Policy Surveillance Shows Improvements and Remaining Gaps in U.S. Campus Alcohol and Sexual Violence Policies

Alcohol use and sexual violence commonly co-occur, and alcohol availability and consumption on college campuses contribute to high sexual violence prevalence. Higher education policies can influence student behavior, but their impact is not consistently documented over time. The goal of this study was to characterize higher education alcohol and sexual violence policies.

This study used policy surveillance and logistic regression to longitudinally study alcohol/sexual violence policies among 54 university and college campuses as of March 15, 2024. Selected campuses participated in survey waves of the Healthy Minds Study from the 2018-2019 academic year (AY) to the 2023-2024 AY. Policy text was collected, coded, and analyzed in four areas related to sexual violence (scope, consent, alcohol, and prevention education) and four alcohol use and distribution areas (how restrictions, when restrictions, where restrictions, and evidence-based interventions).

Sexual violence policies addressing alcohol use increased from 76% of campuses in AY2018-2019 to 94% in AY2023-2024. More alcohol policies prohibited sharing and giving alcohol to cause harm--11% in AY2018-2019 and 24% in AY2023-2024. Campuses were over two times more likely to articulate this restriction in later academic years. However, these differences were neither separately nor jointly significant. Campuses were around 1.5 times more likely to restrict sharing alcohol with individuals under the legal drinking age in all academic years relative to AY2018-2019, with significant shifts in AYs 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 only.

Both alcohol and sexual violence policies in higher education are evolving, but there are important improvements in policy text needed to further address both harmful alcohol use and sexual violence.