sought mental health counseling has steadily risen from the classes of 2017 to 2028 — from 13 to 35 percent.

This article explores the first segment of The Crimson’s freshman survey, focusing on lifestyle and behavior choices among the Class of 2028.

Social Organizations

Of the Class of 2028, 44 percent of respondents reported interest in joining a final club, sorority, or fraternity. This figure varied by gender — nearly half of male respondents, at 49.3 percent, indicated that they were “very” or “somewhat” interested in joining the exclusive side of Harvard’s social scene. For female students, the figure stood at 39.6 percent.

Interest in social club participation was slightly positively correlated with income. For students coming from families with combined incomes between $40,000 and $80,000, 31.9 percent indicated interest — the lowest percentage among income groups — while among students from families with annual earnings over $500,000, the highest income category, that figure rose to 52.6 percent.

Freshmen with familial connections to the University also showed a bump in interest. Although students with parents, grandparents, or other relatives displayed similar attitudes toward exclusive social organizations, those with siblings who attended Harvard were 11.3 percentage points more likely to indicate interest in joining Greek life or a Final Club.

Drugs and Alcohol

The large majority of the freshman class have not engaged in using drugs. More than 82 percent of respondents reported that they had never used marijuana and 87.8 percent have never used tobacco/nicotine. Three individuals out of all respondents reported usage of cocaine, and two individuals reported usage of LSD.

According to the survey, 46.4 percent of respondents said they had never engaged in drinking alcohol, a slight increase from 40 percent in the Class of 2027. Approximately 30 percent of respondents reported drinking alcohol “very rarely” or “a few times a year.”

Only 7.9 percent of respondents reported having a fake ID, down from 12.3 percent from Class of 2027 and 14.6 percent from Class of 2025.

Mental Health

Roughly one-third of students reported having previously sought mental health counseling, which remains consistent from the Class of 2027.

Hispanic/Latinx students were the most likely to seek counseling, with 45.8 percent of students reporting they had previously sought it out. American Indian and Pacific Islander students were least likely to seek counseling, though both groups had a relatively small size of respondents.

Post-Graduate Career Fields

When asked what industry students would like to pursue immediately post-grad, the most popular answer was pursuing a professional degree such as an MBA, JD, or MD.

More than one in five respondents indicated they would like to be working in government or politics 10 years after graduation, and 17 percent of respondents indicated they want to be working in health.

Out of all income groups, students whose parental income was below $40,000 — the lowest survey bracket — were the most likely to indicate a desire to pursue consulting upon graduation, and the least likely to pursue a professional degree.

AI and Technology

Roughly one-third of current freshmen reported using AI to complete their coursework in high school. However, the class of 2028 seems determined to change their study habits, with less than one percent of students reporting that they planned to submit work produced by AI during college.

As a whole, attitudes towards the usage of AI are split, with 34.6 percent of students reporting they were unsure about whether they would use the tool to help with their college coursework.

This also varied by future aspirations. Stratified by intended industry immediately out of college, students who wanted to pursue entrepreneurship, business, finance, consulting, and engineering self-reported the highest rates of using AI on their coursework respectively, ranging from 50 to 40 percent. Students who aspired to work in education, nonprofits, government, or media and publishing were the least likely, with all groups falling below 28.6 percent.

Usage of generative AI in high school was also negatively correlated with academics, as measured by class rank. Of respondents, 35.3 percent of students in the top 2 percent of their graduating class reported using the tool, in comparison to 75 percent of students in the top 25 percent of their graduating class.

—Staff writer Azusa M. Lippit can be reached at azusa.lippit@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @azusalippit or on Threads @azusalippit.

—Staff writer Katie B. Tian can be reached at katie.tian@thecrimson.com.

—Staff writer Samantha D. Wu can be reached at samantha.wu@thecrimson.com.