DANIELLE MALOTT/Arizona Daily Wildcat An annual University of Arizona survey shows that 96 percent of students use condoms or other forms of birth control, limit the number of partners, or stay abstinent completely.

Forget the stereotypes of college students being more concerned with hooking up than homework.

According to the latest statistics from the annual Campus Health and Wellness Survey, 80 percent of UA students have had either one or no sexual partners during the previous school year.

"The MTV spring break generalization doesn't fit for college students. It perpetuates the myth that college is for sex and partying," said Lee Ann Hamilton, campus health services educator. "A lot of students are busy studying and working. They don't center around alcohol and sex."

Amanda Hatcher, a nutritional sciences sophomore, said she has been in a committed relationship for four years.

"I am a horrible candidate for questions pertaining to college students having sex," Hatcher said. "A lot of people have the perception that college is for partying and hooking up, and I don't fit that criteria."

The annual survey found that 31 percent of UA students who are either single or dating are still virgins, a number that has been consistent for many years.

College life does lead to more opportunities, but not necessarily more partners, Hamilton said.

"Not everyone is having intercourse," she said.

Corianne Canton, a veterinary science freshman, said college can bring students together in new situations but not all partake in sex with multiple partners.

"I have had a boyfriend more than three years. We are monogamous." Canton said.

The survey found that 96 percent of students stay abstinent, limit the number of partners, or use condoms or another form of birth control to limit their risk of unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases.

According to the American Social Health Association Web site, two-thirds of all reported sexually transmitted diseases occur in people under the age of 25.

The three most common STD's at UA are genital herpes, chlamydia and genital warts, Hamilton said.

Hamilton said all sexually active students should know their bodies and receive annual medical checks.

"The only way to know if something is wrong is to know what it looked like when it is normal," she said.

Less than half of adults 18-44 have ever been tested for an STD other than HIV/AIDS, according to the ASHA Web site.

Communication can only protect someone so much, Hamilton said.

"We all know that people underestimate the number of partners they have had," Hamilton said. "People sometimes lie to have sex."

Mark Hughes, a mechanical engineering freshman, said the number of sexually active people may be higher than the polls let on.

"Probably about half of UA students are in serious relationships," Hughes said. "The other half go out and hook up."

The Campus Health Services Health and Wellness Survey was distributed to 1,792 students three weeks before spring break, Hamilton said.

The survey is anonymous and given to a random selection of classes that is demographically representative, said Peggy Glider, coordinator for evaluation and research for campus health surveys.

"We survey all hours of the day and night," Glider said. "We don't just survey night classes, or day classes. That would not be an accurate account of UA students."

Glider said due to a broken survey reader, the data had to be compiled by hand. She said if any surveys seemed unreliable they were thrown out.

"If a survey had B marked in every spot we didn't use it," Glider said.

Hatcher said she has taken two surveys in her two years at UA but never saw any results.

"I think the results are about 50 percent accurate," Hatcher said. "Some students care and some students don't."

Hamilton said she believes the results are a good representation of how UA students live their lives.

"Each year the numbers are very consistent," she said.