Sexual Health on College Campuses
The Trojan® Sexual Health Report Card
Many college students may be left ill-informed about safer sex and more at risk for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and unintended pregnancies because of a lack of access to information about sexual health and availability of condoms at some schools, according to the Trojan Sexual Health Report Card – released today from the makers of Trojan brand condoms and Sperling’s Best Places – which is the first survey that grades the sexual health of colleges and universities across the country and ranks them. Despite this, many schools were found to do a good job of providing essential information about sexual health to students, which put them at the top of the list.
Yale University, for example, received the only perfect score and was found to have excellent resources for students. Yale also holds the annual Sex Week at Yale (SWAY), which promotes open on-campus discussion of sex and relationships, and makes information about sexual health easily accessible online and through the student health center.
Other schools in the top 10 that were also shown to provide easily-accessible sexual health resources to students were the University of Iowa (#2), University of Michigan – Ann Arbor (#3), Stanford University (#4), Oregon State University (#5), Princeton University (#6), University of New Hampshire (#7), Duke University (#8), Ohio State University(#9) and University of Illinois (#10).
Schools at the bottom of the list were the University of Nevada (#91), followed by University of Wyoming (#92), University of Louisville (#93), Texas Tech University (#94), Clemson University (#95), University of Memphis (#96), Oklahoma State University (#97), University of Utah (#98), University of Notre Dame (#99), and Brigham Young University (#100).
The Trojan Sexual Health Report Card looked at 100 public and private schools, at least one from every state. Sperling examined various criteria, including resources about sexual health, the depth of information available on the school’s Web site and the availability of condoms on campus, to determine a school’s score, which was calculated in the same manner as a student’s grade point average.
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Key findings included:
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93 percent of schools surveyed offer some type of STI testing to students – with 24 percent offering free testing on campus
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Only 32 percent of schools have a sex advice column online or in the school paper
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With the exception of Oregon State University, which received a grade of B, all schools in the top 10 received an A in the Web site category, which measures ease of access to information about sexual health on the school’s website
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76 percent of schools surveyed do not provide free condoms to students
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The average “score for schools in the top 10 was 3.49, compared with an average of .43 for schools in the bottom 10.
While the top and bottom 10 schools in the survey are regionally diverse, the Northeast does show a slight edge over other regions:
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20 percent of schools in the Northeast received a 3.0 score or better.
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10.5 percent of schools in the Midwest received a 3.0 score or better.
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10.3 percent of schools in the West received a 3.0 score or better.
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7.4 percent of schools in the South received a 3.0 or better.
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Regional breakdown of schools: 29 schools from the West, 27 schools from the South, 25 schools from the Northeast and 19 schools from the Midwest.
This year in the United States, it is estimated that almost 19 million people will be diagnosed with an STI, and there will be more than 3 million unintended pregnancies. Currently, there are 65 million Americans living with an incurable STI.
For more information about this survey, to find resources about sexual health or to request a free sample, please visit www.trojancondoms.com.
About Trojan
Trojan brand condoms are America's #1 condom and have been trusted for nearly 90 years. Trojan brand latex condoms are made from premium quality latex to help reduce the risk of unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. Each condom is electronically tested to help ensure reliability. There are over 29 varieties of Trojan brand condoms. More Americans trust the Trojan brand than any other condom.