It seems that U of I likes it on top. Of the rankings, that is. The University of Illinois has overthrown the reigning champs at Columbia University to take the number one spot in Trojan Condoms annual sexual health report card.
The survey, which is conducted by Sperling’s BestPlaces, ranks universities across the nation on the health services they provide to students.
Illinois moved up from their number 2 spot in last year’s rankings, and made a huge leap from 64th in 2010. The University has spent the last two years investing time and resources to better the sexual education and health services on campus.
“The Illini fought their way to the top, excelling in almost every category,” said Bert Sperling, president of Sperling’s BestPlaces. “From providing quality lecture and outreach programs, to the impressive sexual health information available on the website, the campus serves as an impressive model for schools around the country.”
The survey ranked universities on the following qualities:
1. Hours of operation
2. Allow drop-ins or require appointments for student scheduling
3. Quality of sexual health information and resources on website
4. Contraceptive availability — free or at cost
5. Condom availability — free or at cost
6. HIV testing on-site (On/off campus, cost)
7. STI testing on-site (On/off campus, cost)
8. Lecture/outreach programs and student peer groups for sexual health education
9. Sexual assault programs, resources or services
10. Overall website usability and quality
11. Extra credit
Kelly McAninch is a member of a teaching team for the Sexual Communication course here on campus. Sexual health, she explains, requires more than just learning about these services.
“Sexual health involves acquiring both information and skills,” says McAninch. “So sexual health involves knowing both what is healthy and how to actually put into practice those healthy choices.”
With this school of thought, the lecture/outreach programs are just as important as condom availability.
“Our sexual assault education and outreach programs are outstanding as well, says McAninch, “and many of my students can recite the timely and important information they have learned from these programs.”
Trojan noted that Illinois shows “exemplary sexual health programming on campus, earning perfect scores in condom availability, HIV testing, lecture/outreach programs and student peer groups, quality of the sexual health information on the school website, and overall website usability and quality.”
Despite Illinois’ football season, we can still find a way to say that we’re number one.
Here is a list of the most and least sexually healthy schools:
10 Most Sexually Healthy Schools
1. University of Illinois At Urbana-Champaign
2. Brown University
3. Columbia University in the City of New York
4. Princeton Univeristy
5. University of Wisconsin-Madison
6. Yale University
7. Univeristy of Arizona
8. University of Iowa
9. Colorado State University
10. Oregon State University
10 Lease Sexually Healthy Schools
132. Seton Hall University
133. Savannah State University
134. Louisiana Tech University
135. St. John’s University -New York
136. University of New Orleans
137. Chicago State University
138. Troy State University-Main Campus
139. Providence College
140. Brigham Young University
141. U.S. Air Force Academy