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Improving college student mental health: Research on promising campus interventions

Hiring more counselors isn’t enough to improve college student mental health, scholars warn. We look at research on programs and policies schools have tried, with varying results.

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by Denise-Marie Ordway, The Journalist's Resource September 13, 2023

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If you’re a journalist covering higher education in the U.S., you’ll likely be reporting this fall on what many healthcare professionals and researchers are calling a college student mental health crisis.

An estimated 49% of college students have symptoms of depression or anxiety disorder and 14% seriously considered committing suicide during the past year, according to a national survey of college students conducted during the 2022-23 school year. Nearly one-third of the 76,406 students who participated said they had intentionally injured themselves in recent months.

In December, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy issued a rare public health advisory calling attention to the rising number of youth attempting suicide , noting the COVID-19 pandemic has “exacerbated the unprecedented stresses young people already faced.”

Meanwhile, colleges and universities of all sizes are struggling to meet the need for mental health care among undergraduate and graduate students. Many schools have hired more counselors and expanded services but continue to fall short.

Hundreds of University of Houston students held a protest earlier this year , demanding the administration increase the number of counselors and make other changes after two students died by suicide during the spring semester, the online publication Chron reported.

In an essay in the student-run newspaper , The Cougar, last week, student journalist Malachi Key blasts the university for having one mental health counselor for every 2,122 students, a ratio higher than recommended by the International Accreditation of Counseling Services , which accredits higher education counseling services.

But adding staff to a campus counseling center won’t be enough to improve college student mental health and well-being, scholars and health care practitioners warn.

“Counseling centers cannot and should not be expected to solve these problems alone, given that the factors and forces affecting student well-being go well beyond the purview and resources that counseling centers can bring to bear,” a committee of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine writes in a 2021 report examining the issue.

Advice from prominent scholars

The report is the culmination of an 18-month investigation the National Academies launched in 2019, at the request of the federal government, to better understand how campus culture affects college student mental health and well-being. Committee members examined data, studied research articles and met with higher education leaders, mental health practitioners, researchers and students.

The committee’s key recommendation: that schools take a more comprehensive approach to student mental health, implementing a wide range of policies and programs aimed at preventing mental health problems and improving the well-being of all students — in addition to providing services and treatment for students in distress and those with diagnosed mental illnesses.

Everyone on campus, including faculty and staff across departments, needs to pitch in to establish a new campus culture, the committee asserts.

“An ‘all hands’ approach, one that emphasizes shared responsibility and a holistic understanding of what it means in practice to support students, is needed if institutions of higher education are to intervene from anything more than a reactive standpoint,” committee members write. “Creating this systemic change requires that institutions examine the entire culture and environment of the institution and accept more responsibility for creating learning environments where a changing student population can thrive.”

In a more recent analysis , three leading scholars in the field also stress the need for a broader plan of action.

Sara Abelson , a research assistant professor at Temple University’s medical school; Sarah Lipson , an associate professor at the Boston University School of Public Health; and Daniel Eisenberg ,  a professor of health policy and management at the University of California, Los Angeles’ School of Public Health, have been studying college student mental health for years.

Lipson and Eisenberg also are principal investigators for the Healthy Minds Network , which administers the Healthy Minds Study , a national survey of U.S college students conducted annually to gather information about their mental health, whether and how they receive mental health care and related issues.

Abelson, Lipson and Eisenberg review the research to date on mental health interventions for college students in the 2022 edition of Higher Education: Handbook of Theory and Research . They note that while the evidence indicates a multi-pronged approach is best, it’s unclear which specific strategies are most effective.

Much more research needed

Abelson, Lipson and Eisenberg stress the need for more research. Many interventions in place at colleges and universities today — for instance, schoolwide initiatives aimed at reducing mental health stigma and encouraging students to seek help when in duress – should be evaluated to gauge their effectiveness, they write in their chapter, “ Mental Health in College Populations: A Multidisciplinary Review of What Works, Evidence Gaps, and Paths Forward .”

They add that researchers and higher education leaders also need to look at how campus operations, including hiring practices and budgetary decisions, affect college student mental health. It would be helpful to know, for example, how students are impacted by limits on the number of campus counseling sessions they can have during a given period, Abelson, Lipson and Eisenberg suggest.

Likewise, it would be useful to know whether students are more likely to seek counseling when they must pay for their sessions or when their school charges every member of the student body a mandatory health fee that provides free counseling for all students.

“These financially-based considerations likely influence help-seeking and treatment receipt, but they have not been evaluated within higher education,” they write.

Interventions that show promise

The report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and the chapter by Abelson, Lipson and Eisenberg both spotlight programs and policies shown to prevent mental health problems or improve the mental health and well-being of young people. However, many intervention studies focus on high school students, specific groups of college students or specific institutions. Because of this, it can be tough to predict how well they would work across the higher education landscape.

Scientific evaluations of these types of interventions indicate they are effective:

• Building students’ behavior management skills and having them practice new skills under expert supervision . An example: A class that teaches students how to use mindfulness to improve their mental and physical health that includes instructor-led meditation exercises.
• Training some students to offer support to others , including sharing information and organizing peer counseling groups. “Peers may be ‘the single most potent source of influence’ on student affective and cognitive growth and development during college,” Abelson, Lipson and Eisenberg write.
• Reducing students’ access to things they can use to harm themselves , including guns and lethal doses of over-the-counter medication.
• Creating feelings of belonging through activities that connect students with similar interests or backgrounds.
• Making campuses more inclusive for racial and ethnic minorities, LGBTQ+ students and students who are the first in their families to go to college. One way to do that is by hiring mental health professionals trained to recognize, support and treat students from different backgrounds. “Research has shown that the presentation of [mental health] symptoms can differ based on racial and ethnic backgrounds, as can engaging in help-seeking behaviors that differ from those of cisgender, heteronormative white men,” explain members of National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine committee.

