South Carolina Gamecocks Beat the Field, Rank No. 1 in 2009 Sexual Health Report Card

 Fourth Annual Trojan Sexual Health Report Card Ranks Access to Sexual Health Resources and Information at Major NCAA Colleges and Universities   

Princeton, NJ - October 27, 2009 — The state of sexual health information and resources at major American colleges and universities was revealed today with the release of the 2009 Trojan® Sexual Health Report Card. The yearly ranking, which measures access and availability of sexual health information and resources across 141 colleges and universities, rates the University of South Carolina number one in making such information available, besting last year’s number one seed Stanford University (2), followed by the University of Connecticut (3), Columbia University (4) and Florida Atlantic University (5).  

According to independent research firm Sperling’s BestPlaces, which fielded the study, positive feedback from students, and resources offered by the University of South Carolina health center helped the school rise to the top. Since the Trojan Sexual Health Report Card’s inception four years ago, the Gamecocks have finished no worse than 11th in the country.  

“What really impressed us about the University of South Carolina, and what helped the school’s ranking was the high levels of trust students put in the campus health center,” said Bert Sperling, President of Sperling’s Best Places. “In fact, trust played a pivotal role in this year’s findings with centers that had higher levels of trust in student polls, like South Carolina’s, tending to score much higher.”  

On the other end of the spectrum, DePaul University (141) ranks last in this year’s rankings. Brigham Young University (137), Baylor University (138), Providence College (139) and St. John’s University (140) round out the bottom five.  

“Our goal with this study is to increase awareness, spark conversation and get people talking about and advocating positively for sexual health on college campuses,” said Bruce Tetreault, Group Product Manager for Trojan Brand Condoms. “Access to information and resources is critical in allowing students to make informed decisions about their sexual health. We applaud those schools that make this information available to students.”  

Schools that improved their rankings include the University of Louisiana-Monroe, which jumped 80 spots to finish at number 29, following a surge of positive student opinion poll responses.  

Other big movers in this year’s survey include Dartmouth College (2008: 68; 2009: 19), East Carolina University (2008: 78; 2009: 34), San Diego State University (2008: 105; 2009: 33), and the University of Maryland (2008: 63; 2009: 12).  

Report Card Rivalries

The Trojan Sexual Health Report Card analyzes the 141 colleges and universities in the major NCAA conferences, and adds new context to some of the more heated collegiate rivalries.  

From a conference wide standpoint, Ivy League schools continued their dominance in the Report Card rankings this year, as the conference most known for its academic prowess saw Columbia, Brown and Cornell University all land in the top ten. This is the first time three Ivy’s have landed in the top ten since the Report Card was created, and helped contribute to the conferences 2.98 overall GPA (out of a possible 4.0).

The Big Ten ranked second overall (2.88 GPA) followed by the SEC (2.75), Pac-10 (2.75), ACC (2.73), MAC (2.63), Big 12 (2.58), C-USA (2.51), Mountain West (2.45), Sun Belt (2.38), WAC (2.31) and the Big East (2.17).  

Some key findings include:

 
• The University of Florida and the University of Oklahoma may have played a close BCS title game on the football field, but for sexual health resources, Florida ran up the score, coming in at 24th overall, compared to Oklahoma’s 81st place ranking.  
• The UConn Huskies, who had a banner year for their men’s and women’s basketball teams, staked their place in the top ten for the second year in a row, as the school achieved a 3.38 G.P.A., springing them to number 3 in this year’s rankings.  
• The University of Texas-Austin continued their conference dominance, as the Longhorns rank as the highest member from the Big 12, coming in at number 11. The Longhorns have cracked the top 20 of the Trojan Sexual Health Report Card two years in a row.  
• Sunny forecast for the Sunshine State: Five Florida Schools rank in the top 50 of the Sexual Health Report Card this year: Florida Atlantic University, University of Florida, University of Central Florida, Florida International University and the University of South Florida.  
 

Methodology

 To develop this year’s rankings, researchers at Sperling’s BestPlaces analyzed data from campus health centers and student opinion polls across 13 separate categories. Based on this analysis, each category was assigned a letter grade and a cumulative GPA was calculated, based on a four point scale.

