OCC receives grant to study student alcohol use

Orange Coast College was awarded a grant to look into the drinking habits of community college students.

The Orange County Health Care Agency gave $220,000 to OCC's Student Health Center to fund a campus-wide survey and teach the consequences of excessive drinking. Similar projects have been carried out at four-year universities.

"No one really knows about alcohol use in community college," Sylvia Worden, the associate dean of student health services, said in a prepared statement. "We expect to find out a lot. Our students don't live in dorms and don't participate in the Greek system. It's very different."

Although not much is known about the drinking habits of community college students, past data shows they drink less, but have worse outcomes than their four-year university counterparts, according to Worden.

During the past two years, OCC's Health Center has been involved with an alcohol education website designed by the San Diego State University Research Foundation.

— Britney Barnes

Twitter: @BritneyJBarnes