The Columbia Spectator reports today that pressure from student activist groups resulted in the student health services center lowering the cost of birth control to make it more affordable. As Campus Progress has reported before, the cost of birth control has shot up in recent months due to the 2005 Deficit Reduction Act. Prescriptions that used to cost $10 now cost $50 or $60 to a lot of college students and recent graduates.

At Columbia, though, the fabulous NuvaRing (a vaginal ring that contains hormones released continuously throughout the month) will drop from $40 to $20 over the summer and regular oral hormonal contraception co-payments will drop from $10 to $5 a month. Thanks to the pressure of a coalition of student groups, birth control at Columbia is once again affordable to students.