The popular image of university students as beer-drinking, lecture-skipping, socialites is shattered today with the publication of new research portraying them instead as a serious and ambitious bunch, determined to boost their job prospects and earnings potential.

It seems that the introduction in 2006 of top-up tuition fees of £3,000 a year has done more in the space of two years to focus the attention of students on the importance of their studies than any amount of nagging from generations of parents and lecturers.

The survey of 20000 full time undergraduates found that three quarters view university as a way of improving their career potential.

Money is also increasingly important to today’s career-minded students, with 60 per cent saying they are motivated to study by a desire to achieve higher salaries, compared to just 36 per cent in 2004.

What Freshers' Week will really be like

Behaviour that would at any other time of life be inexcusably gauche is now not only acceptable, but laudable

• What to wear at university

• Clearing 2008: Frequently asked questions

Gok-Wan's top tips for dressing for university

• Clearing 2008: Frequently asked questions

How to save your dosh

Money-saving tips from recent graduate Etan Smallman, from choosing the right bank account to indulging in freshers' freebies

Bean there, cooked that

There is far more to student cuisine than the contents of a can - tasty, cheap meals are easy to prepare

• Recipes to impress

Social lives are now firmly on the back burner, the annual Sodexo University Lifestyle survey suggests, with less than a third of students listing this as a key reason to go to university.

The number of hours students spend socialising while at university has also dropped dramatically. In 2006, 44 per cent of undergraduates spent five hours or more of a typical weekday on their social lives. Now, the figure is 14 per cent.

Students are also becoming more sober. The proportion claiming not to drink alcohol at all has risen from 21 to 23 per cent in the space of two years.

Sally Burrows, associate dean of Bradford University’s School of Management, said: “In the past, socialising was as much a

part of university life as attending lectures, but this research shows that the university experience has now radically changed.” “Today’s average undergraduate is extremely hardworking - often working part time as well as studying. They socialise less, drink in moderation, rarely skip lectures and worry about getting the results they need to succeed in the competitive job market.” The survey suggests that student finances are at the core of these changes.

The majority of students (63 per cent) expect to accumulate debts of over £10,000 by the time they leave - a significant jump from 2006, when the figure was 39 per cent.<QA1> More than a third (37 per cent) expect to leave more than £17,500 in the red, and nearly one in five (18 per cent) anticipate debts of over £20,000. And more than half receive money from their parents.

Despite this, the majority of students appear to have a sanguine attitude to debt. Far more (70 per cent ) worry about achieving the degree classification they want - up from 57 per cent in 2006 - than lose sleep over money (43 per cent).

Almost two-thirds (64 per cent) feel confident that they are making a sensible investment in their future career. This suggests, however, that the remaining third may be doubting the economic value of their degree.

Charles Towning, 21, who is about to enter his third year at Exeter University, studying Ancient History, spends at least two hours each day in the library, on top of lectures and seminars. He spends much of his holidays on work experience placements.

“Usually I will only go out if I don’t have too many lectures the following day and only after I have done plenty of work. I don’t generally drink much when I go out - probably less than fifteen units a week - as having a hangover makes work difficult the next day.

“It is tempting to live an indolent life at university, but when it comes to your future, you have to put in some effort,” he said

Explore Student

• News

• Student Life

• How To Get A Job

• Gap Year

Times recommends

• Minister sacked over fake degree
• Student grant blunder will hit 80,000 families
• Half of Cambridge students admit cheating