Alcohol education in colleges and universities: Goals, programs, and evaluation

A constantly recurring problem on college campuses is that of alcohol use and abuse. The literature reveals that a high percentage of college students drink and that many drink excessively. Gonzalez and Broughton (1986) reported on 1977 studies by Blane and Hewitt which showed that the college student population has a higher number of drinkers than any other population group in the United States. Approximately eighty-five percent of American college students drink beer, wine, or distilled spirits compared to about seventy percent of the general population. Gonzalez (1986) reported on 1979 studies by Wechsler and McFadden which indicated that upwards of ninety percent of both college men and women in some regions of the United States are drinkers. Cherry (1987) stated that alcohol use among college students exceeded eighty percent nationwide. A 1983 survey by Mills, Neal, and Peed-Neal revealed that both men and women drink more as they progress through college, and those who drink more have more problems (Gonzalez, 1986). Drinking apparently peaks during the senior year of college because the level of drinking declines to that of the general population after the students leave higher education (Cherry, 1987)