Online Lessons Help College Students Prevent Unplanned Pregnancy

Colleges are focused intensely on improving low rates of completion, especially among community college students.  While it has not historically been addressed by many colleges, unplanned pregnancy increases the risk of dropping out or taking longer to complete.  In fact, 61% of women who have children after enrolling in community college fail to finish their degrees, and unplanned births account for nearly 10% of all dropouts among female students at community colleges.  For these reasons, The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy developed three short interactive lessons that instructors can easily integrate into a variety of college courses.  The lessons, called “Preventing Unplanned Pregnancy and Completing College,” help students understand the impact of unplanned pregnancy and how to prevent it.  Students are exposed to accurate and engaging information about the full range of contraceptive methods, identify the most effective methods for them, and formulate an action plan to obtain such methods.  In 2012-2013, the lessons were evaluated at three community colleges.  Pre/post results found significant positive improvements in student knowledge, attitudes, and behavioral intent regarding unplanned pregnancy.  The presenter will describe the design and content of the lessons, how they were used in different college settings, and how students and faculty responded.  Working with college students is an innovative and effective way to reduce unplanned pregnancy among older teens and young adults overall, and evaluation results demonstrate that a short, inexpensive online intervention offers a promising and scalable approach.