Student mental health and well-being has been deemed a top priority for higher education institutions, and yet, the mental health offerings on campus are often insufficient in meeting the diverse and comprehensive needs of the student population.

With demand rising, students and parents are now including mental health offerings in their college decision-making. Looking beyond counseling services, colleges and universities have an opportunity to improve their enrollment and retention rates, all while providing students with more desirable, accessible, and effective mental health services.

Don’t know where to begin or what to prioritize? Here’s what colleges and universities should consider as they expand existing student mental health offerings.

Make Mental Health Screenings More Accessible

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force now recommends that all adult patients under 65 (including patients ages 18-24) receive an anxiety screening, as more and more individuals are facing anxiety disorders since the start of the pandemic. Mental health screenings can be a highly-effective way for colleges and universities to identify and support student mental health issues, while also identifying the needs of students and the existing gaps in campus services.

While there are many ways to offer screenings, including by email, text, or online, Grand Valley State University is one of the first institutions to set up mental health screening kiosks on campus, which can be used by students, faculty, and staff. Within the first two weeks of being installed, nearly 200 students used them.

By providing screenings to students, college campuses can help to connect those struggling with mental health issues with the resources they need to get the help they deserve. These types of screenings are also a cost-effective way to identify the needs of your students.

Increase Access to and Visibility of Crisis Hotlines

There are several existing crisis hotlines that college campuses can include on their website and advertise in public spaces, reminding students, faculty, and staff to call a hotline if they are or someone they know is facing a mental health crisis. These 24/7 crisis lines provide immediate access to experts who are trained in crisis response:

• Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: Call or text 988
• Crisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741
• Trevor Project hotlines: Text START to 678-678 or call 1-866-488-7386
• The Steve Fund: Text STEVE to 741741
• Sexual Assault Crisis Line: Call 517-372-6666
• SAMHSA’s National Helpline: Call 1-800-662-4357
• Veterans Crisis Line: Text 838255

You can also work with a mental health provider, such as Mantra Health, to establish your own designated crisis line for the campus. Mantra Health works in collaboration with Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services to provide 24/7 crisis behavioral support, as well as crisis management and prevention services to colleges and universities.

Establish Peer Support Groups

Social support is a key factor in maintaining mental health, and peer support groups provide a space for students to connect with others with lived experiences who understand what they are going through. Peer support groups can easily be established through existing departments, such as the counseling center or student affairs department. The University of Michigan has a The LGBTQ+ Peer Led Support Group (PLSG), for example, which was created in partnership with two on-campus departments.

Peer support groups can help students feel less alone and provide them with a comfortable and confidential space to talk about their experiences. Peer support groups can also be a cost-effective mental health solution because they can be run by student staff or a team of volunteers. Colleges and universities also have the opportunity to work with a peer-to-peer mental health support community like Togetherall, which is supported by licensed and registered mental health practitioners and who can help protect the safety and anonymity of members.

Offer Campus-Wide Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Trainings

Campus-wide training and awareness campaigns can be a cost-effective way to decrease mental health stigma, increase campus-wide knowledge of mental health issues, and improve mental health outcomes for students, faculty, and staff.

Mental health stigma is a major barrier to help-seeking behaviors and campus-wide training and awareness campaigns can help increase knowledge about mental health issues, provide information about available resources, and encourage community members to seek help when they’re feeling overwhelmed, stressed, or mentally unwell.

The Mental Health First Aid Kit, a skills-based training course, is one of the best for training campus communities on mental health and substance use issues, but higher ed institutions can also work with mental health providers like Mantra Health to provide real-time trainings, consultations, and workshops, allowing for interactive participation.

Leverage Expert Mental Health Resources and Recommendations

National organizations offer free and reliable mental health resources and programs that can and should be implemented by and/or distributed to students, faculty, and staff. These organizations are experts in the field and have the expertise needed to support colleges and universities, existing counseling staff, and students.

Here are some of our favorites:

• American Foundation for Suicide Prevention’s Interactive Screening Program (ISP) for higher education institutions, which can help in assessing student mental health needs.
• The Jed Foundation’s Comprehensive Approach to Mental Health Promotion and Suicide Prevention for Colleges and Universities, which provides a strategic approach to promoting mental health and preventing suicide on campus.
• Resources from the Trevor Project, which can help support the mental health of the LGBTQ+ community and improve your campus standing on the Campus Pride Index.
• The Active Minds Chapter Network, which can be started by faculty, staff, or students, as well as the Transform Your Campus: Advocacy Guide, which can help provide guidance to on-campus and community advocates.
• The Steve Fund’s Adapting and Innovating to Promote Mental Health and Emotional Well-Being of Young People of Color: COVID-19 and Beyond report, led by the organization’s Crisis Response Task Force, which offers guidance to higher education institutions.
• The College Student Mental Health Action Toolkit on Mental Health Data and Statistics, developed by the Healthy Minds Network, in partnership with Active Minds and The Jed Foundation, aims to provide accessible, digestible, and contextualized data to support on-campus advocacy efforts.
• The Anxiety & Depression Association of America’s mental health resources on managing anxiety, including infographics on college student mental health and managing depression and anxiety on campus.
• The National Institute of Mental Health’s information on ADHD, eating disorders, PTSD, and other mental health issues, which can be used to create infographics, hand-outs, and other materials for distribution.

Looking beyond counseling services, colleges and universities have an opportunity to build more comprehensive, scalable solutions, which support crisis and suicide prevention, all while helping to improve student mental health and well-being.

Invest in Telehealth Services

Teletherapy is an increasingly popular mode of therapy that allows patients to receive treatment from a licensed therapist via video conferencing. This type of therapy has been shown to be just as effective as in-person therapy, but is often more affordable and convenient. It also makes it easier for colleges and universities to access a more diverse, specialized pool of mental health providers and expand counseling services beyond the traditional 9am-5pm hours.

Telehealth is an affordable mental health solution that helps higher ed institutions scale their mental health services, reach more students, and increase service offerings. When partnering with a telehealth provider, make sure you’re getting access to quality, evidence-based care, campus-tailored crisis response plans, expert clinical oversight, and culturally-informed providers who have experience working with young adults.

If you’re considering offering teletherapy, telepsychiatry, 24/7 crisis care, student well-being content, or other mental health services, let us know here. We’d love to partner with you and act as an extension to your current mental health services.