New Year, New Students: Get the Facts about the Class of 2023

We’re excited to welcome 451 new students, including 406 first-year students in the class of 2023. Seven percent come from Santa Barbara County. Thirty-seven students have spent two or more years abroad, and 22 are international, missionary or third-culture students from El Salvador, Spain, Swaziland, the United Kingdom, Japan, Rwanda and France. The new students represent 10 countries and 30 U.S. states. Thirty-nine percent are students of color, with 18% identifying themselves as multiracial with two or more races. Forty percent are men and 60% are women. Students have expressed the most interest in majoring in economics and business (13%), biology (12%), kinesiology (12%), psychology (11%), and communication studies (7%). Eleven percent has yet to specify a possible major.    

Young adults born in 2001 belong to Generation Z, which appears to be a more cautious group than millennials: less inclined toward risky choices and more influenced by practical realities. “One generational expert, Neil Howe, even suggests that they be called the ‘Homeland Generation’ and defined by a post-9/11 birthdate beginning in 2004,” says Ryan Scott in a Forbes article. “The wary worldview of this group is further shaped by Generation X parents, who came of age in the post-Watergate and Vietnam years amidst a time of economic and global uncertainty and who are now obsessed with creating a safer world for their kids. . . . They gobble up information quickly and are ready to move on to the next thing in an eye blink. When it comes to Gen Z, seconds count. Generation Z embraces multiculturalism as a touchstone of who they are, and this also informs their attitudes on social issues.”

According to a recent study, nearly 25 percent of 13- to 17-year-olds left Facebook this year, showing a trend toward more instantaneous apps that include less personal information. They have never experienced renting a movie that was not rewound, checking the yellow pages, or taking a picture and waiting to see what it looks like.