Helping journalists sift through the evidence

We encourage journalists to read the full committee report and aforementioned chapter in Higher Education: Handbook of Theory and Research . We realize, though, that many journalists won’t have time to pour over the combined 304 pages of text to better understand this issue and the wide array of interventions colleges and universities have tried, with varying success.

To help, we’ve gathered and summarized meta-analyses that investigate some of the more common interventions. Researchers conduct meta-analyses — a top-tier form of scientific evidence — to systematically analyze all the numerical data that appear in academic studies on a given topic. The findings of a meta-analysis are statistically stronger than those reached in a single study, partly because pooling data from multiple, similar studies creates a larger sample to examine.

Keep reading to learn more. And please check back here occasionally because we’ll add to this list as new research on college student mental health is published.

Peer-led programs

Stigma and Peer-Led Interventions: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Jing Sun; et al. Frontiers in Psychiatry, July 2022.

When people diagnosed with a mental illness received social or emotional support from peers with similar mental health conditions, they experienced less stress about the public stigma of mental illness, this analysis suggests.

The intervention worked for people from various age groups, including college students and middle-aged adults, researchers learned after analyzing seven studies on peer-led mental health programs written or published between 1975 and 2021.

Researchers found that participants also became less likely to identify with negative stereotypes associated with mental illness.

All seven studies they examined are randomized controlled trials conducted in the U.S., Germany or Switzerland. Together, the findings represent the experiences of a total of 763 people, 193 of whom were students at universities in the U.S.

Researchers focused on interventions designed for small groups of people, with the goal of reducing self-stigma and stress associated with the public stigma of mental illness. One or two trained peer counselors led each group for activities spanning three to 10 weeks.

Five of the seven studies tested the Honest, Open, Proud program, which features role-playing exercises, self-reflection and group discussion. It encourages participants to consider disclosing their mental health issues, instead of keeping them a secret, in hopes that will help them feel more confident and empowered. The two other programs studied are PhotoVoice , based in the United Kingdom, and

“By sharing their own experiences or recovery stories, peer moderators may bring a closer relationship, reduce stereotypes, and form a positive sense of identity and group identity, thereby reducing self-stigma,” the authors of the analysis write.

Expert-led instruction

The Effects of Meditation, Yoga, and Mindfulness on Depression, Anxiety, and Stress in Tertiary Education Students: A Meta-Analysis Josefien Breedvelt; et al. Frontiers in Psychiatry, April 2019.

Meditation-based programs help reduce symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress among college students, researchers find after analyzing the results of 24 research studies conducted in various parts of North America, Asia and Europe.

Reductions were “moderate,” researchers write. They warn, however, that the results of their meta-analysis should be interpreted with caution considering studies varied in quality.

A total of 1,373 college students participated in the 24 studies. Students practiced meditation, yoga or mindfulness an average of 153 minutes a week for about seven weeks. Most programs were provided in a group setting.

Although the researchers do not specify which types of mindfulness, yoga or meditation training students received, they note that the most commonly offered mindfulness program is Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction and that a frequently practiced form of yoga is Hatha Yoga .

Meta-Analytic Evaluation of Stress Reduction Interventions for Undergraduate and Graduate Students Miryam Yusufov; et al. International Journal of Stress Management, May 2019.

After examining six types of stress-reduction programs common on college campuses, researchers determined all were effective at reducing stress or anxiety among students — and some helped with both stress and anxiety.

Programs focusing on cognitive-behavioral therapy , coping skills and building social support networks were more effective in reducing stress. Meanwhile, relaxation training, mindfulness-based stress reduction and psychoeducation were more effective in reducing anxiety.

The authors find that all six program types were equally effective for undergraduate and graduate students.

The findings are based on an analysis of 43 studies dated from 1980 to 2015, 30 of which were conducted in the U.S. The rest were conducted in Australia, China, India, Iran, Japan, Jordan, Kora, Malaysia or Thailand. A total of 4,400 students participated.

Building an inclusive environment

Cultural Adaptations and Therapist Multicultural Competence: Two Meta-Analytic Reviews Alberto Soto; et al. Journal of Clinical Psychology, August 2018.

If racial and ethnic minorities believe their therapist understands their background and culture, their treatment tends to be more successful, this analysis suggests.

“The more a treatment is tailored to match the precise characteristics of a client, the more likely that client will engage in treatment, remain in treatment, and experience improvement as a result of treatment,” the authors write.

Researchers analyzed the results of 15 journal articles and doctoral dissertations that examine therapists’ cultural competence . Nearly three-fourths of those studies were written or published in 2010 or later. Together, the findings represent the experiences of 2,640 therapy clients, many of whom were college students. Just over 40% of participants were African American and 32% were Hispanic or Latino.

The researchers note that they find no link between therapists’ ratings of their own level of cultural competence and client outcomes.

Internet-based interventions

Internet Interventions for Mental Health in University Students: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Mathias Harrer; et al. International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research, June 2019.

Internet-based mental health programs can help reduce stress and symptoms of anxiety, depression and eating disorders among college students, according to an analysis of 48 research studies published or written before April 30, 2018 on the topic.

