The 32nd annual report of national normative data on college freshmen is part of the Cooperative Institutional Research Program's longitudinal study to assess the effects of college on students. Data are based on 252,082 entering students at 464 of the nation's two- and four-year colleges and universities in Fall, 1997. The normative data are reported separately for men and for women and for 35 different institutional groupings. The major stratifying factors are institutional race (predominantly black versus predominantly white), control (public, private-nonsectarian, Roman Catholic, Protestant), type (university, four-year college, two-year college) and the selectivity level of the institution. An overview identifies major trends which include: (1) students show record levels of academic disengagement; (2) students are also increasingly disengaged from politics; (3) more students identify themselves as "middle of the road" with the shift coming disproportionately from the right; (4) the rate of cigarette smoking is the highest in 30 years; and (5) students come from families which are smaller, with parents more likely to be divorced or separated, and with mothers less likely than ever to be full-time homemakers. Appendices include detail on the research methodology, the 1997 student information form, the coding scheme, a listing of institutions participating, information on data precision, and a sample report furnished to participating campuses. (Contains 15 references.) (DB)