Millennials Go to College

Journal of College Admission, Spring 2004 by Muntz, Palmer

Millenials Go to College by Neil Howe and William Strauss American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers, 2003 $52 ($32 for AACRAO Members), 100 pages, softcover

Neil Howe and William Strauss wrote Millenniais Go to College as a follow-up to their year 2000 book,Millennial* Rising.The authors take previous research and forecasts, concerning the current generation of young people, and apply it specifically to the interests and concerns of college admission personnel, student affairs staff and faculty. The book makes a valuable contribution to our profession by summarizing facts about traditional-age collegians of today and through the next decade, and then explaining what these traits mean for higher education.

The authors accomplish their purpose well, though some of the conclusions they reach about the generation they have dubbed "the Millennials" may be far-fetched. For instance, knowing that Millennials value a well-balanced life, the authors predict that in the future law schools will establish a women's soccer league and business schools will put on musicals (87).

Howe and Strauss fall into generalizations and stereotypes throughout their book, but this may be unavoidable in this type of work. Millennials Go to College is shorter, more accessible and more readable than Millennials Rising. Its accessibility is largely due to a well-considered structure. The first half of the book spells out the authors' research regarding Millennials' characteristics ("Who They Are") and the second half spells out the implications of those traits ("What to Do"). While the content is clear, some sections are hard to read due to the typefaces, small font sizes and shadings used.

The book's foundation is the observation of past generational patterns showing that:

* "Each rising generation breaks with the young-adult generation" currently in place.

* The new generation "corrects for what it sees as the excesses of the current midlife generation-their parents and leaders."

* Finally, it "fills the social role being vacated by the departing older generation" (13).

Millennials are breaking with Gen Xers, showing themselves to be more team-oriented, for instance. They are correcting for Boomers' excesses in that they are less narcissistic and more patient. They "opt for the good of the group" and value "deed over words" (13). Millennials are looking to the GI Generation-what Tom Brokaw called "The Greatest Generation"-as role models. The authors thus present an extremely confident perspective regarding today's young people, portraying them as positive, optimistic and group-oriented. They also say Millennials like to follow rules and they believe in brand names. Millennials see excessive individualism as the major cause of America's problems (36). They value "balance" (34) and favor a return to tradition and the teaching of values (37).

Statistically, the Millennials will top 100 million members, meaning that this young generation will be 1/3 larger than Boomers (21). Millennial births peaked in 1990, so their population "bulge" will graduate from high school in 2008 (21). Furthermore, Millennials are very diverse. Twenty percent have an immigrant parent and 10 percent have a parent who is not a US citizen (23). Higher education enrollments will continue to grow since 70 percent of this large audience plan to attend college (41 ).

Howe and Strauss identify seven core traits of the Millennials, then penned chapters focusing on each trait. They say Millennials are Special, Sheltered, Confident, Team-oriented, Conventional, Pressured, and Achieving. Every one of these chapters includes clearly marked sections labeled "Implications for Recruiting and Admissions," "Implications for Campus Life" and "Implications for the Classroom." In most chapters, this last emphasis is given less attention than the other two. For admission officers some key points from each chapter include:

Special - Today's parents think their child is special and will ask if your institution is able to properly "protect and educate." They are protective and have been called "helicopter parents" because they constantly hover over their kids. Adults should be prominently featured in recruitment publications because parents will like this. Messages should spell out the college's long-term stability and history, as well as showing how students will be connected to an institutional heritage. Millennials also will want to see students portrayed as energized teams working in campus-wide efforts.

Sheltered - Security now is a sales point and lack of it is problematic. Concerns about safety may make small colleges more appealing.

Confident - 90 percent of teens say they are happy and excited about the future. Colleges should tell teens that great things will happen if they make the right college choice.

Team-Oriented - Peer pressure may now be a good thing! Teens can be avid followers so colleges may want to seek out the "coolest" kids. In addition, because "fair play" is important to Millennials, they see policies that give preferences based on race as unjust. Racial diversity is appealing, but Millennials "believe more in a 'transracial' than a 'multi-racial' society" (60).