Essay, Research Paper: College Alcoholism

Alcohol consumption has been an issue across college campuses for many decades. College students have made alcohol the representation of student life at colleges throughout the nation. Students believe that getting intoxicated is necessary to make their college experience unforgettable. It was reported in a recent study that just one in five college students does not drink at all (Facts). Numerous studies and surveys regarding alcohol consumption amongst college students have been conducted and published. This research looked at specific areas such as: the number of students using alcohol, the amount of money the average college student spends on alcohol, alcohol-related drop out rates, drinking and driving, and binge drinking.
As many students enter college, it is the first time they have been away from their parents for an extended period of time. This newfound freedom is sometimes taken to extremes, and students in this situation usually end up in trouble with the law or in academics. Eighty-eight percent of college students, a vast majority, have used alcohol while in college, a rate that has declined since 1980. As reported in 1994, sixty-eight percent of university students had used alcohol within thirty days of the survey. Also reported, Sixty-two percent of young people not in college consume alcohol on a monthly basis (Shalala). How do students afford to drink alcohol in college?
A student on average spends nearly five hundred dollars on textbooks and supplies for their college classes. By comparison, a student spends close to nine hundred dollars each year on alcoholic products. The average student does not have enough money to spend on the five hundred dollars for books, but to also spend nine hundred dollars on alcohol is meaningless. Most college students are given some type of financial aid while in college and do not have extra money to spend on alcohol (Facts).
Because student alcohol consumption is college is so high, the college drop out rate is also very high. It has been shown that college alcoholism is a major cause of college drop out. Approximately one hundred fifty nine thousand college students in their freshman year will drop out of school because of alcohol, or other related drugs. Alcohol causes students to miss classes, or fail classes. At least one third of college students have admitted to being absent from class because of the after affects alcohol use. And nearly twenty five percent of students say they have failed tests or projects due to the result of drinking alcohol or drug use. It is purported that a night of heavy alcoholic consumption can reduce your ability to think conceptually for up to thirty days, thus limiting your capability to relay textbook reading to what your lecturer says, or to think through a football play (Facts).
Works Cited
Facts on Tap, Alcohol and Your College Experience. Online. Internet.
2 Dec. 2000. Available HTTP: factsontap.org
Shalala, Donna E. A Message From the Secretary of Health and Human Services.
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
No. 29. PH 357. Washington, July 1995.