Three fewer hours of study per week: university students' dedication is falling, but more are working.

BarcelonaThe daily lives of university students in Catalonia have changed considerably over the last four years, as evidenced by the report. University Pathway (2023-2025) X-ray of the university student body made public this Wednesday by the Vives University Network. The report, based on surveys of 45,000 Catalan university students, confirms how, compared to 2021, university students dedicate fewer hours to studying, but also in terms of dedication to study, today university students, on average, dedicate about three hours less per week to studying: girls spend 34 hours a week (almost five less than in the last report of 2021) and boys 32 (about four and a half hours less than in the last survey than the Catalan one), in the same sense. each university credit is 22.8 hours, below the 25-30 hours per credit, which is the standard established in the European Higher Education Area (EHEA)

However, unlike the situation denounced by many Catalan university professors, the majority of students (73%) say they attend more than 75% of classes.

The survey shows that the percentage of university students studying full-time has dropped two and a half percentage points compared to the 2022 data (from 50.8% to 48.3%). At the same time, the proportion of students who work less than 35 hours per week has increased (from 15.8% to 19.4%) and those who do so occasionally during the course (from 23.2% to 27.8%). In contrast, the proportion of university students who work more than 35 hours per week has decreased from 10.3% to 4.4%.

Regarding access to housing, the survey reveals that going to university does not necessarily mean emancipation for young people. Thus, six out of ten live with their parents or relatives while studying for a bachelor's or master's degree. Specifically, 57.1% live with parents or other relatives, 26.4% live in a rented apartment with other people, 9.1% own their own home, 4.2% rent their own home, and 3.3% live in a university residence.

Regarding emotional well-being, the report's results show that 25.9% of university students have suffered from anxiety at some point, 21.3% in the last twelve months. 16.7% have a diagnosis. Meanwhile, the number of university students who report having suffered from depression at some point increased from 26.4% to 23.4%.