BACKGROUND: The adolescent period is a time at which individuals explore and develop theirrnsexuality, gender and sex role. These factors have a profound influence on a young personâ€™s current andrnfuture health. It is believed that age at menarche is declining, and that premarital adolescent sexualrnactivity is increasing. Clearly, if this change in behavior is not compensated by an increase in premaritalrnuse of contraception, it is expected that there will be an increase in the proportion of out-of-wedlockrnadolescent births, as well as an increase in the prevalence of induced abortion which ends in highrnproportion of maternal mortality rate.rnOBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to assess pregnancy risk perception andrncontraceptive use among college student in Shashamane town.rnMETHODS: A cross- sectional descriptive survey was carried out among college students inrnShashamane Woreda, Western Arsi Zone, from February 15th to may 2011. A total of six hundredrnseventeen subjects were involved with response rate of 100%. To collect data, a pre- tested selfrnadministered questionnaire was used.rnRESULTS: Out of the total students 314(50.9%) were sexually active. The mean age for first sexualrninitiation was 17yrs with 1.4yrs of SD. The likelihood of becoming sexually active was lower amongrnstudents from other Woreda than from Shashamane and two times higher among students who live withrnfriends in rented house at significant level of association (AOR=0.5519;95%CI;0.3648,0.8349)rnand(AOR=2.44;95%CI;1.5581,3.8334) respectively. Out of the total respondent only 287(46.5%) knewrnthe exact days of ovulation .Among the sexually active respondents, 164(52.2%) had ever usedrnIXrncontraceptive . The odds of contraceptive use among students who have low perception about the weightrnof being pregnant is extremely lowrn( AOR=0.31;95%CI;0.19, 0.5)rnCONCLUSION: From this study, it was concluded that the age of the sexual debut among collegernyouths were too early. Contraceptive utilization and self-risk perception toward unwanted pregnancyrnamong youths were also very low. Youths also lack comprehensive knowledge about phase of ovulation.rnThe likely hood of contraceptive use among students with low perception is low.rnRECOMMENDATION: IEC programs should be put on reproductive health in order to encourage thernyouths to delay sex and negotiate contraceptive use. Young people rely heavily up on interpersonalrncontacts for sexual information, peer based intervention should be implemented to ascertain that youthsrnhave access to accurate information.