EIU Illinois Higher Education Center

Illinois Core Alcohol and Other Drug Survey

The Illinois Department of Human Services, the Illinois Higher Education Center (IHEC) for Alcohol, Other Drug and Violence Prevention, and the Core Institute together used to provide the Illinois Alcohol and Other Drug Statewide Core Survey. The purpose of the survey was to establish the current incidence and prevalence of alcohol and other drug use on Illinois 2 and 4-year college campuses; negative consequences associated with use; the relationship of alcohol and other drug use to campus climate issues; students’ perception of others’ use; beliefs regarding use; experiences of secondhand effects of others’ use; experiences of physical and sexual violence; and perceptions of risk related to use.

The Core Alcohol and Drug Survey was administered on a statewide basis in the spring semesters of even-numbered years. Thank you to all the respected institutions who participated in the 2022 CORE Survey, the 2022 report will be out soon. We are now recruiting for 2024. The registration link for the next survey will be posted soon.

Please view past reports below: 

• 2018 Core Alcohol and Other Drug Use Report (PDF)
• 2016 Core Alcohol and Other Drug Use Report (PDF)
• 2014 Core Alcohol and Other Drug Use Report (PDF)
• 2012 Core Alcohol and Other Drug Use Among College (PDF)
• 2010 Core Alcohol and Other Drug Report (PDF)
• 2008 No Report Available.
• 2006 Core Report (PDF)
• 2004 Alcohol Consumption Prevalence by College Students: Core Survey of Results and Analysis
• 2002 Alcohol Consumption Prevalence by College Students: Core Survey of REsults at 33 Institutions in Illinois 
• 2002 College Student Alcohol Consumption Research Brief: Brief report of college student alcohol use in Illinois

Past Core Administration

**We are currently waiting for the 2022 CORE Results-- TBA

Illinois Institutions Only

Purpose

This survey is to determine the current incidence and prevalence of alcohol and other drug use on Illinois 2 and 4-year college campuses. Furthermore, students’ perception of others’ use; perceptions of risk related to use; beliefs regarding use; negative consequences associated with use; experiences of secondhand effects of others’ use; experiences of physical and sexual violence; and the relationship of alcohol and other drug use to campus climate issues will, also, be examined.

Background

The Core Alcohol and Drug Survey was administered on a statewide basis in the spring semesters of 2006, 2010, 2012, 2014 and 2016.  During our 2012 administration, approximately 12,600 students at 23 Illinois institutions of higher education (16 four-year institutions and 7 two-year institutions) participated in the administration.  

Benefits

Illinois Higher Education Center (IHEC) will agree to pay for a large majority of the costs of administering the survey on your campus, should you agree to certain terms. ** Illinois Institutions only.

• You may already be using the Core Survey on your campus, so communicating with the responsible staff will be important in terms of timing.
• Only statewide, aggregate data will be made public. The names of participating schools will not be released. Your individual institution’s data will be confidential and sent only to your designated campus representative at the end of the collection period.
• By implied consent, data from your school will be aggregated for an Illinois report. This statewide data will be released to the IHEC for reporting purposes.
• Conducting needs assessment will help target prevention resources and make programming efforts justifiable, fundable and measurable.
• Data can also assist in defining the nature and extent of the campus alcohol and other drug problem and in identifying high-risk groups within the campus.

Implementation

The goal for both Department of Human Services and the Illinois Higher Education Center is to have over 40 institutions and over 15,000 students participate in this coming spring’s administration.  Institutional results can be used to provide data for the federally mandated Safe and Drug Free Campuses Biennial Review, for campus needs assessment, program development, and grant writing needs. The aggregate Illinois data is used to help both the Department of Human Services and IHEC in fund seeking, program development, resource allocation and assessment.

Through funding from the Illinois Department of Human Services, the Illinois Higher Education Center will pay for the majority of expenses your campus will incur for this data collection as long as your institution is willing to:

• Undergo and complete the Institutional Data and/or Institutional Review Board requirements of your institution.
• Provide the Core Institute and the Illinois Higher Education Center with permission to include your data within the Illinois consortium (Illinois consortium data is provided in aggregate; your campus will not be individually identified).
• Register your institution to receive the Core Survey.
• Administer the Core Survey on your campus between February 1, 2020 and April 30, 2020.
• Submit all surveys to the Core Institute no later than May 1, 2020.

What IHEC Will Fund

To conduct this survey, many campuses may spend $500 - $1500.  The Illinois Higher Education Center will agree to pay for the following costs of survey administration:

• Either paper or electronic surveys of the Core Long Form Survey, Version 2.
• Scoring of up to 2000 paper or electronic surveys per institution, and processed by the Core Institute.
• A front page and back page attachment, if electronic administration is elected.
• A copy of the Executive Summary Report of your institution’s data.
• Shipping and handling of completed reports to your institution.
• Technical assistance will be provided by IHEC staff to answer questions regarding survey implementation.

What IHEC Will Not Fund

While we wish that we could provide more, we must limit our costs in order to allow more institutions to participate. 

Therefore, the Illinois Higher Education Center will not pay for the following costs:

• Costs of pre-notification e-mails sent to your students through the Core.
• Costs of pre-notification mailings sent to your students through campus or US Mail.
• Costs of copying informed consent forms.
• Costs of promotion and marketing.
• Costs of incentives used to enhance survey response.

Resources for Illinois Institutions Only

Core Survey Info Sheets
Core Survey Checklist
Sample confidentiality and anonymity on the web
Sample IRB application
Sample letter to the president
Sample proctor script
Required elements of informed consent
Core Institute Powerpoint 11.6.15

Marijuana Use on Campus

Alcohol Use on Campus

Designer Drug Use on Campus

Sedatives and Anti-Anxiety

Stimulants Use on Campus

Opioids Use on Campus