Recent studies showed students nationwide are not studying as much as generally recommended by faculty members, however, many of these same pupils are rating their college experience as “good” or “excellent.”

Most students have heard professors speak of the unwritten rule that every one hour in class should be coupled with two to three hours of study outside of class, which is what many University of Wisconsin professors recommend to their students.

UW professor Willis J. Tompkins and UW professor Andrew D. Weiner recommend the full three hours of study. However, they are both well aware that only some students actually put this amount of time into their work.

According to a recent study conducted by the National Survey of Student Engagement, “only about 14 percent of full-time students spent more than 25 hours per week preparing for class, the approximate number that faculty members say is needed to do well in college.”

This same study also noted over 41 percent of students surveyed spent 10 hours or less preparing for class per week.

“I don’t necessarily agree with the two-to-three-hour rule, because how much you study should depend on the material being covered and how much you feel you know,” UW freshman Laura Sitzberger said.

In contrast, UW freshman Zach Kahn said that he thinks that two hours of study for one class is a fair amount, but it does depend on the class.

Many students, who would prefer not to be named, admit to studying less than then they could or should during the week.

“I could make time to study more if I had the motivation to,” explained one UW student. However, that same student admitted to being happy with her grades and the amount of work that she does. “I’m happy that I don’t do less.”

UW professors are not unique in the amount of class preparation they suggest.

Indiana University professor Robert L. Goldstone recommends six hours of study per week, which amounts to approximately two and a half hours of preparation time outside of class for every hour in class.

“All of the students in my classes probably don’t study that much, though, if they did they would all be doing ‘A’ work,” Goldstone said.

Similarly, University of Michigan professor Valerie E. Lee stressed the difficulty of coming to her class without doing the reading, which requires a good amount of time put into preparing for her class and understanding the material.

According to Goldstone, students may not always be engaged by the material, which can lead them to not put in the recommended amount of time studying. Also, students have a lot going on in their lives which can be yet another cause.

“Academics are only one part of college,” Goldstone said.

Not only are students not putting in the recommended study time, according to the same NSSE study “many freshmen and seniors have little to no interaction with their professors aside from class work.”

According to Weiner, students believe professors must not want to talk to them. They are always available, she said; students just do not go to see them.

“Students see professors as people who get up and talk from when the bell rings to when it rings again. I don’t have any professors who grade anything. I don’t ever see a reason to go to talk them because I can just ask the T.A. my question,” Kahn said.