Key findings:
- McDonald’s leads QSR consideration among college students at 47%.
- Chick-fil-A records the highest Quality score among the brands while Domino’s leads on value.
- Dinner (68%) and lunch (59%) are the most common times for eating fast food, while one in five eat it as a late-night meal or snack.
- More than half (54%) of college students use mobile apps to place fast-food orders.
- Value (56%), food quality (55%), and location convenience (55%) are the leading reasons college students visit fast-food restaurants.
Quick-service restaurants are a familiar feature on and around many college campuses, giving students easy access to meals between classes, in the evening or late at night. But proximity alone may not be enough to attract college diners.
New analysis of YouGov data explores which QSR brands college students consider, how brands perform on value and quality, and what drives this audience’s fast-food choices.
McDonald’s leads QSR Consideration among college students
YouGov BrandIndex data shows McDonald’s records the highest Consideration score among the QSR brands measured, at 47%. Chick-fil-A follows at 34%, with Domino’s and Wendy’s also at 34%. Taco Bell rounds out the top five at 28%.
The rankings shift when looking at perceptions of value and quality. Domino’s leads when it comes to value (28 points), followed by Wendy’s (27) and Chick-fil-A (24). Little Caesars (18) and Popeyes (17) complete the top five.
Chick-fil-A leads on quality (38 points), ahead of In-N-Out (26), Raising Cane’s (23), Shake Shack (20) and Domino’s (19).
Domino’s and Chick-fil-A are the only brands to rank among the top five across all three measures, although their positions vary by metric.
Which meals do college students visit fast-food restaurants for?
YouGov Profiles data highlights when college students eat fast food. Two-thirds (68%) say they have eaten it for dinner in the past 90 days, while 59% have done so for lunch and one in five (20%) for breakfast.
Snacking on fast food is also common. Around a fifth have done so late at night (21%) or in the afternoon (19%) with smaller shares saying they’ve done it in the evening (11%) or morning (6%).
How do college students order fast food?
YouGov’s data finds that mobile apps are the most common way college students order from fast food restaurants (54%).
Ordering at a counter or drive-through are joint second (45% each), while 37% have used an in-store kiosk. Around one in five (19%) have ordered through a third-party delivery service.
What drives college students to choose a fast-food restaurant?
When choosing which fast-food restaurant to buy from, the top three factors for college students are value (56%), quality of food (55%), and location convenience (55%).
Slightly over half (52%) visit to fulfil a craving, while 46% say familiarity or comfort helps determine their decision about which brand to use. Special deals influence 39%, and 37% cite speed of service.
So, while convenience matters to college students, it is not a standalone driver.
What stops college students from visiting fast-food restaurants?
The importance of value as a factor becomes clearer when students consider reasons not to visit. More than two-thirds (69%) say high prices could put them off a fast-food restaurant, while 64% cite poor value for money and 63% say not liking the food.
Operational and location aspects also shape choices. Half (50%) cite long waits or crowded restaurants, 47% point to an inconvenient location and 42% mention slow service.
Around three in ten say unhealthy food (31%) or a preference for eating at home (30%) could keep them away, while 17% cite menus that do not meet their dietary restrictions.
For QSR brands seeking to reach college students, the data shows that being on or close to campus is only part of the picture. Convenient locations can encourage visits, but students also place importance on value and food quality, while high prices and poor value are among the biggest potential barriers.
Methodology: YouGov BrandIndex tracks daily perceptions of thousands of brands. Metric scores are based on the questions: “When you are in the market next to purchase food or drink, from which of the following would you consider purchasing?”, "Which of the following restaurant chains do you think represents GOOD VALUE FOR MONEY? By that we don't mean "cheap," but that the brands offer a customer a lot in return for the price paid. / Now which of the following restaurant chains do you think represents POOR VALUE FOR MONEY? By that, we don't mean "expensive," but that the brands do not offer a customer much in return for the price paid”, “Which of the following restaurant chains do you think represents GOOD QUALITY? / Now which of the following restaurant chains represents POOR QUALITY”. Scores are reported as net scores from –100 to +100 and percentages, based on daily US surveys weighted using propensity scoring with ACS benchmarks (age, gender, race, education, region). Figures cover the period between January 1 and September 24, 2026, with sample size ranging from 612 and 680.
YouGov Profiles is based on continuously collected data through rolling surveys, rather than a single limited questionnaire. Figures are drawn from responses collected between September 2025 and 2026, using a 52-week dataset updated weekly. Data is nationally representative of adults (18+) in the US and weighted by age, gender, education, region, and race.
Image: Getty Images