 

Sexual Health Report Card Categories:

 

1. Student opinion of health center
2. Health center hours of operation
3. Availability of patient drop-in vs. appointment only
4. Availability of separate sexual awareness program
5. Contraceptive availability and cost
6. Condom availability and cost
7. HIV testing, cost and locality (on- vs. off-campus)
8. Other STI testing, cost and locality (on- vs. off-campus)
9. Availability of anonymous advice via email / newspaper column
10. Existence of lecture / outreach programs
11. Existence of student peer groups
12. Availability of sexual assault programs
13. Website usability and functionality

 

Schools that did well in this year’s report card tended to score uniformly high across all categories, while those ranked towards the bottom were less consistent in category grades.

  “The Trojan Sexual Health Report Card is an important tool in understanding the availability of sexual health resources and information on campuses across the country,” added Tetreault. “The fact is, only one in three sex acts among singles involves a condom1. It is our hope that these findings will empower students to advocate for change to ensure sexual health resources and information, including condoms, are consistently and universally available.”

 

Complete Trojan Sexual Health Report Card Rankings

 

Overall Rankings

2009 Overall GPA	2009 rank	2008 rank	School	Conference
3.43	1	8	University of South Carolina	SEC
3.40	2	1	Stanford University	PAC 10
3.38	3	6	University of Connecticut	Big East
3.24	4	2	Columbia University	Ivy League
3.23	5	18	Florida Atlantic University	Sun Belt
3.21	6	9	University of Georgia	SEC
3.17	7	36	Michigan State University	Big 10
3.17	8	3	Cornell University	Ivy League
3.15	9	17	Brown University	Ivy League
3.15	10	20	Duke University	ACC
3.15	11	16	The University of Texas At Austin	Big 12
3.14	12	63	University of Maryland	ACC
3.13	13	13	University of Michigan	Big 10
3.12	14	26	University of Illinois	Big 10
3.11	15	41	Yale University	Ivy League
3.08	16	15	Oregon State University	PAC 10
3.01	17	30	North Carolina State University	ACC
3.01	18	14	Pennsylvania State University	Big 10
3.01	19	68	Dartmouth College	Ivy League
3.00	20	7	West Virginia University	Big East
2.98	21	42	University of Colorado	Big 12
2.98	22	11	University of Oregon	PAC 10
2.97	23	28	Ohio State University	Big 10
2.95	24	47	University of Florida	SEC
2.95	25	56	University of Central Florida	C-USA
2.95	26	12	Louisiana State University	SEC
2.94	27	38	Western Michigan University	MAC
2.94	28	53	University of Virginia	ACC
2.93	29	109	University of Louisiana At Monroe	Sun Belt
2.93	30	31	Ball State University	MAC
2.92	31	4	University of Iowa	Big 10
2.91	32	24	Mississippi State University	SEC
2.90	33	105	San Diego State University	Mountain West
2.88	34	78	East Carolina University	C-USA
2.87	35	27	University of North Carolina	ACC
2.85	36	75	Florida International University	Sun Belt
2.84	37	40	University of Southern California	PAC 10
2.82	38	55	University of Kentucky	SEC
2.82	39	46	Colorado State University	Mountain West
2.81	40	49	The University of Alabama	SEC
2.80	41	51	University of California	PAC 10
2.79	42	50	Northern Illinois University	MAC
2.79	43	35	University of Wisconsin	Big 10
2.79	44	79	Texas A&M University	Big 12
2.78	45	21	University of Pennsylvania	Ivy League
2.77	46	58	Washington State University	PAC 10
2.76	47	84	Kansas State University	Big 12
2.75	48	64	University of Missouri	Big 12
2.74	49	22	Indiana University	Big 10
2.73	50	66	University of South Florida	Big East
2.73	51	33	Bowling Green State University	MAC
2.72	52	32	Rutgers University	Big East
2.72	53	34	Tulane University of Louisiana	C-USA
2.71	54	5	University of Denver	Sun Belt
2.71	55	45	Western Kentucky University	Sun Belt
2.71	56	48	University of Kansas	Big 12
2.70	57	76	University of New Mexico	Mountain West
2.70	58	23	University of Minnesota	Big 10
2.69	59	95	Miami University-Oxford	MAC
2.69	61	83	California State University-Fresno	WAC
2.69	61	29	Princeton University	Ivy League
