The legal age for drinking alcohol in the United States is 21. Underage drinking is a crime but also a common part of college social life. This week in our Foreign Student Series, we look at alcohol policies at American colleges and universities.
These policies differ from school to school, as do enforcement efforts. But many schools have been moving to strengthen their rules.
The United States has more than 17,000,000 students in higher education. Each year, 1,700 of them age eighteen to twenty-four die from alcohol-related road crashes and other injuries.
600,000 more are injured while under the influence of alcohol. And almost 700,000 are attacked by another student who has been drinking.
These numbers, from a 2005 report, are on a government Web site: collegedrinkingprevention.gov.
One behavior that college officials are trying to prevent is binge drinking, having four or five drinks or more in a short period of time. Some researchers have found that students who think binge drinking is normal often overestimate how much other students really drink. A person can die of alcohol poisoning.
For example, the University of Oklahoma implemented new policies after a nineteen-year-old student died in 2004. He had been drinking heavily at a fraternity party.
Now alcohol is banned from all fraternity and sorority houses and university housing. Student organizations can serve alcohol at events but only on Friday and Saturday nights. And they must provide for transportation to and from off-campus parties. Other new requirements include an alcohol education program that first-year students take online.
At the University of Oklahoma , these policies govern behavior on campus and off. With a first violation, students pay $75 and their parents are told. They must also take an alcohol education class. For a second "strike," they have to pay $150. A third strike means a suspension for at least one semester.
Since January of 2005, 633 students have had a first strike. 30 have had a second strike -- and one has been suspended. An official at Oklahoma tells us the aim is not just to punish but to change behavior and the culture at the university.
