The University of Oregon was ranked 17th in the nation recently on condom-maker Trojan’s ninth annual Sexual Health Report Card Rankings.

The rankings were based on several factors, including student opinions of the health center, awareness programs, contraceptive availability, student peer groups, disease and infection testing and several others.

In a recent Huffington Post article, the UO is mentioned as the most improved university in the nation for student and faculty initiatives, including apps, awareness programs and availability at the health center.

Bert Sperling, lead researcher of Best Places, the website that generated the rankings, noted that the UO’s 31-spot rise from 48th last year to 17th in this year’s rankings is “really a breakthrough,” although he noted there is still work to be done. 

Sperling praised the university’s innovative and collaborative SexPositive smartphone app for improving sexual health education on campus. The app can guide students through “everything from contraceptive methods, safer sex practices, how to communicate, when no means no and yes means yes, that sort of thing,” said Sperling.

Available on both iPhone and Android smartphones, the free app has been downloaded 23,475 times since it launched last year. In addition, SexPositive was featured in the latest edition of The Resource, the National Sexual Violence Resource Center’s newsletter.

Other universities, including the University of Colorado at Boulder and University of Maryland, have licensed the app for use on their campuses.

The research and rankings conducted by Sperling's Best Places team was sponsored by Trojan™ condoms. The list brings to light the sexual health practices at 140 college campuses nationwide.