Health
Transgender ‘trend’ sharply declining on American college campuses, new analysis finds
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The trans-identification trend among young people appears to be losing momentum.
Recent data taken from college campuses shows a sharp decline in the number of Gen Zers identifying as transgender over the past three years.
Eric Kaufmann, a professor of politics at the University of Buckingham, conducted his own analysis of a large survey of U.S. undergraduates — which included a question asking them to identify their gender.
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Anything that isn’t a man or woman is considered “gender non-conforming,” the surveying organization shared with Fox News Digital.
The possible answers are listed below.
- Man
- Woman
- Nonbinary
- Agender
- Genderqueer or genderfluid
- Unsure
- Prefer not to say
In the 2025 survey of 68,000 students, only 3.6% of respondents identified as a gender other than male or female.
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“By comparison, the figure was 5.2% in 2024 and 6.8% in both 2022 and 2023,” Kaufmann wrote in his analysis, which was published on UnHerd.com.
“In other words, the share of trans-identified students has effectively halved in just two years.”
“The share of trans-identified students has effectively halved in just two years.”
The report also found that “non-conforming sexual identity” has sharply declined, according to Kaufmann. Those identifying as gay or lesbian remained “stable,” although heterosexuality has risen 10 points since 2023.
Additionally, in 2024-2025, fewer college first-year students identified as “trans or queer” compared to seniors — which is the opposite of what occurred in the 2022-2023 year.
“This suggests that gender/sexual non-conformity will continue to fall,” Kaufmann wrote in an X post sharing the data.
Recent data from college campuses shows a sharp decline in the number of Gen Zers identifying as transgender over the past three years. (iStock)
The annual survey — College Free Speech Rankings — is conducted by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The aim is to gather students’ opinions on freedom of speech, along with demographic information like gender.
Kaufmann conducted his analyses using six years of demographic data from the survey, FIRE confirmed to Fox News Digital.
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His independent report, “The Decline of Trans and Queer Identity among Young Americans,” was published by the Centre of Heterodox Social Science and has not been peer-reviewed.
“Our survey looks at student attitudes for free expression and is conducted for that purpose,” FIRE told Fox News Digital. “As a side effect of asking demographic questions of so many respondents, one can glean trends in demographics, as Professor Kaufmann has done here.”
Reasons for the decline
Kaufmann said he believes that improved mental health likely played a part in the shift.
“Less anxious and, especially, depressed students are linked with a smaller share identifying as trans, queer or bisexual,” he wrote.
Improved mental health likely played a part in the shift among college students, said the professor who did the analysis. (JHU Sheridan Libraries/Gado/Getty Images)
The decline could also signal the fizzling out of a trend, Kaufmann added.
“The fall of trans and queer seems most similar to the fading of a fashion or trend,” he wrote. “It happened largely independently of shifts in political beliefs and social media use, though improved mental health played a role.”
“Perhaps young people are realizing they don’t have to announce or label everything about themselves to be valid.”
Dr. Marc Siegel, Fox News senior medical analyst, noted that the study is “very interesting,” but doesn’t pinpoint the cause of the decline.
“It brings up more questions than it answers,” the doctor, who was not involved in the survey, told Fox News Digital. “Could the change be due to a changing cultural climate? Less political pressure from parents and society? Could it be due to the idea that gender dysphoria resolves in many cases?”
Rather than rejecting who they are, young people may simply be tired of feeling pressured to define every emotion or difference with a new identity, a psychotherapist suggested. (iStock)
Siegel also wondered whether the attempt to “normalize” these choices and to “overcome stigmatization” could have been an overreaction in some cases, which is now being dialed back.
“Or is the stigmatization now increasing again, making students reluctant to declare themselves as non-binary now?” he asked. “This needs to be studied further.”
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Jonathan Alpert, a New York City psychotherapist, said this shift likely marks a “natural correction.”
“For a while, we taught young people to over-interpret every feeling. Therapy culture told them that every discomfort needed a label or diagnosis,” Alpert, who also was not part of the analysis or the survey, told Fox News Digital. “For some, that label became ‘nonbinary’ — not identifying with a gender.”
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According to Alpert, these results don’t necessarily mean that fewer people are identifying as transgender — “it’s mostly about fewer identifying as nonbinary, which is something very different.”
Rather than rejecting who they are, Alpert said, young people may simply be tired of feeling pressured to define every emotion or difference with a new identity.
“So, in essence, it’s the performance that’s slowing down — at least in what this study showed,” he said. “A few years ago, identity was treated almost like a social badge. Now, perhaps young people are realizing they don’t have to announce or label everything about themselves to be valid.”
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Alpert said he sees this same pattern in his own therapy practice.
“Once people become more comfortable in who they are, they stop needing to define themselves so rigidly. To me, that’s a sign of growing self-assurance, not intolerance.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Kaufmann for additional comment.
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As colorectal cancer (CRC) is now the leading cause of cancer death in adults under 50, a new report reveals some surprising shifts in the incidence of the disease.
Although rates of CRC have been declining among seniors, those 65 and under are facing a rise in diagnoses, according to a report titled Colorectal Cancer Statistics, 2026, from the American Cancer Society.
