Social networking is extremely popular in colleges across the country. After all, Facebook started at one, right? Social networking has changed everything from the way students learn to how they meet new people and even date. While studies are mixed on the benefits of using social networks in an educational setting, we can all agree that students will not be stopping anytime soon.

According to an infographic by Online PhD, students spend roughly 100 minutes per day on Facebook. In 2007 the amount of students who used Facebook was already enormous; 92 percent of college students had an account. By 2008, 99 percent of students had an account on Facebook. That’s quite a lot considering the service only opened to everyone in 2006.

It’s not just the students who are using Facebook, the schools are too – 82 percent of American universities have Facebook pages to connect with students. Facebook is the most used social network of college faculty followed by YouTube and Twitter and 40 percent of faculty have students as friends.

Facebook can be beneficial or detrimental to students but there are proven benefits. While less engaged students check friends’ profiles, upload pictures and play games, engaged students use it to create and RSVP to events and communicate with friends. Active Facebook users are less likely to drop out of college, but students who frequently use Facebook Chat spend less time preparing for class and have grades that are up to 20 percent lower if they use the social network while studying.

Check out the infographic below. Click on the image to view the full size.