20 Facts About Today's College Freshmen

(MoneyWatch)  Who are today's college freshmen?
Every year the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA attempts to answer that question. The institute recently released its annual survey of nearly 220,000 freshmen, who attend 1,555 four-year colleges and universities.

As I was reading through the report, I pulled out some fascinating factoids about college freshmen, who graduated from high school in 2009.

Here is a brief glimpse at today's college freshmen:

1. 79% were accepted by their No. 1 college.
2. 61% are attending their No. 1 choice.
3. 67% applied to four or less colleges.
4. 14% are attending college more than 500 miles from home.
5. 35% are attending college that's 50 miles or less from home.
6. 48% graduated from high school with an A- or better grade point average.
7. 24% expect to need tutoring or remedial help with math.
8. 29% are liberal.
9. 22% are conservative.
10. 68% took at least one Advanced Placement class in high school.
11. 42% want to obtain a master's degree.
12. 10% hope to become a veterinarian, dentist or physician.
13. 18% want to earn a Ph.D.
14. 14% expect to major in business.
15. 30% estimated that their parents' income was less than $50,000.
16. 12% estimated that their parents' income was $200,000 or higher.
17. 4% have unemployed fathers.
18. 8% have unemployed mothers.
19. 53% have borrowed to attend college.
20. 49% are working to pay for college.

Freshmen image by austinevan. CC 2.0.

Lynn O'Shaughnessy is the author of The College Solution and she also writes a college blog for TheCollegeSolutionBlog. Follow her on Twitter.