Her Campus Logo Her Campus Logo
Wellness > Sex + Relationships

These Statistics About College Sex Habits Might Surprise You

New York Magazine recently surveyed more than 700 college students about their sex lives. While many people think everyone in college is having sex, the results were surprising.

While most people thought they were less sexually active than their peers, 41 percent of women and 49 percent of men reported not being sexually active at all. On top of this, 39 percent reported to be virgins. So if you’ve been thinking, “Everyone is having sex except meee!” worry no more. You’re far from alone.


Not necessarily what you would think, right? The survey also found some interesting statistics about love. 70 percent of women and 80 percent of men reported being in love, and 73 percent of students reported having been in love at one point. These statistics challenge the assumptions about college “hook up culture,” where everyone’s allegedly running around having no-strings-attached sex. Same with the stereotype that college kids are spending all their time on Tinder at the expense of real-life relationships—Only 17 percent of women and 27 percent of men said they use dating apps.

The sexual assault findings were less surprising, with 12 percent of women saying they had been raped compared to 4 percent of men. Women were also warier of the system when it came to reporting assault, with 62 percent saying they though their school did a good job handling rape reporting, compared to 80 percent of men.

Do these results fit with what you’ve seen on campus?

Rachel graduated from the Honors College at James Madison University in May 2017 and is pursuing a career in the media/PR industry. She majored in Media Arts & Design with a concentration in journalism and minored in Spanish and Creative Writing. She loves spending time with friends and family, traveling, and going to the beach.