82 JOURNAL OF STUDIES ON ALCOHOL / SUPPLEMENT NO. 14, 2002 College Factors That Influence Drinking

ABSTRACT. Objective: The purpose of this article is to examine the aspects of collegiate environments, rather than student characteristics, that influence drinking. Unfortunately, the existing literature is scant on this topic. Method: A literature review of articles primarily published within the last 10 years, along with some earlier “landmark ” studies of collegiate drinking in the United States, was conducted to determine in-stitutional factors that influence the consumption of alcohol. In addi-tion, a demonstration analysis of Core Alcohol and Drug Survey research findings was conducted to further elucidate the issues. Results: Several factors have been shown to relate to drinking: (1) organizational prop-erty variables of campuses, including affiliations (historically black in-stitutions, women’s institutions), presence of a Greek system, athletics and 2- or 4-year designation; (2) physical and behavioral property vari-ables of campuses, including type of residence, institution size, loca-tion and quantity of heavy episodic drinking; and (3) campus communit