When the students' estimates were grouped by institution, those estimates were generally accurate for 6 of 10 institutions. Students' own drinking habits determine whether they perceive that alcohol abuse is a problem at their institution. A majority of those who abstained from drinking, or who did not binge, considered alcohol use to be an issue at their campuses. Conversely, a minority of binge drinkers considered it to be an issue, and frequent binge drinkers were least likely to do so. At colleges and universities where binge drinking frequently occurred, most students recognized that their institution had problems with student-alcohol use, except for frequent bingers who insisted that no problem existed.
Students define binge drinking based on how much they drink themselves.
The more a student drank, the higher the measure he or she applied. One-third of frequent binge drinkers defined 10 drinks or more as a binge. Not surprisingly, that group is one of the most vocal in calling to raise the bar. They are not alone, however. Supporters of what is called a ''social norms'' approach to college binge drinking want to change the definition of bingeing because they believe that if students thought that fewer of their fellow students binged, they would drink less themselves.