A carpet back coating composition which is an aqueous emulsion polymerization product of ethylene, vinyl acetate, and a ethylenically unsaturated hydroxy-functional monomer to form an emulsion copolymer which is combined with a crosslinking agent selected from the group consisting of multifunctional aziridine, multifunctional isocyanate, and multifunctional epoxide. Carpets prepared with the carpet back coating compositions exhibit improved wet strength. The improvement in wet strength is achieved by means of crosslinking reactions which do not generate volatile organic compounds as by-products.