The 68.9 percent of students who reported drinking in the past two weeks were the focus of the study. It reported these 20,801 students drank an average of 10.2 hours and studied an average of 8.4 hours a week.

But this conclusion is at odds with research conducted at MSU, said Dennis Martell, an Olin Health Education Services Coordinator. Surveys of MSU students show the average student actually studies more than they drink.

Results indicate most students study four or more times a week and do not drink more than once a week, he said.

Research at MSU also shows 60 percent of students make academics their first priority, he said.

Martell challenged the study’s generalization that students on the whole drink more than study.

“We all know somebody that may drink two or three or four times a week, but that is not the norm,” Martell said. “The norm is that most students drink once a week or less.”

Although some students agreed with Martell that the findings of one study cannot be generalized to all students, others said they were disappointed to hear of it.

“It makes college look like a joke,” marketing freshman Sarah Vogel said.

The study raises questions about the value of a degree and the priorities of college students, said Brandon Busteed, president and CEO of Outside the Classroom.

“If a student can afford to spend more time drinking than studying, what does that say?” he asked. “It’s a question of, ‘What are we here to do, and are our priorities in line with that?’”

But whether or not a student drinks might not even affect his or her grades, psychology junior Meagan Snavely said.

“I see other people that do go out and drink and they get just as good as grades as I do,” she said.

“I don’t think necessarily just because someone drinks or not drinks makes them have an advantage over other people.”