Objective: To describe the adoption of public health and improvement methodologies to address college students' high-risk drinking behaviors and to aid in prevention efforts.
Participants: Members of 32 colleges and universities, content experts, and staff members of the National College Health Improvement Program (NCHIP).
Methods: A 2-year learning collaborative developed by NCHIP trained individuals from 32 different college and universities in using the Plan-Do-Study-Act cycle as a method to create and implement initiatives aimed at reducing students' high-risk drinking behaviors and related harms.
Results: Participants experienced success ranging from noteworthy increases in type and amount of interventions directed at reducing high-risk drinking, to creating collaboratives across campus, the local community, and stakeholders. Challenges related to data collection and creating lasting cultural change remain.
Conclusions: The use of quality improvement methodologies and creation of a national collaborative successfully effected meaningful change in high-risk drinking behaviors on college campuses.
Keywords: Plan–Do–Study–Act (PDSA); high-risk drinking; learning collaborative; measurement; model for improvement.