This document is also available in Acrobat and Text formats. Several national studies have documented high rates of drinking on college campuses and a wide range of negative repercussions of student alcohol use. Associated with fighting, vandalism, acquaintance rape, and unprotected sex, drinking on college campuses has a clear and damaging effect on campus life.
Difficulty meeting academic responsibilities is one of the most common consequences of alcohol use.
In addition to well-documented consequences such as poor performance on assignments and missed classes, anecdotal evidence suggests that many students who drop out of colleges and universities have alcohol and other drug problems. A national survey of nearly 94,000 students from 197 colleges and universities conducted over three years found in the third year that students with an A average consume a little more than 4 drinks per week, B students have 6 drinks per week, C students average almost 8 drinks per week, and students with Ds or Fs consume almost 10 drinks per week. At high-binge colleges, nine out of ten students living on campus have suffered some ill effect, such as fights, assaults, and property damage, because of others' drinking, and nearly 70 percent have had their studying or sleep interrupted. 2 More Research Is Needed Recent studies have only begun to document the relationship between academic performance and alcohol and other drug use on American campuses. Anecdotal evidence points to a number of research questions needing further examination so that we can understand the full impact of alcohol and other drug abuse on students, colleges, and society.