Staying sexually healthy on a college campus can be pricey. The average cost for birth control pills is $20 to $35 per month, and boxes of condoms can cost between $9 to $15. But thanks to University Health Services and programs like Sex Out Loud, UW-Madison students are keeping their bodies and their wallets healthy.
In fact, UW-Madison was ranked 21st out of 100 U.S. colleges for sexual health, according to the Trojan Sexual Health Report Card. UW-Madison received ""A"" ratings in the categories of website, condom availability, contraception and HIV and sexually transmitted infection testing; a ""C"" rating in sexual assault services; a ""D"" in lecture and outreach programs; and an ""F"" in advice columns/question and answer.
Part of the reason UW-Madison scored so well is due to the free sexual health services offered on campus.
The Blue Bus Clinic at UHS has free STI and HIV testing. The services are included as part of tuition and fees, a fact that is essential to student health, said Craig Roberts clinical assistant professor at UHS.
""It certainly has to make a difference, because getting tested, screened and treated is very easy here, I think that makes a difference,"" Roberts said. ""If you have something you can get it taken care of right away.""
Another asset to sexual health at UW-Madison is Sex Out Loud which provides students with safe sex tools and education programming. Sex Out Loud's outreach coordinator, Emily Shor, mentioned that free condoms are also available from the Campus Women's Center, the LGBT Campus Center, Promoting Awareness Victim Emporwerment and UHS.
Half of the group's recently approved $88,849 budget is allocated to student staff salaries, according to Shor.
""The rest of our budget goes towards supplying our office and our programs (office supplies, condoms for students, educational tools for programs), as well as towards advertising and planning our large campus-wide events for the year,"" Shor said.
Sex Out Loud employees—mostly students—are the right candidates to get the word out about sexual health, Roberts said.
""They are a much more effective group to do that, than having a bunch of middle-aged doctors come over and talk to students about STDs or sex,"" he said.
UW-Madison freshman Matt Dorsey was not familiar with Sex Out Loud's services, but he knew that if people ever needed information, they could easily obtain it.
""I suppose if you looked for it you could probably find it,"" said.
The word is always spreading, however, and Shor said hundreds of students are connected through outreached efforts.
""On average there are about 20 to 35 students at a Sex Out Loud Program, and we do about two to four programs in a week,"" Shor said.
The Blue Bus Clinic is also busy, Roberts said, seeing 3,000 people annually. An additional 5,000 women go to the Women's Clinic for testing and general reproductive health services.
These services must be effective, since according to Roberts, ""We see far fewer students with STIs now than we did 10 or 20 years ago.""
UW-Madison students should continue to take advantage of the free services, since STI screening can cost up to a few hundred dollars at Planned Parenthood or an urgent care clinic.
""One visit to the Blue Bus basically covers what you're paying for student health fees every semester,"" Roberts said.
Non-students can also get tested at the Blue Bus Clinic for a $60 office visit fee, plus a $30 follow-up visit fee.
Maggie Mielcarek, a sophomore, thought the free services offered by UW-Madison are essential in leading students to be the right health venues.
""A lot of people otherwise wouldn't go if it wasn't,"" she said.
But money is not the only barrier to student health. One thing that Roberts sees students doing wrong is binge drinking.
Indeed, many faithful condom users say the only time they didn't use a condom was when they were drunk and didn't have better judgment.
""There's a very, very strong association between people having unprotected sex when they're under the influence of alcohol,"" he said.
This year 19 million new people will be diagnosed with an STI and more than three million women will have unintended pregnancies. Sexual health is priceless. Fortunately, around campus students have valuable treatment and prevention services for free.
