To pick up on Candace’s post on the National Survey of Student Engagement:

There are many interesting, and distressing, numbers buried in the “grand frequencies” of the report. For example:

1. The rate of freshmen who never, ever discuss ideas with profs outside of class is 43 percent. Seniors improved that rate to 28 percent–still a disappointing number.

2. The rate of freshmen who never, ever read a book (of any kind) outside of class was 24 percent. Seniors improved that number to 20 percent–a meager gain after three years of college.

3. The rate of freshmen who never, ever attend an arts event or enter and arts space (museum, performance etc.) was 27 percent. Seniors lost ground here, climbing to 31 percent.