Student Alcohol Use — National Comparison

Enter Student Data

Input self-reported survey responses to generate a comparison report against published national norms.

Student / Case ID (optional)

Gender

Used for gender-adjusted binge threshold (≥5 for males; ≥4 for females/other).

Your drinking days per month

Days in a typical month on which you consume any alcohol.

Your drinks per typical occasion

Standard drinks on a typical drinking day.

Your binge drinking days per month

Days in a typical month with ≥5 drinks (males) or ≥4 drinks (females/other) in one session.

What do you think is typical?

Days/month the typical student drinks

How many days per month do you think the average college student drinks?

Drinks per occasion for the typical student

How many drinks do you think the average college student has on a typical drinking occasion?

Enter student data and click
Generate Report to see comparison.

Alcohol Use Comparison Report

How Your Drinking Compares to Your Perceptions

1 SAMHSA NSDUH 2023. Past-month alcohol use: 49.6% of full-time college students ages 18–25. Past-month binge drinking: 29.3%. Past-month heavy drinking (binge 5+ days/month): 6.8%. Binge defined as ≥5 drinks for males, ≥4 for females on a single occasion. collegedrinkingprevention.gov/statistics/prevalence

2 SAMHSA NSDUH 2011–2014 averages (CBHSQ Report). Among full-time college students ages 18–22 who drank in the past month: average drinking days ≈ 5.0 days/month; average drinks per drinking day ≈ 4.1. samhsa.gov/data — "A Day in the Life of College Students Aged 18 to 22"

3 ACHA-NCHA III Spring 2023 Reference Group Executive Summary (N=78,024 students, 125 institutions). Drinks consumed the last time students drank in a social setting: cis men mean 3.9 (SD 3.8), cis women mean 2.9 (SD 2.8), total mean 3.1 (SD 3.1). Distribution: 69.9% of cis men and 82.3% of cis women reported 4 or fewer drinks; 15.2% of cis men and 5.8% of cis women reported 7 or more drinks. acha.org/ncha — Spring 2023 Reference Group Executive Summary, p.10

4 NIAAA — College Drinking. Defines standard drink and binge drinking thresholds; provides context on consequences of heavy episodic drinking among college-age populations. niaaa.nih.gov

5 Northwestern University CORE Survey, Spring 2022. Maximum drinks consumed on a single occasion in the past 30 days: undergraduate females ≈ 5.5 drinks (n=183), undergraduate males ≈ 9.0 drinks (n=126). Important limitation: this is a single-institution administration of the CORE instrument at Northwestern University, not a national sample. Use these benchmarks as directional reference points only. northwestern.edu/aodresources/data-dashboard

Percentile estimates are approximations derived from published prevalence benchmarks and right-skewed distribution assumptions consistent with the empirical literature. They are intended as clinical reference points, not precise statistical rankings. National figures reflect full-time college students ages 18–25 in the United States. Total drinks per week is derived from reported drinking frequency and quantity; it is not published as a distributional norm. Maximum drinks on a single occasion is benchmarked against Northwestern University CORE Spring 2022 data (n=183 undergraduate females, n=126 undergraduate males) — a single-institution sample, not a national reference group; interpret those comparisons with appropriate caution.