2.68	62	25	Harvard University	Ivy League
2.68	63	61	Ohio University	MAC
2.67	64	n/a	University of Nevada-Reno	WAC
2.67	65	108	University of Mississippi	SEC
2.67	66	101	Clemson University	ACC
2.66	67	65	Rice University	C-USA
2.65	68	44	University of Miami	ACC
2.65	69	99	University of Louisville	Big East
2.65	70	39	University of Arizona	PAC 10
2.64	71	52	Virginia Tech	ACC
2.64	72	70	Wake Forest University	ACC
2.62	73	126	Indiana University-Purdue University-Indianapolis	Independents
2.62	74	62	Eastern Michigan University	MAC
2.62	75	73	University of Pittsburgh	Big East
2.61	76	19	Syracuse University	Big East
2.61	77	54	Purdue University	Big 10
2.60	78	69	University of Southern Mississippi	C-USA
2.60	79	88	Florida State University	ACC
2.60	80	57	University of North Texas	Sun Belt
2.59	81	92	University of Oklahoma	Big 12
2.58	82	91	Southern Methodist University	C-USA
2.58	83	10	University of Wyoming	Mountain West
2.58	84	87	University of Memphis	C-USA
2.56	85	59	University at Buffalo	MAC
2.56	86	71	San Jose State University	WAC
2.53	87	43	Georgia Tech	ACC
2.53	88	90	Northwestern University	Big 10
2.52	89	81	Central Michigan University	MAC
2.52	90	123	Texas Tech University	Big 12
2.52	91	74	University of Washington	PAC 10
2.51	92	60	Kent State University	MAC
2.50	93	85	University of Akron	MAC
2.49	94	93	The University of Texas-Pan American	Independents
2.49	95	94	University of Houston	C-USA
2.48	96	37	University of Nebraska	Big 12
2.47	97	77	University of Nevada-Las Vegas	Mountain West
2.47	98	102	Boise State University	WAC
2.47	99	82	University of Tulsa	C-USA
2.45	100	86	The University of Tennessee	SEC
2.42	101	72	University of Arkansas Main Campus	SEC
2.38	102	110	Air Force Academy	Mountain West
2.38	103	96	Iowa State University	Big 12
2.36	104	100	University of Arkansas At Little Rock	Sun Belt
2.35	105	107	University of South Alabama	Sun Belt
2.35	106	129	University of Cincinnati	Big East
2.33	107	104	University of Utah	Mountain West
2.30	108	111	University of Hawaii At Manoa	WAC
2.29	109	121	New Mexico State University	WAC
2.28	110	97	Utah State University	WAC
2.28	111	67	Oklahoma State University	Big 12
2.28	112	80	Vanderbilt University	SEC
2.28	113	119	Arizona State University	PAC 10
2.27	114	106	Texas Christian University	Mountain West
2.26	115	89	The University of Texas At El Paso	C-USA
2.25	116	98	Middle Tennessee State University	Sun Belt
2.19	117	131	Utah Valley State College	Independents
2.16	118	117	University of California-Los Angeles	PAC 10
2.14	119	115	Auburn University	SEC
2.14	120	n/a	The University of Alabama at Birmingham	C-USA
2.13	121	124	Georgetown University	Big East
2.08	122	112	Savannah State University	Independents
2.05	123	133	University of Toledo	MAC
2.03	124	118	University of New Orleans	Sun Belt
1.94	125	114	Villanova University	Big East
1.93	126	127	Boston College	ACC
1.93	127	120	Chicago State University	Independents
1.92	128	113	University of Idaho	WAC
1.90	129	130	Marquette University	Big East
1.75	130	136	University of Notre Dame	Big East
1.74	131	128	Marshall University	C-USA
1.71	132	116	Troy State University	Sun Belt
1.71	133	122	Seton Hall University	Big East
1.64	134	135	Louisiana Tech University	WAC
1.63	135	103	University of Louisiana At Lafayette	Sun Belt
1.58	136	125	Arkansas State University	Sun Belt
1.57	137	132	Brigham Young University	Mountain West
1.54	138	134	Baylor University	Big 12
1.37	139	137	Providence College	Big East
1.24	140	138	St. John's University	Big East
0.62	141	139	DePaul University	Big East

 

ABOUT SPERLING’S BESTPLACES

Bert Sperling has been helping people find their own "Best Place" to live, work and retire for more than 20 years. His firm, Sperling's BestPlaces, puts facts in the hands of the public so they can make better decisions about best places to live, work, retire, play, or relocate. His bestselling books, Cities Ranked and Rated and Best Places to Raise Your Family, are published by John Wiley & Sons. More information about Bert and his work is available at www.bestplaces.net.