The purpose of this study was to determine college students’ knowledge of basic nutrition information at a midwestern university. A 26-question survey was comprised directly of nutrition content from a required Fitness for Living course was developed for use in this study. The survey was pilot tested on 100 students during the fall 2001 semester to test the validity of the instrument and refine survey questions. A total of 626 students completed the pre-test survey four weeks prior to completing the nutrition portion of the course and 483 of those students completed the post-test survey four weeks after completing the nutrition section of the course. The average change score for improvement on questions relating to the food guide pyramid was +7.6%. For the questions relating to recommended daily allowances, calorie consumption, and obesity, the average change score between pre-test and post-test scores was +9.3%. The change score for questions relating to caloric intake was +22.6%. The pre-test mean score was 40%, with a 52% post-test mean score indicating a below average level of basic nutritional information at the college level. The results suggested that these college students need more nutrition education and greater awareness of the consequences of poor nutritional choices. In order to help reverse the climbing obesity rates in the U.S., health education needs to be taught in grades K-12, correlated to other subjects, and continued through the college years.