With a collective GPA of 3.37, University of Minnesota students are some of the smartest, most self-aware in the country âÄî at least when it comes to their extracurricular activities.
For the fifth year in a row, Trojan  brand condoms has released its annual sexual health report card. This year the University jumped 48 spots to the 10th most sexually healthy school in the nation.
Each school is assigned a letter grade and cumulative GPA based on a student survey, said Bert Sperling, a lead researcher with SperlingâÄôs BestPlaces, the company that conducted the survey. Among the 12 categories in the survey were metrics judging the availability of condoms, convenience of resources such as HIV and STI testing, anonymous advice, a useable website, a sexual health advocacy group and sexual assault resources. The University scored highly in all areas.
The study tested 141 schools across the nation. Five Big Ten schools ranked in the top 10, and the conference as a whole pulled in a 3.10 GPA, tops among major conferences. With a GPA of 1.17, the University of Idaho ranked last in the survey.
The UniversityâÄôs Sexual Health Awareness and Disease Education program is happy with the surveyâÄôs results and attributed the jump to student awareness about the services SHADE provides on campus.
âÄúWeâÄôre very excited about it,âÄù SHADE  coordinator Patrick Brady  said. âÄúWe are the ones that submit everything to get the University considered for it.âÄù
 âÄúWe [SHADE] have been trying our best to promote what we offer and what Boynton offers as best as we possibly can,âÄù
he said.
Sperling said University students should be proud of the high rank received in the study.
âÄúAnytime you can appear on the top 10 in a study like that, with all of these great schools across the country, that speaks very highly.âÄù