Higher Education Research Institute, UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies.

Since 1966, the survey provides a comprehensive portrait of students entering post-secundary education.  Some of the main findings this year are:

• Freshmen show a dependency on parents when making college-related decisions. 84% considered their parents' participation in their college careers to be the "right amount," 80.5% in their decision to attend the college at which they enrolled and 77.5% in dealing with college officials.
• 63% of students cite academic quality as the top reason for choosing a college (up 5.6% compared to 2006).  But college affordability is now more than ever a priority, with the importance of being awarded financial assistance being cited by 39.4% of students, up 5.1% from 2006.
• 75.9% of freshmen use the Internet frequently for research or homework, 44% frequently read news sites and 34.2 % read blogs. But only 35% report frequently evaluating the quality or reliability of information they receive, and just 29% frequently explore topics on their own, even when it was not required for class. 21.2% indicate that they frequently look up scientific research articles and resources.
• 86.3% spend at least some time on social networking sites each week, and 18.9% use these sites for six or more hours a week. 49.3% were typically on social networking sites for one to five hours a week.

Press release: http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/heri/PDFs/press/pr012408-07Freshman.pdf
Full report: http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/heri/PDFs/pubs/briefs/brief-012408-07FreshmanNorms.pdf