The world of statistics, baseline data and comparative results is a fascinating one...

Okay, so that isn’t quite true. We’re aware of that.

But, the fact is, statistics are at the heart of The Real Project. They make what we say actually mean something. Unlike most stereotypes about college kids gone wild, we have real information about real students to back us up.

We conduct the National College Health Assessment (NCHA) survey each year to get our stats.

What is the NCHA?

The NCHA is a national, non-profit, research effort organized by the American College Health Association (ACHA) to assist health educators, counselors and administrators in collecting data about the health of their students.

Each spring, we receive a representative sample from the FSU Registrar’s office containing the names of 3,000 undergraduate students. Students within the sample are contacted by mail and notified of their selection to voluntarily participate in the NCHA survey. Several days later, students are contacted via their campus e-mail account and provided a user ID and password that will allow them access to ACHA’s secure Web site to take the online survey. The response rate was 32% for the Spring 2009 online NCHA survey.

Baseline data from the 2002 National College Health Assessment Survey (NCHA) revealed that 49.4% of students surveyed reported having four or fewer drinks the last time they partied/socialized; however, their perception was that only 24.7% of their peers were drinking a similar amount. In addition, 17.3% reported abstaining from drinking, while they perceived that only 1% of their peers were abstaining.
Project Results (Comparison of 2002-2009 NCHA Data)

From 2002 to 2009 there has been a 20.9% reduction in high-risk drinking (i.e., those having 5+ drinks during their last party or social occasion). Consequently, there has been a 24.8% increase in the number of students who report moderate drinking (i.e., 1-4 drinks), as well as a 17.37% increase in the number of students who report that they abstained from drinking during their last party or social occasion.We collect results annually for The Real Project directly from FSU students by utilizing the National College Health Assessment (NCHA) survey.