Staphylococcus aureusis an opportunistic human pathogen that can frequently be found at various body locations, such as the upper respiratory tract, nostrils, skin, and perineum.S. aureusis responsible for causing a variety of conditions, which range from minor skin infections and food poisoning to life-threatening sepsis and endocarditis. Furthermore,S. aureushas developed resistance to numerous antimicrobial agents, which has made treatment ofS. aureusinfections difficult. In the present study, we examined lifestyle factors that could increase the likelihood ofS. aureuscarriage, the overall prevalence ofS. aureus, as well as assessed the antibiotic resistance profiles of theS. aureusisolates among a population of college students. Five hundred nasal samples were collected and analyzedviaselective growth media, coagulase and protein A testing, as well as polymerase chain reaction and DNA sequencing. One hundred four out of the 500 samples collected (21%) were identified as containingS. aureus. TheS. aureusisolates were resistant to penicillin (74%), azithromycin (34%), cefoxitin (5%), ciprofloxacin (5%), tetracycline (4%), and trimethoprim (1%), but sensitive to gentamicin and rifampin. Lastly, we identified several lifestyle factors (i.e., pet exposure, time spent at the university recreational facility, musical instrument usage, and tobacco usage) positively correlated withS. aureusnasal colonization.