Twenty six University substance misuse prevention and education programs plan to expand in the next academic year, according to an October Healthy Horns report.
The University’s programs serve a multitude of purposes — from sexual assault prevention to overdose awareness. Each program works to support the University’s student body by training and informing students about issues they may encounter.
Across the 26 programs reported, over 91,000 students and faculty were served from 2024-2025 and over 116,000 students and faculty from 2025-2026. In the 2026 biannual Drug Free Schools Act Biennial Review, 57.7% of programs plan to continue or remain unchanged, 30.8% plan to increase and expand and 11.5% reported uncertainty or unspecified plans.
Across the programs, multiple are set to see notable changes.
AlcoholEDU and Sexual Assault Prevention for Undergraduates, part of the Longhorn Wellness Center, served over 11,000 students each of the past two academic years. For both years’ reports, about 75% of students reported that the program changed their perceptions of other students’ drinking behaviors.
Beginning this fall, the program was replaced by RespectEDU, which educates students on healthy relationships, consent and sexual assault prevention.
The Safety Education Program, part of Prevention and Risk Education, served over 1,000 students and staff each of the past two academic years, according to the report. The program allows student organization leaders to receive information regarding new member education and University policies.
A program goal for the upcoming year is to increase completion rates along with the time students typically join student organizations, in hopes of streamlining the process for student leaders.
Since its 2019 launch, SHIFT has grown significantly across the University, adding more open distribution sites and increasing naloxone distribution. Across the different programs housed under SHIFT, it has served tens of thousands of students, faculty and staff during the past two academic years.
Goals for the different SHIFT programs include updating training materials and expanding the network of distribution sites, gathering feedback and student input to adjust programs and expanding the number of events hosted by students and student organizations.
Individual programs constantly look for feedback from students, advisors and experts to increase and expand their programming, and multiple programs see frequent changes over the years, according to the University.