All 48 studies were randomized, controlled trials of mental health interventions that used the internet to engage with students across various platforms and devices, including mobile phones and apps. In total, 10,583 students participated in the trials.

“We found small effects on depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms, as well as moderate‐sized effects on eating disorder symptoms and students’ social and academic functioning,” write the authors, who conducted the meta-analysis as part of the World Mental Health International College Student Initiative .

The analysis indicates programs that focus on cognitive behavioral therapy “were superior to other types of interventions.” Also, programs “of moderate length” — one to two months – were more effective.

The researchers note that studies of programs targeting depression showed better results when students were not compensated for their participation, compared to studies in which no compensation was provided. The researchers do not offer possible explanations for the difference in results or details about the types of compensation offered to students.

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Denise-Marie Ordway

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PTSD Has Surged Among College Students

The prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder among college students rose to 7.5 percent in 2022, more than double the rate five years earlier, researchers found.

By Ellen Barry

Post-traumatic stress disorder diagnoses among college students more than doubled between 2017 and 2022, climbing most sharply as the coronavirus pandemic shut down campuses and upended young adults’ lives, according to new research published on Thursday.

The prevalence of PTSD rose to 7.5 percent from 3.4 percent during that period, according to the findings . Researchers analyzed responses from more than 390,000 participants in the Healthy Minds Study, an annual web-based survey.

“The magnitude of this rise is indeed shocking,” said Yusen Zhai, the paper’s lead author, who heads the community counseling clinic at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. His clinic had seen more young people struggling in the aftermath of traumatic events. So he expected an increase, but not such a large one.

Dr. Zhai, an assistant professor in the Department of Human Studies, attributed the rise to “broader societal stressors” on college students, such as campus shootings, social unrest and the sudden loss of loved ones from the coronavirus.

PTSD is a mental health disorder characterized by intrusive thoughts, flashbacks and heightened sensitivity to reminders of an event, continuing more than a month after it occurs.

It is a relatively common disorder , with an estimated 5 percent of adults in the United States experiencing it in any given year, according to the most recent epidemiological survey conducted by the Department of Health and Human Services. Lifetime prevalence is 8 percent in women and 4 percent in men, the survey found.

The new research also found a sharp rise in the prevalence of a similar condition, acute stress disorder, which is diagnosed less than a month after a trauma. Diagnoses rose to 0.7 percent among college students in 2022, up from 0.2 percent five years earlier.

Use of mental health care increased nationally during the pandemic, as teletherapy made it far easier to see clinicians. Treatment for anxiety disorders increased most steeply, followed by PTSD, bipolar disorder and depression, according to economists who analyzed more than 1.5 million insurance claims for clinician visits between 2020 and 2022.

PTSD was introduced as an official diagnosis in 1980, as it became clear that combat experiences had imprinted on many Vietnam veterans, making it difficult for them to work or participate in family life. Over the decades that followed, the definition was revised to encompass a larger range of injury, violence and abuse, as well as indirect exposure to traumatic events.

However, the diagnosis still requires exposure to a Criterion A trauma, defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders as “death, threatened death, actual or threatened serious injury, or actual or threatened sexual violence.”

It is not uncommon for young adults to experience traumatic events. A 1996 study of Detroit residents found that exposure to traumatic events — such as violent assaults, injuries or unexpected death — peaked sharply between the ages of 16 and 20. It then declined precipitously after age 20.

Research suggests that less than one-third of people exposed to traumatic events go on to develop PTSD.

Shannon E. Cusack, an academic researcher who has studied PTSD in college students, said there was division within the field about whether the profound disruptions that young adults experienced during the pandemic — abrupt loss of housing and income, social isolation and fear about infections — amount to triggering events.

“They’re causing symptoms that are consistent with the PTSD diagnosis,” said Dr. Cusack, a clinical psychologist and an assistant professor of psychiatry at Virginia Commonwealth University. “Am I not going to treat them because their stressor doesn’t count as a trauma?”

The prevalence data, she said, points to a pressing need for PTSD treatment on college campuses. Short-term treatments developed for veterans, such as prolonged exposure therapy and cognitive processing therapy, have proved effective in managing PTSD symptoms.

Stephen P. Hinshaw, a professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, said that the disruptions of the pandemic might have left college students emotionally depleted and less resilient when faced with traumatic events.

“Midway through this study, there may have been legitimately more trauma and death,” he said, adding that the lockdowns may have caused more general despair among young people. “With the general mental health deterioration, is it harder to cope with traumatic stressors if you do get exposed to them?”

Some changes to the diagnostic manual may have blurred the line between PTSD and disorders like depression or anxiety, Dr. Hinshaw said. In 2013, the committee overseeing revisions to the manual expanded the list of potential PTSD symptoms to include dysphoria, or a deep sense of unease, and a negative worldview, which could also be caused by depression, he said. But the changes, he added, do not account for the sharp increase in diagnoses.

Ellen Barry is a reporter covering mental health for The Times. More about Ellen Barry

Psychosocial Correlates of Insomnia Among College Students

ORIGINAL RESEARCH — Volume 19 — September 15, 2022

Yves Paul Vincent Mbous, MEng, BSc Hons, BSc 1 ; Mona Nili, PhD, PharmD, MS, MBA 1 ; Rowida Mohamed, MSc, BPharm 1 ; Nilanjana Dwibedi, PhD, MBA, BPharm 1 ( View author affiliations )

Suggested citation for this article: Mbous YPV, Nili M, Mohamed R, Dwibedi N. Psychosocial Correlates of Insomnia Among College Students. Prev Chronic Dis 2022;19:220060. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5888/pcd19.220060 .

