How Are 2-Year US Colleges Addressing Student Alcohol Use and Related Problems?

Abstract

A considerable amount of attention and research has been dedicated to addressing alcohol use and related problems among students at 4-year colleges; however, less attention has been given to alcohol-related issues among students at 2-year technical/ community colleges. Total enrollment at US public 2-year colleges is approximately 10 million nationwide, which is about equal to undergraduate enrollment at public 4-year institutions (National Center for Education Statistics, 2013) In addition, many 2-year college students are young adults (American Association of Community Colleges, 2013), an age where alcohol use rates tend to be high (Maggs & Schulenberg, 2004), increasing the risk of alcohol-related problems such as poor academic performance (Singleton, 2007), relationship and legal issues (Sheffield, Darkes, Del Boca, & Goldman, 2005), and injuries and violence (Chen & Paschall, 2003). Two recent studies of college students across Minnesota (VanKim, Laska, Ehlinger, Lust, & Story, 2010; Velazquez et al., 2011) found that about two thirds of 2-year college students drank alcohol in the past month and at least one third reported binge drinking. Although these rates were somewhat lower than those among students at 4-year colleges, the differences were generally not statistically significant in adjusted analyses. A few earlier studies assessed prevalence of alcohol use among students at a single community college, finding somewhat lower rates of alcohol use than the more recent studies (Chen & Paschall, 2003; Sheffield et al., 2005). We identified only one peer-reviewed scientific study that examined what 2-year colleges are doing to address alcohol-related issues among their students. Chiauzzi and colleagues (2011) surveyed leaders at 100 community colleges in the United States (one respondent per college) regarding alcohol and other drug (AOD) prevention and programming efforts on their campuses. Respondents reported a high level of concern for underage drinking and binge drinking among students. About half of the respondents reported that their college had a staff person who devoted part of his or her time to AOD issues, and nearly all reported health awareness campaigns and counseling services that addressed AOD issues. Few respondents ( < 10%) reported implementation of alcohol screening and intervention services on their campus. Barriers to offering student health programs were funding (82%) and staffing (73%), as well as lack of time that students spend on campus.