Incoming Cornell University freshman must log onto a website and complete an online alcohol-prevention course before moving onto campus, CNN reported Sept. 5.

Cornell is one of more than 1,000 colleges that now require students to complete online courses about the dangers of drinking. Prevention programs used by colleges include Outside the Classroom's AlcoholEdu, and 3rd Millennium Classroom's Alcohol Wise. For students who already have experienced alcohol-related problem at school, colleges can turn to online intervention programs like San Diego University Research Foundation's E-Chug.

Schools began adopting the programs around the beginning of the decade. The earliest programs were aimed at underage drinkers and other alcohol offenders, but about three years ago schools began to start using online programs for incoming freshmen, too.

Programs like AlcoholEdu and Alcohol Wise, which take 1-3 hours to complete, query incoming students about their alcohol intake, then give advice on alcohol use and how it affects the body. A final exam helps ensure that the lesson sinks in. There's also a follow-up program that's due about a month later. Schools can track who completed the survey and follow-up, but not the responses of individual students.

E-Chug, which takes about 20 minutes to complete, is focused more on behavior modification than education. Most students say they find the programs helpful. "The program changed my entire outlook on drinking," said Gabrielle Dunkley, 17, a freshman at the University of Maryland at College Park. "I knew that it could lead to irresponsible decisions but some of the statistics revealed that even those who are always cautious and safe could be placed in very unsafe predicaments."

But Alexandr Kazachkov, a freshman at Cornell University said the program "had some educational points, but mostly it was a sort of propaganda trying to convince kids that they need not drink to be cool. Drinking is fine to do it as long as you know your limits and don't go overboard."