Alcohol and drug prevention education is an important focus of health promotion on US college campuses. Evaluating the effectiveness of these programs is a challenge for educators, given the variety educational formats used. This research project will assess student alcohol/drug knowledge and behavior using a control/experimental group format, and a pre- and post-survey design. For this study, a 30-question survey was developed (using several questions from The Student Alcohol Questionnaire designed by Ruth C. Engs at Indiana University), validated, pilot-tested, and refined. At a Midwestern university 1,500 freshman students enrolled in orientation classes will participate in this research during fall semester 2003. Course sections will be randomly separated into two groups: 1) the control group utilizing the large, passive lectures currently in use; and 2) the experimental group consisting of individual classes using active group discussion, activities, and social-norming exercises. Results will be analyzed using SPSS, with analysis of variance computed for alcohol/drug use knowledge and behavior sub-scales using a 0.05 level of significance. This study will determine the effectiveness of this alcohol/drug use prevention curriculum in increasing students’ knowledge, and whether it has a positive impact in reducing high-risk behaviors.