For decades, campus policies, orientation programs and even social traditions were built around a core belief: college students drink, especially during their first weeks on campus.
However, new findings from more than 830,000 students across 723 institutions tell a different story. Alcohol abstinence (i.e., no alcohol use in the past year) has more than doubled since 2016, rising from 34% to 68%.
The “College Effect”—a longstanding dynamic of increased drinking when students arrive on campus—is reversing in real time. This shift reflects not only changes in student attitudes toward substances and wellness, but also the impact of campus efforts to support healthier behaviors.
As the expectations and behaviors of incoming students have shifted dramatically from a decade ago, institutions must reconsider their strategies to reflect the students they serve today.
New student reality
When asked why they choose not to drink during the first 6-8 weeks of arriving on campus, 67% of students say they don’t need alcohol to have fun, 57% cite concerns about academic performance and 64% point to health concerns—all numbers that have climbed steadily over the past three years.
Yet, while alcohol use drops, cannabis use has tripled: nearly half of students now report using it recreationally within a two-week period of arriving on campus, up from 14% in 2016.
The evolving patterns around substance use demand attention. Effective campus wellness strategies normalize the non-drinking behaviors of most students, address the shifts in the substances students use, and seek to understand the motivations behind those behaviors.
What works now
A modern approach requires segmentation to meet students where they are. 71% of students 19 and under identify as alcohol abstainers, compared to only 47% of students 20 and up, indicating different risks and motivators as well as the need for different support systems and messaging.
For younger students, strengthen the touchpoints in the early fall semester. Direct communication that reinforces non-drinking norms, supports students who choose not to drink, and helps them feel confident expressing that choice can make a meaningful difference. Offer alcohol-free social alternatives during this period, with community-building programming so these students don’t feel isolated or look elsewhere for a better fit.
For students approaching legal drinking age, implement norm-setting that reinforces the reality: many of their peers aren’t partaking in high-risk drinking behaviors. Pair that with brief interventions that teach practical skills like pacing, recognizing personal limits and supporting friends who may be struggling.
It’s also essential to expand beyond alcohol education. Cannabis prevention requires a specialized approach, given deregulation and declining risk perception among students. Provide accurate information about academic impacts, mental health considerations and state-specific legal issues without appearing disconnected from student reality.
Practical next steps
1. Audit your programming and prevention model. Does it assume all students drink? Does it treat cannabis use as an afterthought? Updating prevention messaging to reflect current student behaviors and motivations is one of the greatest levers campuses have.
2. Redesign campus traditions and social events. Older models where social connection happened primarily in settings with alcohol doesn’t serve students who choose not to drink. Create multiple pathways for belonging that feel equally valid and appealing.
3. Modernize your communication approach. Students respond better to messaging that feels specific and rooted in their experience. Replace broad “stay safe” reminders with tailored prompts students can act on, and that don’t just reflect decade-old assumptions.
4. Emphasize peer support. Students often feel less comfortable stepping in when a friend needs help. Weaving peer-support strategies into orientation, residence life, and student leader training gives students clarity on what “looking out for one another” actually looks like.
5. Invest in wellness-focused programming and ongoing education. Outreach should align with why students are already choosing not to drink and reinforce the behaviors needed to maintain their decisions. Financial literacy workshops, stress management resources, and health promotion services support the values driving student decisions.
6. Train staff to recognize and validate abstinence as a normal choice. When faculty, resident advisors, and campus leaders treat non-drinking students as the engaged majority they are, it reinforces healthy norms across campus culture.
The big shift
More students are arriving on campus with clear intentions about substances, and those intentions related to alcohol are far healthier than those of previous generations. The majority abstain from drinking—not because they lack opportunity, but because it doesn’t align with how they want to experience college and negatively impacts their health and well-being.
If institutions continue planning for the “college students of the past” and over-index on the population engaging in high-risk behaviors, prevention efforts teeter on irrelevance.
The choice is straightforward, but it requires letting go of long-held assumptions about what college life looks like. Our job is to listen and respond accordingly as today’s students show us what they need.
