Does Drinking Impair College Performance?
Absolutely. In their latest study, Mark L. Hoekstra (UC-Davis), Scott Carrell (University of Pittsburgh) and James West (US Air Force Academy) examine the effect of alcohol consumption on student achievement.
We find that drinking causes significant reductions in academic performance, particularly for the highest-performing students. This suggests that the negative consequences of alcohol consumption extend beyond the narrow segment of the population at risk of more severe, low-frequency, outcomes. Thus, our results indicate policies that combat drinking—particularly binge drinking that occurs around age 21—may well have large positive effects that are broader than previously known.
The figure below provides a graphical representation of the effect of drinking on academic performance:
The authors explain:
The results indicate that students who turn 21 just prior to taking final exams score approximately one-tenth of a standard deviation lower than students who turn 21 just after finals. This drop in performance is both statistically and economically significant; it is roughly the same effect as having a professor whose quality is one standard deviation below the mean.
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