COLLEGES & UNIVERSITIES

Why Should Leaders at Colleges & Universities Care About Mental Health?

“College students are twice as likely to have a diagnosable mental disorder as the general population and are less than half as likely to access treatment.”
— National Council for Mental Wellbeing

The Healthy Minds Study, 2023 (Esienburg et al)
90,000 students across 133 U.S. campuses participated.

  • Over 60% of college students meet the criteria for at least one mental health problem

  • 15% reported considering suicide (the highest rate in the 15-year history of the survey)

  • One third engaged in non-suicidal self-injury (past year)

  • Over one third qualify for anxiety disorder 

  • 41% qualify for diagnosis of depression

  • Approximately one third have prescribed psychiatric medication

Boston University School of Public Health surveyed 1700 faculty members in 12 colleges across the US (2021)



  • 73% would welcome additional professional development on the topic of student mental health.

  • 61% believe it should be mandatory that all faculty receive basic training in how to respond to students experiencing mental or emotional distress.

  • 21% of faculty agree that supporting students in mental and emotional distress has taken a toll on their own mental health. 

  • Close to half believe their institution should invest more in supporting faculty mental health and wellbeing.   

  • Almost 80% have had one-on-one phone, video, or email conversations with students in the past 12 months regarding student mental health and wellness

 

How Can We Help?

We will equip your faculty, staff, and students (your community’s “first responders”) to recognize & respond to those who are struggling and connect them to the help they need through transformative evidence-based training.

  • 1 in 4

    1 in 4 young adults have a mental disorder. In 2017, only 18% received treatment. (2017 National Survey on Drug Use and Health)

  • 3/4

    3/4 of all mental disorders begin by age 24. (National Comorbidity Survey-Replication (NCS-R)

  • 40%

    In Spring 2017, nearly 40% of college students said they had felt so depressed in the prior year that it was difficult for them to function.(American College Health Assoc.)

  • Every 20 Minutes

    Every 20 minutes someone in the US dies of an opioid overdose. Young adults between the ages of 18 - 25 are at the highest risk for opioid use problems. (U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services. 2017, National Council for Behavioral Health)

Students were asked what they would like faculty and staff at their colleges to know about mental health:

  • “Professors should be trained and educated to recognize some classic signs of depression, mania, etc. Then they should have instruction on how to approach said student to recommend them for treatment.”

    — Student Survey Respondent, College Students Speak: A Survey Report on Mental Health, NAMI.

  • “I think there should be a mental health and wellness course that is mandatory for the first semester of all incoming students.”

    — Student Survey Respondent, College Students Speak: A Survey Report on Mental Health, NAMI.

  • “Require training on mental health for faculty and staff. Create a supportive community beyond the mental health center.”

    — NAMI, “Tips on Creating More Supports,” College Students Speak: A Survey Report on Mental Health, NAMI.