Significance: In 1986, James Allen suggested that students use six strategies to achieve two major goals during classroom events and that the combination of strategies used by students is based on different contextual features of each classroom. The major goals were to give teachers what they want while having fun and socializing with classmates, which, together with the specific strategies, were conceptualized in a model and referred to "the student social system." Since Allen's publication, a number of studies have used this heuristic in school physical education. The purpose of the current study was to revisit Allen's conclusions about students' perspectives, goals, and strategies, but this time in a collegiate physical education setting. This is particularly notable given that prior research shows that "having fun" is a strong motivator for participation in these classes. Design: Forty-six students enrolled in two sections of an elective volleyball course (45 lessons, each of 50 minutes) participated in the study. First, all students were given the opportunity to complete an online survey at the completion of the course. The questions in this survey mirrored the key categories developed by Allen (1996). Second, data concerning the students' perception of the social system in these classes were collected by interviews. Data from both sets were analyzed using standard qualitative techniques for developing themes and key concepts. Results: Four hundred and forty-six thoughts and perceptions about the students' perspectives, goals and strategies were coded from the on-line surveys and interviews, and collapsed into six major and 17 subcategories. The six categories included: (i) being accountable and passing the course (attendance/preparation, skill and effort, and academic work related); (ii) socializing (playing games, meeting people, and being with teammates); (iii) minimizing work (some suggested they "tried to do minimal work or just enough to get by," while others suggested they "went beyond the call of duty"); (iv) a lack of boredom ("there was always something to do"); (v) figuring out the teacher (by having to overcome an image of prior physical education experiences); and (vi) having fun (being able to compete and participate in the competition). These categories mirror those presented by Allen and suggest his model is a useful tool in examining students' experiences in collegiate physical education.Keyword(s): college level issues, research