This report describes the self-reported attitudes and motivations of first-year college students nationally at the beginning of their undergraduate experience, based on a 100-item attitudinal survey administered in the summer and fall of 2008. In particular, the report examines student attitudes that may pose barriers and opportunities for students as they begin their pursuit of an academic degree. Highlighted in this year's report are findings that described students' financial anxiety. Among these were the following: (1) Less than half of entering undergraduates nationwide (46.4 percent) reported that they had adequate financial resources to finish college; (2) Approximately one-third of all respondents (29.3 percent) reported that they had financial challenges that were "very distracting and troublesome"; and (3) First-generation students brought higher levels of financial stress than non-first generation students, and students at two-year institutions brought higher levels of financial anxiety than their counterparts at four-year institutions. (Contains 3 footnotes.) [For the Addendum by Race/Ethnicity. 2009 National Freshman Attitudes Report. National Research Study, see ED541565.]