PEER REVIEWED

Introduction

Acknowledgments, author information.

What is already known on this topic?

Despite the well-known prevalence of insomnia among college students, its association with mental health remains a topic of considerable interest, particularly among this vulnerable population constantly adapting to the demands of the academic world.

What is added by this report?

We show that at least a quarter of college students experience insomnia, and we uncover its predominant association with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and depression.

What are the implications for public health practice?

The implications demand a serious consideration of mental health during attempts to improve students’ sleep quality.

Among college students, insomnia remains a topic of research focus, especially as it pertains to its correlates and the extent of its association with mental conditions. This study aimed to shed light on the chief predictors of insomnia among college students.

A cross-sectional survey on a convenience sample of college students (aged ≥18 years) at 2 large midwestern universities was conducted from March 18 through August 23, 2019. All participants were administered validated screening instruments used to screen for insomnia, depression, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Insomnia correlates were identified by using multivariate logistic regression.

Overall, 26.4% of students experienced insomnia; 41.2% and 15.8% had depression and had ADHD symptoms, respectively. Students with depression (adjusted odds ratio, 9.54; 95% CI, 4.50–20.26) and students with ADHD (adjusted odds ratio, 3.48; 95% CI, 1.48–8.19) had significantly higher odds of insomnia. The odds of insomnia were also significantly higher among employed students (odds ratio, 2.10; 95% CI, 1.05–4.18).

This study showed an association between insomnia and mental health conditions among college students. Policy efforts should be directed toward primary and secondary prevention programs that enforce sleep education interventions, particularly among employed college students and those with mental illnesses.

The National Sleep Foundation and the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and Sleep Research Society guidelines recommend 7 to 9 hours of sleep for young adults (1). However, at least 60% of college students have poor quality sleep and garner, on average, 7 hours of sleep per night (2). Previous research showed that up to 75% of college students reported occasional sleep disturbances, while 15% reported overall poor sleep quality (3). In another work, among a sample of 191 undergraduate students, researchers found that 73% of students exhibited some form of sleep problem, with a higher frequency among women than men (4).

Direct consequences of poor sleep among college students include increased tension, irritability, depression, confusion, reduced life satisfaction, or poor academic performance (4). Evidence abounds of the positive correlation between academic failure, low grade point average, negative academic performance, and poor sleep quality patterns (5). As these complications arise early in the life of these students, they might develop into serious ailments as they grow older (high blood pressure, diabetes, stroke) and thereby create an even bigger public health problem. Because insomnia weakens physical and mental functions in addition to academic performances, reduced sleep quality could also lead to mental issues or vice versa (6).

Erratic schedules and lifestyle adjustments coupled with the strain of daily occupation are partly to blame for the general dissatisfaction with sleep quality and duration, because work obligations reduce hours of sleep among college students (2). However, in light of these consequences, it behooves the scientific community to identify modifiable factors associated with insomnia among college students that could help spur countermeasures or design lifestyle interventions to ameliorate the overall well-being of college students. In this study, we strived to identify environmental, mental, and behavioral factors affecting insomnia among college students. The intersection between behavioral factors and mental health is also evaluated in this work because physical activity, particularly, has been shown to mitigate insomnia (7). Because the relationship between insomnia and some of the understudied mental conditions could be bidirectional and given that cause-and-effect will not be established in this study, insomnia was labeled a criterion variable.

Study design, sampling, eligibility criteria

A cross-sectional design was used for this study. Convenience and snowball sampling strategy methods were used for sampling. West Virginia University and Marshall University students aged 18 years or older and able to read and write in English were eligible to participate. Study approval was acquired from the Institutional Review Board of West Virginia University. Consent for participation and anonymity were emphasized before the questionnaire’s distribution, along with instructions for completion. No incentives were provided for participants in this study.

Instruments and measures

Demographic characteristics included sex (male, female), age, race (White; All others, which included Black or African American, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, and any other racial group), marital status (married, not married), educational level (undergraduate, professional or graduate), employment status (employed, unemployed), physical activity (<2 d/wk, ≥2 d/wk), caffeine consumption (<6 cups/d, ≥6 cups/d, because previous research established a daily upper limit of 6 cups to maintain a healthy heart and blood pressure [8]), alcohol use (never, some days or every day), smoking status (yes, no), and the number of chronic non–mental health conditions (guided by the US Health and Human Services’ strategic framework [9], and included arthritis, asthma, cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, Crohn disease, cystic fibrosis, diabetes, epilepsy, heart disease, HIV/AIDS, and multiple sclerosis).

The criterion variable in this study was a diagnosis of insomnia as assessed by the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI). The ISI uses 7 items to evaluate the severity of insomnia. The first 3 items assess severity of sleep onset, sleep maintenance, and early morning awakening problems, and the last 4 examine sleep satisfaction, sleep disturbance, sleep worry, and sleep interference in daily life (10). Each item is graded on a 0 to 4 Likert scale, and the total score is calculated as the sum of each item, yielding minimum and maximum values of 0 and 28, respectively. Total score categories are as follows: 0 to 7 = no clinically significant insomnia; 8 to 14 = subthreshold insomnia; 15 to 21 = clinical insomnia (moderate severity); 22 to 28 = clinical insomnia (severe). In this study, ISI scores were divided into 2 categories based on a cutoff point of 15: patients with clinically significant insomnia (cutoff point of 15 or more) and participants with no clinically significant insomnia (cutoff point less than 15). This threshold point was motivated by the validity of this scale as a primary care diagnostic tool at a cutoff score of 14 (11).

