The administration of meningitis vaccinations to the college population has recently been the topic of much discussion. Much of the controversy has surrounded the promotion of widespread vaccinations or educational campaigns about the vaccine for incoming freshman students. Recommendations about the use of meningococcal vaccines for college students from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, the Academy of Pediatrics, and the American College Health Associations are clearly stated and include guidelines for assessing risk factors for contracting meningitis, but they stop short of recommending widespread immunization of incoming freshman or any other segment of the college population. The focus of college health services at universities should not be solely concerned with mass immunizations and education about the meningococcal vaccine for incoming freshmen. Rather, it should provide a program that is designed to enable students and their parents to: (1) understand the disease process and modes of transmission; (2) encourage an evaluation of the risk factors relevant to their lifestyles; and (3) understand the efficacy of vaccination and the benefits of healthy lifestyle choices with respect to meningococcal disease. Educational materials regarding meningitis should include information about the risks of contracting the potentially deadly disease and the benefits of vaccination, but such materials should also present that information in a framework that promotes healthy lifestyle choices. A combination of protection by vaccination, when a student's particular situation warrants it, with efforts to promote healthy lifestyle choices that reduce the risk of exposure has the best chance of decreasing the incidence of meningococcal disease in the college student population.