A sample of Mansfield University podcast.

"A Different World" has gone from broadcast to podcast.

Five students at Mansfield University in rural Pennsylvania are documenting their lives in a series of audio podcasts that are downloadable from the school's Web site.

And they keep it real.

Eden Hartwell, 20, a sophomore, has talked about breaking up with her fiance. Casey Snyder, 19, discussed the sophomore slump.

"The kids talk about their disappointments," says Dennis Miller, director of public relations for Mansfield. "They talk about the pressure of exams, not doing as well on tests as they wanted, learning how to study better. It's not fluff. It's the real college experience."

That "real college experience" has brought this 3,200 student public liberal arts school some attention. Between 400 and 500 people in the U.S. and in 25 countries are downloading the podcasts each day to hear the latest in students' lives.

"They're sharing everything with everybody," says Miller. "But that's kind of the way kids are these days with MySpace, Facebook, and instant messaging. These college kids today, there is no intimidation factor. They're very comfortable."

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THE IDEA

Miller came up with the idea for a series of podcasts in summer 2005 after reading an article about podcasting in Wired magazine. Since most of the students at the liberal arts school are the first in their family to go to college, Miller wanted to do something to let prospective students and their parents know what college life was really like.

He chose three freshmen at random and followed them through their first year -- interviewing them about what it was like to watch their parents drive away on that first day, relationships, time management, their first Thanksgiving home.

"I told the kids at the beginning, 'As we do these interviews, all I want from you is to be honest with me,'" he says. "'We'll talk about anything you want, what's important in your life and in school.' I think that's what people are responding to. It's an audio reality show."

Because of the success, Miller brought the podcasts back this year with the same students and added two freshmen. He produces a 20-minute podcast a week. He has even launched other podcasts in which the admissions director talks about choosing the right college, the financial aid director about financial aid and seniors about their fears of graduation.

"I had two goals with the original podcast," says Miller, who wants to eventually do video shows. "One was to be able to help high school students and their parents cut through the hype about college and hear from students themselves about what the college experience was really about. The second goal was to get Mansfield University out there."

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CAMPUS NOTORIETY

Hartwell and Snyder have become campus celebrities thanks to billboards promoting their podcasts that include their pictures. Snyder says people frequently stop her on campus to ask her if she's the girl in the signs.

At first, she felt shy about discussing her life, but now it's become second nature. She laments the difficulty of her tests, juggling memberships in several student organizations and time management, which she describes as her biggest challenge.

"I think the podcasts are popular because you can see how people have grown and their different challenges," she says. "Because we keep it unscripted and unedited, people can relate. People can say, 'Wow I experienced that,' or prepare themselves to deal with things.'"

Snyder, who is a music education major, says he had never heard of podcasts when he was approached to participate. His biggest challenge was getting himself up in the morning. And time management -- that seems to be an issue, too.

"College is like a prequel to the real world where you have to fend for yourself, create a schedule and stick to it," he says. "You have to find time to do homework, practice, eat and sleep."

Snyder says he likes to keep it real in the podcast. He says some guidance counselors over-hype college, telling high schoolers they have to be studying 40 hours a week, do all the homework, make friends right away.

"The way they put, it's like, 'Oh, do this, do that, or you're not going to succeed,'" he says. "You don't really have to do all of it. If you do a good portion of it, grasp the information that's coming at you, get to know people around you and adapt quickly, you are going to succeed."

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asap reporter Megan Scott is based in New York.

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