Instruments to screen for depression and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) were used to evaluate mental health. For depression, we used the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), a self-reported questionnaire that contains 9 items incorporating the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) IV criteria for probable major depressive disorder. Each item can be scored from 0 through 3, and total scores can vary from 0 to 27, with cutoff points of 5, 10, 15, and 20, corresponding respectively to diagnoses of mild, moderate, moderately severe, and severe depressive symptoms. Given the high correlation observed in the literature between the third item of the PHQ-9 (also assessing sleep disturbance) and various sleep scales (12,13), we removed this item before calculating the overall score. PHQ-9 scores were divided into 2 categories: participants with clinically significant depressive symptoms (cutoff point of 8 or more) and participants with no clinically significant depressive symptoms (cutoff point less than 8). This was dictated by the sensitivity and specificity of the PHQ-9 at this cutoff score as a satisfactory diagnostic tool for depression in primary and secondary care settings (14).

For ADHD, Part A of the Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS) was used. Only Part A of the questionnaire contains the 6 predictive measures of ADHD symptom severity (15). Items use a Likert scale (never, rarely, sometimes, often, very often). For items 1 to 3, ratings of sometimes, often, or very often were assigned 1 point (ratings of never or rarely were assigned 0 points). For the remaining items, ratings of often or very often were assigned 1 point (ratings of never, rarely, or sometimes were assigned 0 points). A sum of scores of 4 or more indicated ADHD symptoms. Diagnosis of anxiety was established using an item that elicited from participants a recent diagnosis of anxiety or current medication regimen for anxiety. The criterion variable and predictors in this study were collected using a 3-part questionnaire, including demographics, insomnia screening, and mental health screening.

Survey procedure

The online survey was administered using the Qualtrics (Qualtrics) web-based survey tool. The invitation letter to participate in this survey was sent to participants through the listserve to students and social media outlets (Facebook and Twitter) from March 18 through August 23, 2019.

Data analysis

During the analysis, we omitted responses with half or more missing information (75 incomplete and missing responses were excluded from the final sample) from the criterion variable (insomnia) and predictors (ie, ADHD, anxiety, depression, chronic non–mental health conditions, employment status, sex, race and ethnicity, sex, education level, physical activity status, alcohol and caffeine consumption, and smoking). Descriptive statistics were used to describe the study participants. Cell sizes with fewer than 5 were conflated with the next immediate encompassing category. Significant differences in outcomes among predictive factors were determined by using independent t tests. Differences were labeled significant at an α level less than or equal to .05. Were used χ 2 tests of independence to compare the distribution of dependent categorical or nominal variables and the distribution in the criterion variable (for large cell sizes). Fisher tests were used for the same purpose, albeit for smaller cell sizes (~ n = 5). We did not apply any statistical adjustments (eg, Bonferroni adjustments) for multiple comparisons on the same sample out of concern for the substantial reduction in the statistical power of rejecting an incorrect Ho in each test (16).

Multivariable logistic regression models were built to model a relationship between predictors and insomnia. We included logistic regression models analyzing the interaction between different mental conditions and between physical activity and mental health (diagnosis of anxiety, depression, or ADHD). Model 1 regressed the dependent variable on all independent variables. Models 2 through 4 added 2-way interactions between mental conditions, namely anxiety, ADHD, and depression, respectively, and physical activity. From each of these models, odds ratios were derived. The analysis was conducted by using SPSS version 26 (IBM Corp).

Validity and reliability

To validate the use of the foregoing instruments in a college population, we conducted confirmatory factor analyses. Results indicated loading patterns consistent with the structure of the adopted scales. Our method of choice was principal component analysis with varimax rotation. The ISI was a unidimensional scale with factor loading ranging from 0.375 to 0.876. The unidimensional PHQ-9 factor loadings oscillated between 0.627 and 0.881. The ASRS, also unidimensional, had factor loadings ranging from 0.462 to 0.803. The reliability of the ISI, PHQ-9, and ASRS, as assessed using the Cronbach α (0.857, 0.909, 0.768, respectively), was excellent. The degree of concordance between the ISI and the nonsleep scales (divergent validity) was evaluated by using correlation coefficients. We found a weak to moderate magnitude of correlation ( r < 0.7), based on a widespread threshold from the literature (17).

A total of 330 responses were included in our analysis ( Table 1 ). The mean age of participants was 24.4 years old. Across the entire sample, most participants were women (67.0%), White (89.7%), not married (94.2%), undergraduate students (62.4%), and with no chronic non–mental health conditions (69.7%). Based on the screening questionnaires, the prevalences of anxiety, depression, ADHD, and insomnia were 28.5%, 41.2.%, 15.8%, and 26.4%, respectively.

Among the participants with insomnia, most were women (81.6%), White (83.9%), undergraduate students (65.5%), physically active on 2 or more days during the week (79.3%), consumed less than 6 cups of caffeine per day (88.5%), at least occasionally consumed alcohol (67.8%), were nonsmokers (93.1%), had no chronic conditions (58.6%), were not anxious constantly (63.2%), were depressed (78.2%), and had no symptoms of ADHD (62.1%). In general, participants without insomnia followed the same trend, except that most did not have depression (71.2%). Employment status in both groups (participants with and those without insomnia) was roughly similar. Sex, race, the number of chronic non–mental health conditions, depression, and ADHD symptoms were found to be significant correlates of insomnia ( Table 1 ).

