Some more data on college students and future Ask A Mom readers

I'm gathering data for my elevator pitch for Ask A Mom, still around the idea that focusing on attracting and holding the interest of college students makes sense as a central marketing strategy. Here's some of what I've learned:

• There are roughly 19 million students attending U.S. post-secondary programs (slightly smaller for degree-issuing colleges and universities), according to the National Center for Education Statistics.


• An Alloy Media and Marketing/Harris Interactive poll from 2009 found college students spend an average of 9.5 hours a day using tech gadgets including their laptops and mobile devices. And 40 percent said they share content with friends, including video and blogs.


• Roughly six in 10 college students are female, according to the American Council on Education.


• Minorities have more than doubled their presence as a share of college students since the mid-1970s, from 15 percent to 32 percent in 2007, and are expected to continue to grow in share especially Hispanic and Asian-American students. This could present real opportunity on a couple of fronts. For first-generation college students their parents may have moved in lower economic classes and have no idea how to advise them on a variety of social and professional questions. And for many first- and even second-generation Asian-American students, especially female students, it may be less culturally acceptable to admit weakness or talk about dating or trivial issues with their parents, or they may be less likely to share their parents' traditional values.


• There are more than 2,600 four-year colleges in the U.S., according to NCES.