A study conducted in 2014 determined undergraduate universities whose students can use university sponsored debit cards at indoor tanning facilities. The study collected data from the two largest four-year undergraduate universities in each state. In total, eighteen universities have agreements with indoor tanning merchants and have a collective undergraduate population of more than 400,000 students. Penn State rounded out the top of the list with student access to eight different tanning salons.

• The World Health Organization has placed sun exposure in the highest category of carcinogens, alongside plutonium and asbestos.
• Indoor tanning is a known cause of the three most common skin cancers.
• Indoor tanning habits increased the prevalence of melanoma in young people between the ages of 18 – 29: tanning bed use was attributed to 76% of these diagnoses.
• Women in their 20s are at the highest risk of developing early-onset melanoma from indoor tanning than any other demographic.
• The Surgeon General’s 2014 skin cancer prevention initiative emphasized how access to tanning beds on college campuses has contributed to the rise of national cancer rates.

Allowing students to use Lion Cash to purchase indoor tanning services is an insidious way Penn State enables students to participate in a behavioral practice detrimental to their immediate and future health. Additionally, having Lion Cash contracts with tanning salons indirectly suggests to students and parents that tanning is a safe, or even a healthy activity. In effect, despite the well-documented evidence addressing the virulent health consequences of indoor tanning beds, the university continues to associate its name with the behavior.

Penn State’s mission reaches beyond excellent academics. One of the five themes in the university’s 2016-2020 Strategic Plan is “Enhancing Health,” with a particular emphasis on facilitating health and wellness initiatives in the community. It is Penn State’s duty to foster an environment that is conducive to a healthy lifestyle and behaviors.

Universities could play a critical role in reducing the rate of early-onset skin cancer in younger people by preventing students from using sponsored debit cards at indoor tanning facilities. Thus, in a similar way Penn State has addressed sexual violence/mental health and in accordance with its 2016-2020 Strategic Plan, the university must take a lead position and establish a precedent for other universities to follow by disbanding Lion Cash contracts with tanning salons. It is essential that the university recognizes how it enables students to engage in an unhealthy behavior and takes steps to educate its students and faculty on the negative repercussions of tanning beds.