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Date Answered: 11/23/1992
Question:
What percentage of college men are virgins when they enter college but rectify the situation before the end of their freshman year? What about college women? If you could also include a breakdown of statistics by religion, it would be appreciated. Thank you. Sincerely, We Must Get Moose and Sloth
Answer:
Dear We Must Get Moose and Sloth: QB thought it might be
interesting to go back to some classics in the field of human
sexuality to see how things have changed. One of the pioneers in
this area, Alfred C. Kinsey published two landmark studies: Sexual
Behavior in the Human Male in 1948 and Sexual Behavior in the Human
Female in 1953. At that time, he and his colleagues found that 48%
of males had engaged in pre-marital intercourse by age 15 and 85%
had experienced it by age 20. For females, the figures were much
lower: 3% and 20% respectively.

But QB assumes you are much more interested in the present-day
state of affairs. A 1989 book, Sex and Morality in the U. S. found
that 63.5% of males had engaged in pre-marital intercourse by age
17; 77.7% by age 18, and 89.8% by age 19. For females, the figures
were slightly lower but not nearly so different as in the earlier
studies: 51.7% by age 17, 66.7% by age 18, and 78% by age 49.

The second part of your question, estimates reported by religious
affiliation, was a bit more difficult. Sex and Morality in the U.
S. does not provide statistics but does note that "Childhood
religious affiliation produces the predictable finding that pre-
marital sex is more apt to occur, and is less apt to take place
only with the future spouse, among those with no affiliation" (p.
142). Kinsey found similar results: those with inactive or
moderately active religious lives had a higher incidence of pre-
marital sexual intercourse than those who considered themselves
devout.
Source(s) Used to Answer Question:
1) Sexual Behavior in the Human Male by Alfred C. Kinsey
, Wardell B. Pomeroy, and Clyde E. Martin, Philadelphia: W. B.
Saunders Co., 1948; 2) Sexual Behavior in the Human Female by
Alfred C. Kinsey et. al., Philadelphia: W. B. Saunders Co., 1953;
3) Sex and Morality in the U. S. by Albert D. Klassen, Colin J.
Williams, and Eugene E. Levitt, Middletown, CT: Wesleyan
University Press, 1989
Source Call Number(s): 1) 176 K62s; 2) 176 In2s; 3) 306.70973
K666s