The shifting student demographic in the animal science discipline has forced institutions to reevaluate the structure of their animal science courses. With an increase in students pursuing animal science degrees with no prior livestock experience, it can be expected that the experiential learning aspect of many of these courses will pose some level of stress on the students. Data was collected on 21, female undergraduate students in an Introduction to Animal Science course during hands-on animal laboratories across two semesters to determine the demographic effect on student stress. A respondent-reported survey was utilized to collect participant demographic data on prior livestock experience, age, and ethnicity. Physiological data were collected using heart rate monitors, and psychological data were collected using a modified perceived stress scale survey (PSS). Perceived stress scored tended to be higher for students with no prior livestock experience in their first interaction with livestock compared to those with prior livestock experience (P = 0.050). Similarly, students with no prior livestock experience had higher respiration rates than student with prior livestock experience (P = 0.024). Additionally, Caucasian students with prior livestock experience had lower respiration rates compared to Caucasian students without prior livestock experience (P = 0.007) and non-Caucasian students with or without prior livestock experience (P ≤ 0.035).  However, students with no prior livestock experience had lower heart rates than those with prior experience (P = 0.018). These results suggest that prior animal experience and ethnicity may impact student stress in animal science courses, warranting further research.