Adults 65 and younger comprise nearly half (45%) of all new colorectal cancer cases — a significant increase from 27% in 1995, states the report, which was published in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians.
The disease is rising fastest among adults 20 to 49 years old, at a rate of 3% per year.
Colorectal cancer is now the leading cause of cancer death in adults under 50. (iStock)
Among adults 50 and under, 75% of colorectal cancers are diagnosed at an advanced stage. Half of the diagnoses in that age range are made between the ages of 45 and 49. Although that age group is eligible to receive routine screenings, just 37% do so.
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The report also revealed that rectal cancer is on the rise, now accounting for about one-third (32%) of all CRC cases — an increase from 27% in the mid-2000s.
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“After decades of progress, the risk of dying from colorectal cancer is climbing in younger generations of men and women, confirming a real uptick in disease because of something we’re doing or some other exposure,” said Rebecca Siegel, senior scientific director, surveillance research at the American Cancer Society and lead author of the report, in a press release.
Among adults 50 and under, 75% of colorectal cancers are diagnosed at an advanced stage. Half of the diagnoses in that age range are made between the ages of 45 and 49. (iStock)
“We need to redouble research efforts to understand the cause, but also circumvent deaths through earlier detection by educating clinicians and the general public about symptoms and increasing screening in people 45-54 years.”
It is projected that 158,850 new cases of colorectal cancer will be diagnosed this year, and that the disease will cause 55,230 deaths, per the report.
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More than half of CRC cases can be linked to high-risk behaviors, the researchers said. Those include lack of nutrition, high alcohol consumption, smoking, lack of exercise and obesity.
“These findings further underscore that colorectal cancer is worsening among younger generations and highlight the immediate need for eligible adults to begin screening at the recommended age of 45,” said Dr. William Dahut, chief scientific officer at the American Cancer Society.
When the disease is caught at a local (early) stage, the five-year survival rate is 95%. (iStock)
“The report also shines a light on the crucial importance of continued funding for research to help discover new therapies to treat the disease and advance patient care.”
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When the disease is caught at a local (early) stage, the five-year survival rate is 95%, the report stated.
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A new study suggests that middle-aged men may be more vulnerable to faster biological aging, potentially linked to exposure to “forever chemicals.”
The research, published in the journal Frontiers in Aging, examined how perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, more commonly known as PFAS, could impact aging at the cellular level.
PFAS are synthetic chemicals commonly used in nonstick cookware, food packaging, water-resistant fabrics and other consumer products, the study noted.
Their chemical structure makes them highly resistant to breaking down, allowing them to accumulate in water, soil and the human body.
Chinese researchers analyzed blood samples from 326 adults enrolled in the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey between 1999 and 2000.
A new study suggests that middle-aged men could face accelerated biological aging at the cellular level due to exposure to PFAS. (iStock)
The researchers measured levels of 11 PFAS compounds in participants’ blood and used DNA-based “epigenetic clocks” — tools that analyze chemical changes to DNA to estimate biological age — to determine how quickly their bodies were aging at the cellular level, the study stated.
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Two compounds, perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA) and perfluorooctanesulfonamide (PFOSA), were detected in 95% of participants.
Higher concentrations of those chemicals were associated with faster biological aging in men of certain age groups, but not in women.
“People should not panic.”
The compounds most strongly linked to accelerated aging were not the PFAS chemicals that typically receive the most public attention, the researchers noted.
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“The associations were strongest in adults aged 50 to 64, particularly in men,” Dr. Xiangwei Li, professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine and the study’s corresponding author, told Fox News Digital.
“While this does not establish that PFAS cause aging, it suggests that these widely present ‘forever chemicals’ may be linked to molecular changes related to long-term health and aging.”
The study found that two of the compounds were detected in 95% of participants, and higher levels were linked to faster biological aging in men ages 50–64. (iStock)
Midlife may represent a more sensitive biological period, when the body becomes more vulnerable to age-related stressors, according to the researchers.
Lifestyle factors, such as smoking, may influence biological aging markers, potentially increasing vulnerability to environmental pollutants.
While Li said “people should not panic,” she does recommend looking for reasonable ways to reduce exposure.
That might mean checking local drinking water reports, using certified water filters designed to reduce PFAS, and limiting the use of stain- or grease-resistant products when alternatives are available.
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Meaningful reductions in PFAS exposure will likely depend on broader regulatory action and environmental cleanup efforts, Li added.
The researchers noted that midlife could be a particularly sensitive stage, when the body is more susceptible to stressors associated with aging. (iStock)
Study limitations
The researchers outlined several important limitations of the research, including that the findings show an association, but do not prove that PFAS directly causes accelerated aging.
“The study is cross-sectional, meaning exposure and aging markers were measured at the same time, so we cannot determine causality,” Li told Fox News Digital.
The study was also relatively small, limited to 326 adults age 50 or older, which means the findings may not apply to younger people or broader populations.
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Researchers measured PFAS levels using data collected between 1999 and 2000, and today’s exposure patterns may differ.
Li added that while PFAS is known to persist in the environment and the body, these results should be validated through larger, more recent studies that follow participants over time.
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