Nearly two-thirds of Tulane University students have had sex upon starting university, according to The Hullabaloo’s fall 2025 student survey. The survey asked respondents when, if ever, they first had sex. Respondents were also asked about their major of study, religion, political ideology and substance use frequency, among other information, and found significant differences in sexual experience across these demographics. The survey had 229 eligible respondents, including graduate students.
Compared to just over 60% of first-years, over 80% of seniors have had sex, while 21% of respondents said they had sex for the first time during their time at Tulane. The survey did not distinguish between penetrative, oral or other types of sex.
Forty-three percent of students had sex before entering college. The greatest difference is between sophomore and junior year, during which the proportion of students who have had sex jumped from 69% to 78%.
Across schools, students in the A.B. Freeman School of Business were the most likely to have had sex, with nearly 60% having had sex before college, while students in the School of Science and Engineering had the lowest percentage of students who had had sex, with 37.5% of students reporting they had never had sex.
According to the survey, 85% of LGBTQ+ students and 72% of heterosexual students have had sex.
This data is consistent with 2021 survey data from other U.S. universities on the percentage of college students who have had sex, which sits at 73.5% and does not distinguish between sexualities.
Thirty-seven percent of students in the survey identified as LGBTQ+. This number is significantly higher than Tulane admissions data, which reports that about one-tenth of the three most recent entering classes identify as LGBTQ+.
Students who used substances like marijuana, alcohol and nicotine were also more likely to have had sex; 100% of students who used any of these substances daily have had sex. Students who used substances more frequently, with the exception of nicotine, were more likely to have had sex. This data mirrors national statistics indicating that substance use is a significant predictor of sexual activity and sexual risk behavior among young adults.
There were also significant differences in sexual experience among different political ideologies and religions. Communists were the most likely to have had sex, followed by socialists or democratic socialists and liberals.
Conservatives were the least likely political ideology to have had sex, with 55% of students reporting that they have had sex. Categories with fewer than 10 respondents were excluded from the analysis.
Students who are Muslim are the least likely religion to have had sex, with one-third of Muslim students reporting that they have had sex, while 81% of Jewish students have had sex, followed by atheists and agnostics.
