by Carly Evans

Created on: February 07, 2007   Last Updated: May 16, 2007

After high school, most students seek out the opportunity to go to college and prepare themselves for their chosen career. It's a fact that on average, college graduates earn more money than non-college graduates. Nothing sounds bad about thatright? College may not exactly be perfect in every aspect. Actually, college can be bad for you and your brain!

Drinking

Many students see college as a sort of getaway. For most students who are college bound, this is the first time living outside of their parents' boundaries and of course the idea of partying is brought to mind.
About 67.5 percent of college students admitted to have attended more than one college party in the last year according to collegedrinkingprevention.com.
Many are uneducated on the dangers of college drinking.
About 1,400 college students between the ages of 18 and 24 die each year from alcohol-related injuries.
More than 600,000 students each year between the ages of 18 and 24 are assaulted by another who has been drinking.
More than 70,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 are victims of alcohol-related sexual assault, or date rape.
Every year, 400,000 college students have unprotected sex and more than 100,000 students report to having been too intoxicated to know if they agreed to having sex or not.
About 25 percent of college students report academic consequences of their drinking including missing classes, falling behind, doing poorly on exams or papers, and receiving overall lower grades according to Public Health Brief.
Perhaps one of the most threatening problems is drunk driving. 2.1 million students between the ages of 18 and 24 drive under the influence of alcohol yearly.

Sleep Deprivation
Between all night partying, and cramming all night to get projects done and test information memorized, college students lack on the amount of sleep they get. College students get on an average, four to six hours of sleep a night according to cbsnews.com. Experts say that a college-aged student should be getting at least 8 hours a sleep per night.
"Some nights I get 14 hours of sleep and others I get three. I usually don't go to bed before 12," ISU freshman Allison Dickey said.
A poll by the National Sleep Foundation claims that 74% of college students are not sleeping enough.
Iowa State University Freshman Joseph Redd blames his lack of sleep on his lifestyle. "I like to stay up, talk and have fun," Redd explained. "I don't do work unless it's due the next day."
Continued sleep loss can result

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