Findings from models 2 and 4 were not significant. In model 3, the multiple logistic regression model indicated that psychosocial factors such as employment status, depression, and ADHD significantly increased the odds of insomnia ( Table 2 ). Employed students had 2.10 times higher odds of insomnia compared with unemployed students. In addition, the odds of insomnia were 9.54 and 3.48 times higher for students with depression and ADHD, respectively. Anxiety was not significantly associated with insomnia (adjusted odds ratio: 1.71, P = .13). Physical activity was a significant effect modifier in the association between ADHD and insomnia (adjusted odds ratio: 12.1, P = 0.012). The strength of the association between ADHD symptoms and insomnia was lower among students who exercised 2 or more days a week compared with those who exercised less.

In this study, we identified factors associated with insomnia among college students. ADHD, depression, and employment status were significantly associated with insomnia. We reported a 26.4% prevalence of insomnia among college students, a finding consistent with existing literature. A previous meta-analysis reported an overall insomnia prevalence of 18.5% (95% CI, 11.2%–28.8%) among university students; our estimate fell within this reported CI (6). Another study found that insomnia prevalence was 26.7% among university nursing students (18). Taylor and coworkers reported an insomnia prevalence of 9.5% among a cohort of 1,039 college students by using the ISI and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) (19); their operational definition of chronic insomnia was established over 3 months as opposed to 1 month in our study. In our work, small cell sizes restricted the categorization of insomnia into moderate, mild, or severe. This explains the deviation of our results from those of past researchers that used the ISI systematic classification of different degrees of insomnia. For instance, Gress-Smith et al found that 47% of college students had mild insomnia and 22.5% had moderate to severe insomnia (20). In another ISI-based study, 12% of students endorsed a diagnosis of clinical insomnia, and 45% met the criteria for subclinical insomnia (21). All these intricacies cement our results within the current pool of research.

Our findings indicated that 78.2% of students with insomnia also experienced depression, and the odds of insomnia were 9.54 times higher among students with depression than students without depression. Olufsen et al reported a prevalence of depression among college students with insomnia of 30% to 38%, using the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition (DSM-IV) (22). Another research concluded that depressive symptoms, assessed using criteria of the DSM-IV, were associated with increased insomnia complaints among college students (odds ratio, 1.09) (23). These findings lend credence to the bidirectional relationship between insomnia and depression. Thus, it is typical of patients with insomnia to exhibit psychological profiles (poor coping skills, poor health status, ruminative traits) that herald the onset of depression. Ubiquitous characteristics of insomnia, such as fatigue, irritability, and cognitive impairment, which are well-known derivatives of insomnia among students, exacerbate depressive symptoms (24).

In our sample, 15.8% had ADHD, and the odds of insomnia were 3.48 times higher for students with ADHD than those without ADHD. The prevalence of clinically significant cases of ADHD varies between 2% and 8% of the college student population (25). A previous study showed a similar ADHD prevalence to ours at ~19% (26). In the same study, the authors also reported that students with ADHD had a risk of insomnia 2.7 times greater than those without ADHD (26). These observations indicate the importance of examining symptom clusters that involve both sleep and mental and emotional components when investigating and treating insomnia, depression, or ADHD.

Physical activity mitigated the effect of mental health on insomnia. As regular physical activity helps improve sleep quality (7) and has psychological benefits (27), it was not surprising to find that among those with mental conditions, those who exercised more often (in this case, 2 or more days per week) seemed to have better sleep quality than those who exercised less. Students are often hesitant to seek help for mental health and insomnia concerns; therefore, interventions need to be youth-friendly, acceptable, feasible, and nonstigmatizing (28). Young people view physical activity as helpful in mitigating mental conditions as well as being nonstigmatizing (29). Although most university campuses offer physical activity–based wellness programs, research exploring students’ perceptions of on-campus physical activity initiatives as alternatives to mental health and insomnia management strategy is limited (30).

We found that employment was significantly associated with sleep problems among college students. Similarly, previous research has linked employment to insomnia. A meta-analysis found job demand to be negatively correlated with sleep quality, whereas job control was positively correlated (31). Students, most of whom held part-time jobs and thus had less job control yet high job demands, might understandably experience substantial sleep difficulties and reduced sleep quality in general. Also, the competing demands to complete academic requirements and maintain employment may also serve as structural barriers to adequate sleep.

Strengths and limitations

This study had several strengths. First, we evaluated factors susceptible to accompany a diagnosis of insomnia in a sample of college students. Further, we used established instruments that we validated psychometrically across a new population. However, this study had a few limitations. First, the data were collected from 2 universities, namely West Virginia and Marshall University, thus limiting the generalizability of the findings. Information on study majors was not collected, yet could have influenced the prevalence and the uncovered associations of insomnia and mental conditions. Further, we used a cross-sectional design and could only establish association, not causality. Finally, small cell sizes restricted the stratification of insomnia, which would have enriched our results.

Our results indicate that better mental health and insomnia must be addressed concomitantly as their association is not random. Addressing these issues entails better time management skills dedicated to studying, work, and leisure. Such skills should be at the fingertips of college students to help them cope with the increasing demands of university life. These findings should also be communicated to the employers of college students who in turn should prioritize the overall well-being of their employees. As a future direction for our work, we endeavor to measure health services utilization among students with mental conditions that tie directly to sleep quality; this, in a bid, to inform policy on the need to improve mental health services access for college students.

