The personal interests and goals of students entering college have changed considerably over the years, according to a national survey of freshmen conducted for the past 32 years.

• At the start of the semester this fall, 74.9 percent of students said their goal was "to be very well off financially," with 40.8 percent wanting "to develop a meaningful philosophy of life."

• In 1968, the numbers were reversed -- with 40.8 percent selecting financial security, and 82.5 citing the importance of a philosophy.

• A record low 26.7 percent thought that "keeping up to date with political affairs" was a very important or essential life goal -- versus a high of 57.8 percent as recently as 1966.

• The percentage of students who said that "becoming involved in programs to clean up the environment" was an important life goal declined to 19.4 percent from 33.6 percent in 1992.

The proportion who said they had been frequently "bored in class" during their last year in high school hit a record high of 36 percent, compared with 26.4 percent in 1985.

At the same time, a record 34.5 percent said they had "overslept and missed classes," compared with a low of 18.8 percent in 1968.

The survey was conducted by researchers at the University of California at Los Angeles and sponsored by the American Council on Education. It included nearly 350,000 students at 665 two- and four-year U.S. colleges and universities.