How Can Student Alcohol Training Prevent College Binge Drinking?

College life often comes with social pressures that encourage binge drinking, which can result in serious health risks and unsafe situations. However, understanding the real dangers of excessive alcohol consumption can empower you to make responsible choices.

How big a problem is college binge drinking, why does it happen, and what can go wrong? We'll answer these questions and more in the blog below. 

College Binge Drinking Statistics

Alcohol consumption is common among college students. One survey showed that 49% of college students, underage or not, drank alcohol in the past month, with 28.9% engaging in binge drinking behavior.

For many students, there are harmful consequences. This includes:

• 1,519 college students dying from alcohol-related unintentional injuries each year
• 14% of students that meet the criteria for alcohol use disorder (AUD) in the past year
• 22,219 students hospitalized for an overdose of alcohol
• 3.36 million students that drive under the influence of alcohol
• 696,000 students physically assaulted by another student who’s been drinking
• 599,000 students unintentionally injured while under the influence of alcohol
• 97,000 students that report alcohol-related sexual assault
• 1 in 4 students experiencing academic difficulties from drinking. Students who binge drink are five times more likely to miss class, and frequent binge drinkers are six times more likely to report poor performance due to drinking.

These stats were sourced from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) and include findings from the 2022 and 2023 National Surveys on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH). Some statistics are based on college students 18 to 24, while others are based on full-time college students 18 to 22.

What Counts as Binge Drinking?

The NIAAA defines binge drinking as a pattern of behavior that brings the blood alcohol concentration (BAC) to 0.08% or more. For the typical adult, this is 5 or more standard drinks for males and 4 or more drinks for females.

Some college students consume at least twice that amount, which is referred to as high-intensity drinking.

Why Do College Students Binge Drink?

There are many reasons behind college binge drinking, varying from students exploring limits to self-medication.

Inexperience

For many students, college may be their first real exposure to available alcohol, and their inexperience may result in overconsumption.

New drinkers have a very low tolerance, to begin with, but they’re also learning their own limits and can misjudge. They may consume alcohol rapidly and not feel the effects until it’s too late. They may not recognize the strength of different drinks.  They might not think of keeping track of quantity or pacing.

The taste of alcohol also plays a factor – it’s unpleasant to most new drinkers, so they might choose to consume it as fast as possible, whereas adults with an acquired appreciation for the taste would sip and savor.

Self-Exploration

For many college students, entering university is their first time living independently from their families.  This naturally leads to self-exploration, some of which involves experimenting with intoxicating substances.

Social Pressure

Studies show that some environments are more likely to encourage college alcohol abuse than others. While peer pressure is present everywhere, certain subcultures place a higher importance on alcohol use than others.

For example, students at schools with prominent athletic programs or strong Greek systems drink more than students at other schools. Alcohol consumption is highest among students who live in fraternity or sorority housing.

But in fact, college, in general, is a subculture that fosters alcohol abuse – college students have higher rates of both binge drinking and driving under the influence than their non-college peers.

Self-Medicating

Though social drinking and self-exploration may be why some college students binge drink, others will use alcohol to self-medicate.

The sudden responsibilities of adulthood can be stressful. Students have to balance classes, jobs, and career-building activities with growing their social life, taking care of themselves, and managing their finances. For the first time, students may be operating outside the support of their families with a laundry list of new priorities. Many use “partying” (i.e., college alcohol abuse) as an outlet for stress.

Additionally, college is a time of great change. Students may be lonely away from friends and family or anxious about their capabilities and their future. Some will use alcohol consumption to dull these negative feelings for a while.

What Are the Risks of Binge Drinking for College Students?

College binge drinking heightens students’ risk of becoming hurt or sick in many ways, both direct and indirect.

Short-term physical risks of binge drinking include:

• Alcohol poisoning, which can cause seizures, coma, and even death
• Hypoxia due to depressed breathing
• Miscarriage, stillbirth, or fetal alcohol disorder

Long-term physical consequences of college alcohol abuse can also cause:

• A higher likelihood of developing alcohol use disorder (AUD)
• Loss of brain volume
• Mental health challenges
• Arrhythmias and high blood pressure leading to heart attacks and strokes, even in the young
• A weakened immune system
• Liver problems
• Higher chances of breast, throat, esophagus, and colon cancer

Due to the physical effects of alcohol on motor control, reaction time, and attention span, college binge drinking places students at higher risk for a large number of wider dangers, including:

• Traffic accidents
• Arrest and legal trouble
• Violent crime
• Physical assault
• Sexual assault
• Poor academic performance

What Is Student Alcohol Training?

Student alcohol training programs are designed explicitly for College & University (C&U) students as an alcohol prevention measure. Alcohol education seeks to empower students with the knowledge and skills to manage potential alcohol-related issues on and off campus.

Students learn the dangers of drunk driving, underage drinking, and intoxication. The most effective student alcohol training provides students with real-world situations and lets them explore solutions to make alcohol consumption responsible and safe.

Does Student Alcohol Training Work?

The NIAAA considers alcohol education based on cognitive-behavioral skills training to be a Tier 1 strategy, meaning there is strong evidence that it has beneficial effects like reducing college alcohol abuse.

This makes sense. Once they’ve completed training, students are able to make informed, responsible decisions about drinking. They also become safer by learning strategies for avoiding alcohol-related harm. College kids that go through student alcohol training had significantly less alcohol use and binge drinking.

That said, alcohol education works best when it’s used in combination with other interventions, like reducing alcohol availability, raising prices, and limiting alcohol advertising around campus. Its effect also seems short-term. It needs to be refreshed on a regular basis.

Get Student Alcohol Training Online

Online student alcohol training like ours provides an effective alcohol education with maximal convenience. Students can complete the training whenever and wherever it makes sense for them. We already provide TIPS regulatory alcohol training to servers and sellers all over the country, so we have a lot of practice!

Schools, athletic programs, and other organizations can purchase our university course in bulk using our TIPS Passports to get the best value while saving lives.

Enroll today!