The burden of insomnia among college students is one that must be readily addressed as its spillover effects decrease substantial traits that are crucial for college life. Mental health, specifically depression and ADHD, and employment are salient contributors to the high levels of insomnia. Addressing these associations could help improve the experience and well-being of college students. Further, the promotion on campuses of healthy behaviors such as physical activity could yield significant improvements vis-à-vis the lifestyle of college students, as physical activity, in this study, has been shown to mitigate the effect of mental health on insomnia or vice versa.

The authors would like to thank Jason Kang, MD, MS, for his input during the conception of this study.

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest, and the authors confirm that the data supporting the findings of this article are included within the study. No financial support was received for this work. Permission to use the ASRS was obtained from Ronald C. Kessler.

Author contributions: conceptualization, all authors; data curation, Mr Mbous and Dr Nili; formal analysis, Mr Mbous, Dr Nili, and Ms Mohamed; investigation and methodology, all authors; project administration, Mr Mbous and Dr Nili; supervision, Dr Dwibedi; writing the original draft, Mr Mbous; writing review and editing, all authors.

Corresponding Author: Yves Paul Vincent Mbous, MEng, BSc Hons, BSc, School of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmaceutical Systems and Policy, PO Box 9510, Morgantown, WV 26506. Email: [email protected] .

Author Affiliations: 1 School of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmaceutical Systems and Policy, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia.

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Abbreviations: ADHD, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder; NA, not applicable. a Data are number (percentage) unless otherwise specified. Numbers may not add to total because of missing data. b Independent t test. c Pearson χ 2 . d P value between .001 and <.01. e P value between .01 and <.05. f All other races included Black or African American, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, and any other racial group. g Fisher exact test. h P < .001.

a All other races included Black or African American, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, and any other racial group. b P value between .01 and <.05. c P < .001. d P value between .001 and <.01.

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Stress in College Students: What to Know

Strong social connections and positive habits can help ease high levels of stress among college-age adults.

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From socializing to working out, here's how college students can better manage stress.

From paying for school and taking exams to filling out internship applications, college students can face overwhelming pressure and demands. Some stress can be healthy and even motivating under the proper circumstances, but often stress is overwhelming and can lead to other issues.

"Stress is there for a reason. It's there to help mobilize you to meet the demands of your day, but you're also supposed to have times where you do shut down and relax and repair and restore," says Emma K. Adam, professor of human development and social policy at Northwestern University in Illinois.

Chronic and unhealthy levels of stress is at its worst among college-age students and young adults, some research shows. According to the American Psychological Association's 2022 "Stress in America" report , 46% of adults ages 18 to 35 reported that "most days they are so stressed they can't function."

In a Gallup poll that surveyed more than 2,400 college students in March 2023, 66% of reported experiencing stress and 51% reported feelings of worry "during a lot of the day." And emotional stress was among the top reasons students considered dropping out of college in the fall 2022 semester, according to findings in the State of Higher Education 2023 report, based on a study conducted in 2022 by Gallup and the Lumina Foundation.

As students are navigating a new environment and often living independently for the first time, they encounter numerous opportunities, responsibilities and life changes on top of academic responsibilities. It can be sensory overload for some, experts say.

“Going to college has always been a significant time of transition developmentally with adulthood, but you add to it everything that comes along with that transition and then you put onto it a youth mental health crisis, it’s just compounded in a very different way," says Jessica Gomez, a clinical psychologist and executive director of Momentous Institute, a researched-based organization that provides mental health services and educational programming to children and families.

Experts say college students have experienced heightened stress since the COVID-19 pandemic, a trend likely to continue for the foreseeable future.

“What some of our research at Gallup has shown is that we had a rising tide of negative emotions, not just in the U.S. but globally, in the eight to 10 years leading up to the pandemic, and of course it got worse during the pandemic," says Stephanie Marken, senior partner of the education research division at Gallup who conducted the 2023 study. “For currently enrolled college students, there’s so many contributing factors.”

Adam notes that multiple factors combine to contribute to heightened stress among younger adults, including the nation’s racial and political controversies, as well as anxiety regarding their futures fueled by climate change, global unrest and economic uncertainty. Female students reported higher levels of stress than males in the Gallup poll, which Marken says could be attributed to several factors like increased internal academic pressure, caregiving responsibilities and the recent uncertainty regarding abortion rights following the reversal of Roe v. Wade.

All of this, plus the residual effects of pandemic learning, has contributed to rising stress for college students, Marken says.

"We need to give them a lot of credit," she says. "They had the most challenge in remote learning of all the learners that have come before them. Many of them had to graduate high school and study remotely, or were a first-year college student during the pandemic, and that was incredibly difficult."

The challenges that came with that learning environment will likely affect students throughout college, she says, as well as typical stressors like discrimination, harassment and academic challenges.

"Those will always be present on college campuses," she says. "The question is, how do we create a student who overcomes those challenges effectively?"

Experts suggest a range of specific actions and positive shifts that can help ease stress in college students:

• Notice the symptoms of heightened stress.
• Build and maintain social connections.
• Sleep, eat well and exercise.

Notice the Symptoms of Heightened Stress

College students can start by learning to identify when normal stress increases to become unhealthy. Stress will appear differently in each student, says Lindsey Giller, a clinical psychologist with the Child Mind Institute, a nonprofit focused on helping children and young adults with mental health and learning disorders.

"Students prone to anxiety may avoid assignments as well as skip classes due to experiencing shame for being behind or missing things," she says. "For some, they may also start sleeping in more, eating at more random times, foregoing self-care, or look to distraction or escape mechanisms, like substances, to fill time and further avoid the reality of workload assignments."

