Substance use disorder (SUD) is a significant issue among college students, with nearly 40% meeting the criteria for SUD. Despite this high prevalence, only a small percentage of students seek treatment. In response, there has been a growing emphasis on wellness and recovery services on college campuses, primarily through Collegiate Recovery Programs or Communities (CRPs/Cs) to address this. However, existing research on the availability and effectiveness of these recovery-related services is either outdated or lacks methodological rigor. This study aims to address these issues by providing updated estimates of collegiate recovery resources across the United States.
This study employed web scraping techniques to systematically assess the current state of recovery support services on U.S. college campuses. The research team utilized the Google search engine, using keywords such as “Collegiate Recovery Program” and “Alcoholics Anonymous Meetings,” to gather URLs from “.edu” domain websites associated with higher education institutions. Initially, 995 URLs were collected, of which 880 were deemed eligible for review after excluding those with file extensions or those not pertaining to U.S. higher education institutions. A team of 11 reviewers, using Qualtrics, meticulously examined each URL to determine whether the links were accessible and whether they provided information on campus recovery support services.
According to the study’s findings, approximately half of the 552 universities analyzed provide recovery support services, with about one-third of these institutions formally operating Collegiate Recovery Programs or Communities (CRPs/Cs). Most CRPs/Cs offer mutual aid meetings and alcohol/drug-free social activities, although relatively few institutions advertise drop-in centers or membership in the Association of Recovery in Higher Education (ARHE). Schools without formal CRPs/Cs still provide various forms of recovery support through informal networks such as student recovery clubs. Furthermore, recovery support services are geographically concentrated in the eastern United States, a trend that appears to be associated with the higher number of educational institutions and the growth of recovery community centers in this region. The study also identified a concerning lack of recovery support services at minority-serving institutions, emphasizing the need for expansion of such services.
Takeaway: Addressing regional disparities and expanding recovery support services at minority-serving institutions are important considerations.