Poll Hero

Less sex, more caffeine: NU students nonetheless satisfied

By Eunice Eunsoo Lee and Samanta Habashy

Northwestern’s social landscape is always changing with trends in relationships, sleep and social satisfaction. Whether it’s more coffee or fewer couples, The Daily’s Fall 2025 Campus Poll reveals how students across different majors and years navigate college life.

More breakups, fewer matches — and nearly half have never had sex

Only 29.5% of students reported being in a relationship, almost ten percentage points down from the spring poll when 38.4% of students were in a relationship.
Seniors are the most likely to be in relationships. In line with both the Fall 2024 and Spring 2025 poll results, seniors make up a third of students who say they are in a relationship.
Nearly half of respondents say they have never had sex. Among those in relationships, most report having sex multiple times a week. But being in a relationship doesn’t guarantee a sex life: 14% of students in relationships say they have never had sex.
Among women, the rate of reporting “never” having sex rose from 43% last year to 53% this year. Men reported roughly the same amount as last year. Upperclassmen report higher sexual activity, and LGBTQ+ students report higher frequent sex rates than straight students.

Cheating: students in long-distance relationships report it less

More than half of students say they have never cheated nor been cheated on.
Students not in long-distance relationships report more cheating than those who are. Of students currently in long-distance relationships, only 15.2% reported experiencing cheating. Among students who are not long-distance, that number jumps to 23.3%.
Freshmen are the least likely to cheat, with less than one percent indicating that they’ve cheated before. Upperclassmen average around 3.2%.

Frequent caffeine drinkers are more likely to cheat (and be juniors)

Students who drink caffeine multiple times a day are more likely to have cheated on a partner. Among heavy caffeine drinkers, 6.9% say they have cheated before, compared to 2.7% among all students.
Frequent caffeine consumption also maps strongly to being a junior. Thirty-five percent of students who drink caffeine multiple times daily are juniors, the highest of any class year.

International students less satisfied; Greek life highly satisfied

International students are more than twice as likely to be unhappy with their social experience compared to U.S. citizens. Nearly half rate the quality of the social scene as bad.
Greek life students report the highest social satisfaction. Over 87% say they are satisfied with their social life, and almost 40% say they are very satisfied. Only about 24% of non–Greek life students say they are very satisfied.

Engineering and journalism students are the most satisfied with their social lives.

Students studying physical sciences are the least satisfied — over a quarter report dissatisfaction with their social life. Life sciences students rate the NU social scene the most positively.
Journalism students are the most satisfied with their social lives, but are also more likely to believe Northwestern needs more social events.

‘Pour’ decisions: heavy drinkers less likely to report excellent well-being

Students who drink alcohol several times a week report the lowest rates of excellent well-being. Heavy drinkers are most likely to say their well-being is good or fair.
Students who drink once a week report the highest excellent well-being rate.