The purpose of this investigation was to determine if the perception of heart disease risk in college-age women was influenced by physical activity levels. Subjects were 249 women (x age=20.9 yrs.) enrolled in a major university physical fitness class that is mandatory for all students,regardless of their area of study. All subjects completed a questionnaire in which they were asked: "Compared with other persons of your own age and sex, how would you rate your risk of having a heart attack within thenext 10 years?" Responses were on a 5-point Likert scale, ranging from "1" which indicated "much lower than average" to "5" which represented "much higher than average". Subjects were also asked: "In an average week, how many times do you engage in moderate to hard physical activity (exercise which last at least 20 minutes without stopping and which is hard enough to make you breathe hard and make your heart beat fast)?" Available responses consisted of the following categories: "Less than 1 time per week", "1 or 2 times per week", and "At least 3 times perweek". Analysis of variance with a Duncan post hoc test was used to check for significant differences in risk perception scores among the categories of physical activity. Results indicated that risk perception wasdifferent among all 3 physical activity categories (p < .0001). The risk response mean was 2.7+1.0 for those reporting exercise less than once per week, 2.3 + 0.9 for those reporting exercise 1 or 2 times per week, and 1.8 + 0.8 for those reporting exercise at least 3 times per week. It was concluded that college-age women who exercise regularly perceive their heart disease risk to be less than those who seldom exercise.Keyword(s): physical activity, wellness/disease prevention