1 in 2 College Students Risked Their Health, Emotional Well-Being and Finances in 2019

NEW YORK, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- College students often make poor decisions while away at school, but how pervasive is the issue? A new ValuePenguin.com survey has found that 1 in 2 college students engaged in high-risk, and often life threatening, behaviors while away at school over the past 12 months, but are worryingly unprepared to deal with the consequences of these behaviors:

• Driving Dangerously: 47% of college students admitted to texting while driving, 37% say they don't wear a seat belt, and 18% confessed to driving under the influence of recreational marijuana and 13% confessed to driving under the influence of alcohol. Yet 53% of the surveyed college students didn't know how to file a claim with their auto insurer.
• Substance Use and Other Health Risks: Approximately one third of college students have passed out from drinking alcohol, with nearly a quarter having passed out in the last year alone. More than 20% have taken prescription drugs to help them study, and 38% percent have had sexual intercourse without a condom.
• Unprepared to Seek Medical Help: One third of college students don't carry their insurance information in their wallet, and 28% cannot name their health insurance provider. More worryingly, 18% of college students are not confident they can find medical attention when they need it, and 21% don't know where to get help when they feel depressed.
• Limited Financial Readiness: Nearly 10% of college students admitted stealing from another student, and the National Center of Education Statistics also estimates 8.1 burglaries per 10,000 full-time college students, or roughly 12,000 burglaries annually. Survey respondents admitted that it can cost between $2,000 to more than $10,000 to replace their personal belongings if they are lost or destroyed - Yet 66% confessed they don't have renters insurance, or any kind of insurance to cover their personal belongings.

To understand college students' risky behaviours, ValuePenguin.com commissioned Qualtrics to conduct an online survey of 862 college students, aged 18-25. To view the full report, visit: https://www.valuepenguin.com/auto-insurance/college-students-risk

About ValuePenguin.com: ValuePenguin.com, part of LendingTree (NASDAQ: TREE), is a personal finance website that conducts in-depth research and provides objective analysis to help guide consumers to the best financial decisions. ValuePenguin focuses on value, assessing whether the return of a particular decision is worth the cost or risk of that option, and how this stacks up with the other possible choices they may have. For more information, please visit www.valuepenguin.com, like our Facebook page or follow us on Twitter @ValuePenguin.

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SOURCE ValuePenguin.com