Sexual behavior of unmarried university students in 1968 and 1972∗

Recent research suggests the premarital sexual behavior of university students increased between the late 1960s and early 1970s. The conclusions of those studies are typically tempered by sampling problems. This article reports data from random samples of unmarried students at the same university in 1968 and 1972. Both men and women were more likely to report coital experience in 1972 than in 1968, with no difference between men and women in 1972. There were no statistically significant differences in number of sexual partners or coital events between 1968 and 1972.