Today's college students lack empathy

They are 40% less empathetic than they used to be in the 70s.

Researchers attribute this fact to a more competitive and individualistic environment. This must be the proximate cause but there are certainly more factors involved. I think we are seeing the result of a combination of the above within a context of materialistic abundance, sexual freedom, and a lack of a consensus on moral values.
I am not sure that the same study if conducted in traditional and more cohesive societies where there is consensus on moral values would yield the same results.

There is one consensus of social values in the West and it is about sexual freedom and gender equality, but it worries me that sexual freedom without empathy could provoke exactly the opposite of what it potentially can produce; instead of making people close contributing to gender equality, sexual acts without empathy can actually contribute to an increase of violence in relationships and a new imbalance in gender relations. And so the first victims of the lack of empathy of college students will be college students themselves, also more likely female college students.

There are indeed many studies pointing to this direction prompting help lines and websites devoted to explaining what is violence in relationships:

http://www.nspcc.org.uk/Inform/research/Findings/partner_exploitation_and_violence_summary_wdf68093.pdf

http://www.cyh.com/HealthTopics/HealthTopicDetails.aspx?p=240&np=296&id=2115

http://womensaid.org.uk/domestic-violence-press-information.asp?itemid=1857&itemTitle=Women%92s+Aid+launches+new+teen+domestic+violence+statistics+with+Bliss+magazine§ion=0001000100150001§ionTitle=Press+releases

http://www.eycb.coe.int/gendermatters/chapter_2/1.html