Facts

Of college students in the age range from 18 to 22:

  • 60.1% drink alcohol in any particular month
  • 39.0% engage in binge drinking each month
  • 13.2% engage in heavy alcohol use each month¹
  • June through October are the months with the highest rates of alcohol use by college students²
  • 22.5% of men and 15.5% of women between the ages of 21 to 25 have driven while under the influence of alcohol (within a 1-year timeframe)
  • From 2002 to 2014, the percent of drivers who are age 16 and older who have driven under the influence of alcohol in the past year has decreased from 15.3% to 11.1%³
  • 77.1% of college student-athletes drank alcohol within the last year – compared with between 78.9% and 81.3% of similar age young adults (Schulenberg et al., 2016; SIUC/Core Institute, 2013)
  • 42% of college student-athletes binge drank within the last year (which is a decrease from 2009 – 55%)4

 

  UARK National
Consume 4 or fewer drinks when they party or socialize 58.4% 59.1%
Report “binge drinking”, defined as 5 or more drinks in a two-hour time period 33.8% 29.7%

National College Health Assessment (NCHA) 2017

 

Most Common High-Risk Behaviors While Drinking

  UARK National
Pregaming 52% 50%
Doing shots 44% 48%
Chugging alcohol 24% 26%

Alcohol Edu (2016-17)

 

Most Common Negative Consequences Experienced While Drinking

  UARK National
Blacked out 41% 34%
Passed out 23% 18%
Hangover 53% 47%
Poor performance on assignment 26% 19%

Alcohol Edu (2016-17)

 

Student Reasons for not drinking:

  • Going to drive – 67%
  • Don’t want to spend the money – 36%
  • Have other things to do – 36%
  • Don’t have to drink to have a good time – 29%
  • Don’t want to lose control – 29%

Alcohol Edu (2016-17)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Citations:

  1. Lipari, R. N., & Jean-Francois, B. (2016, May 26). A day in the life of college students aged 18 to22: Substance use facts (Short   Report). Rockville, MD: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (SAMHSA).
  2. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (SAMHSA). Data and tables.
  3. Lipari, R. N., Hughes, A., & Bose, J. (2016). Driving under the influence of alcohol and illicit drugs (Short Report). Rockville, MD: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (SAMHSA).
  4. Cook, M., Radford, C., & Durham, M. (2018). NCAA national study on substance use habits of college student-athletes. Indianapolis, IN: NCAA.