Study Finds College Students Rejecting Dating Apps

College students are turning away from dating apps and prefer to meet others in person, according to a new study by Axios and Generation Lab.

The study polled almost 1,000 college students across the U.S. and found that an overwhelming majority of 79 percent do not go on dating apps or use them less than once per month. According to Axios, Tinder is still the favorite among young daters. Twelve percent of college students use Tinder at least once a month, with Bumble and Hinge close behind at 8 percent of students logging on at least monthly.

A caveat for the study: 55 percent of respondents said they were in a relationship already, so they didn’t need to use a dating app. But at least 64 percent of those met their partners outside of a dating app – either through classes, a party, or an introduction from a friend to name a few. Only 15 percent said they’d met through a dating app, according to PC Magazine UK.

According to Axios, many college students are turning away from hookup culture, and prefer to make friends and form close relationships rather than just having sexual encounters, according to respondents. Of the students surveyed, 45 percent said they have never hooked up with anyone, and only 15 percent said they had hooked up with someone within the past week of being surveyed.

Recent studies point to a trend among college students: they are looking for something deeper than a one-night stand, and specifically, looking for people who share their beliefs and values.

According to Axios, 37 percent said that beliefs were the most important factor when considering potential partners (ranking higher than looks or professional goals). And a majority of college students said they wouldn’t go on a date with a person who voted differently from them in the 2020 election, a recent Generation Lab poll found.

The results of the study stand in contrast with the marketing strategies of most dating app companies, specifically Tinder and Bumble, which consider college students a core demographic. There is a Tinder-U feature on Tinder’s app that lets college students find others in their community. The company also sponsors parties and recruits college ambassadors. In fact, Tinder got its start on college campuses, so there is a long history of catering to this market.

Insider points out there seems to be a big difference between college students and young Gen Z daters, in that once these students graduate, it becomes more difficult to meet people and make friends organically, so college graduates tend to gravitate back to dating apps.

The study was conducted from October 11-16 from a range of college students at community college, technical college, trade schools and public and private universities.