Pitt’s Sexual Health Services rank 27th nationwide

Pitt’s students may be getting down, but according to a national survey, so is their sexual… Pitt’s students may be getting down, but according to a national survey, so is their sexual health.

Trojan Brand Condoms ranked the University 27th out of 140 colleges in their Trojan Sexual Health Report Card rankings, down from its spot at 21 last year. The report ranks colleges based on their available sexual health resources.

Columbia University snagged the No. 1 spot for the second year in a row. Rutgers and West Virginia both fared better than Pitt, while Penn State came in at 36. The colleges evaluated are drawn from conferences within the Bowl Championship series and beyond.

Last year, Pitt received the title of “Most Improved Player” in the rankings because of its 54-spot jump from 75th to 21st place.

Sperling BestPlaces, an independent research firm, conducted the Trojan-sponsored report, now in its sixth year.

Bert Sperling, who runs the Portland-based survey company, said that the rankings raise awareness of sexual health issues while celebrating colleges that get sexual health information out to students.

“At the end of the day, it’s what is effective for the students. We try to put ourselves in the position of the students,” Sperling said, referring to the process the company uses to determine the availability of information.

Sperling said that to conduct the report, his company reaches out to health centers about the sexual health services and resources they have available to students, and each school answers a two-page questionnaire covering the 13 areas.

These areas include things like student opinion on the health center, the hours of operation, sexual health awareness programs and sexual assault programs, contraceptive availability, condom availability, HIV and STI testing and website usability.

Marian Vanek, the director of Pitt’s Student Health Services, said in an email that Pitt offers a variety of comprehensive and accessible sexual health programming, all of which is free.

The Office of Health Education and Promotion runs Pitt’s sexual health services. It provides on-site and off-site programs on birth control, condom use, abstinence and STD information and testing throughout the year, Vanek said.

“Our goal is to provide students with services and resources to make informed decisions regarding their sexual health,” she said in an email.

Pitt also offers HIV testing, which Vanek said has increased by 96 percent since last year.

The University also provides the Gardasil vaccine for free. The vaccine, which usually costs $140 per dose, protects against HPV, an STD that Vanek said causes 70 percent of cervical cancers and 90 percent of genital warts.

Sperling said that a team of five recent college graduates also evaluate each school’s website to see how useful it is, because that is the first place students will look for information.

“We believe that students these days more than ever get their information from the Internet,” he said.

Sperling said he believes that these rankings, which are getting more competitive each year, really have an impact on colleges across the nation. Students can see how their school compares to other colleges to make sure they are “getting the resources they need and deserve.”