The leading cause of mortality in college and university students is suicide, a University researcher found in a study released Wednesday.
Alcohol-related incidents were the second major cause of death among students.
Dr. James Turner, executive director of Student Health, conducted the study by collecting data from 157 four-year institutions across the nation, studying the mortality rates among students between the ages of 18 and 24. He found that six in every 100,000 students committed suicide, while fewer than five in 100,000 students died from alcohol-related incidents.
"The thing that surprises everyone is that suicide is the most common cause of death among college students," Turner said.
The rate of suicide was 47 percent lower among college students than among the general population of 18- to 24-year-olds, Turner added. Similarly, alcohol-related deaths were 60 to 76 percent lower among college students as compared to the same general population.
"Clearly there's something happening on college campuses preventing suicide," he said. "This is all speculative on my part, but I do know that we've set up very elaborate and effective counseling and medical help, which perhaps allow us to intervene to prevent some of these tragedies."
One cause of the lower rates for alcohol-related deaths might be the close proximity of housing and socializing venues for college students, Turner said.
"For the most part students live close to Grounds, and most of socializing occurs in fraternities, sororities and private apartments," he said. "These events happen close so students don't have to get in a car and drive."
The study found that schools in rural areas have more alcohol-related vehicular deaths than schools in urban areas. Males also had a higher rate of suicide than females, which Turner attributed to the higher rate of suicide among men in general. No differences were found between races in either alcohol-related deaths or suicides.
Russ Federman, director of Counseling and Psychological Services at Student Health, said four students in the past 12 years have committed suicide at the University.
"Our suicide rate is fairly low," Federman said. "Significantly lower than what you'd expect to see at a school this size."
Federman attributed this low rate to programs which help connect with students. University resources such as CAPS and the Center for Alcohol and Substance Education help students with depression and alcohol abuse.
"I'd like to think it's because we're doing things well," Federman said. "[These programs help] identify when a student is struggling. But there's also another factor, too: good luck," he added, noting that many other variables contribute to low suicide rates.
Turner said he hopes his research will help establish a baseline for future studies of college mortality. He also wanted to call attention to the importance of detecting and intervening in cases of major depression, even though media tends to focus on alcohol-related deaths among college students.
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