Changes in diet and sleeping are also telling, as well as increased social isolation and pulling away from activities that once brought you pleasure is also a red flag, Gomez says.

She warns students to watch for signs of irritability, a classic indicator of increased stress that can often compound issues, especially within interpersonal relationships.

"Your body speaks to you, so be in tune with your body," she says.

Build and Maintain Social Connections

Socializing can help humans release stress. Experts say having fun and finding joy in life keep stress levels manageable, and socializing is particularly important developmentally for young adults. In the 2023 Gallup poll, 76% of students reported feeling enjoyment the previous day, which Marken says was an encouraging sign.

But 39% reported experiencing feelings of loneliness and 36% reported feeling sad. “We are in the midst of an epidemic of loneliness in our country, where we are noticing people don’t have the skills to build friendships,” Gomez says.

Discover six

Talking about feelings of stress can help college students cope, which is why the amount of students feeling lonely is concerning, Marken says. If students don't feel like they belong or have a social network to call on when feeling stressed, negative emotions are compounded.

“I think we’re more connected, and yet we’re more isolated than ever," she says. "It feels counterintuitive. How can you be more connected to your network and campus than ever, yet feel this lonely? Just because they have a device to connect with each other in a transactional way doesn’t mean it’s a meaningful relationship. I think that’s what we’re missing on a lot of college campuses is students creating meaningful connections about a shared experience."

Setting boundaries on social media use is crucial, Gomez says, as is getting plugged in with people and organizations that will be enriching. For example, Gomez says she joined a Latina sorority to be in community with others who shared some of her life experiences and interests.

Sleep, Eat Well and Exercise

Maintaining healthy habits can help college students better manage stressors that arise.

"Prioritizing sleep, moving your body, getting organized, and leaning on your support network all help college students prevent or manage stress," John MacPhee, CEO of The Jed Foundation, a nonprofit that aims to protect emotional health and prevent suicide among teens and young adults, wrote in an email. "In the inevitable moments of high stress, mindful breathing, short brain breaks, and relaxation techniques can really help."

Experts suggest creating a routine and sticking to it. That includes getting between eight and 10 hours of sleep each night and avoiding staying up late, Gomez says. A nutrient-rich diet can also go a long way in maintaining good physical and mental health, she says.

Getting outdoors and being active can also help students limit their screen time and use of social media.

“Walking to campus, maybe taking that longer walk, because your body needs that to heal," Gomez says. "It’s going to help buffer you. So if that’s the only thing you do, try to do that."

Colleges typically offer mental health resources such as counseling and support groups for struggling students.

Students dealing with chronic and unhealthy stress should contact their college and reach out to friends and family for support. Reaching out to parents, friends or mentors can be beneficial for students when feelings of stress come up, especially in heightened states around midterm and final exams .

Accessing student supports and counseling early can prevent a cascading effect that results in serious mental health challenges or unhealthy coping mechanisms like problem drinking and drug abuse , experts say.

"Know there are lots of resources on campus from academic services to counseling centers to get structured, professional support to lower your workload, improve coping skills, and have a safe space to process anxiety, worry, and stress," MacPhee says.

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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Academic stress and mental well-being in college students: correlations, affected groups, and covid-19.

• 1 Department of Neurology, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ, United States
• 2 Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ, United States
• 3 Office for Diversity and Community Engagement, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ, United States
• 4 Department of Biology, The College of New Jersey, Ewing, NJ, United States

Academic stress may be the single most dominant stress factor that affects the mental well-being of college students. Some groups of students may experience more stress than others, and the coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic could further complicate the stress response. We surveyed 843 college students and evaluated whether academic stress levels affected their mental health, and if so, whether there were specific vulnerable groups by gender, race/ethnicity, year of study, and reaction to the pandemic. Using a combination of scores from the Perception of Academic Stress Scale (PAS) and the Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale (SWEMWBS), we found a significant correlation between worse academic stress and poor mental well-being in all the students, who also reported an exacerbation of stress in response to the pandemic. In addition, SWEMWBS scores revealed the lowest mental health and highest academic stress in non-binary individuals, and the opposite trend was observed for both the measures in men. Furthermore, women and non-binary students reported higher academic stress than men, as indicated by PAS scores. The same pattern held as a reaction to COVID-19-related stress. PAS scores and responses to the pandemic varied by the year of study, but no obvious patterns emerged. These results indicate that academic stress in college is significantly correlated to psychological well-being in the students who responded to this survey. In addition, some groups of college students are more affected by stress than others, and additional resources and support should be provided to them.

Introduction

Late adolescence and emerging adulthood are transitional periods marked by major physiological and psychological changes, including elevated stress ( Hogan and Astone, 1986 ; Arnett, 2000 ; Shanahan, 2000 ; Spear, 2000 ; Scales et al., 2015 ; Romeo et al., 2016 ; Barbayannis et al., 2017 ; Chiang et al., 2019 ; Lally and Valentine-French, 2019 ; Matud et al., 2020 ). This pattern is particularly true for college students. According to a 2015 American College Health Association-National College Health Assessment survey, three in four college students self-reported feeling stressed, while one in five college students reported stress-related suicidal ideation ( Liu, C. H., et al., 2019 ; American Psychological Association, 2020 ). Studies show that a stressor experienced in college may serve as a predictor of mental health diagnoses ( Pedrelli et al., 2015 ; Liu, C. H., et al., 2019 ; Karyotaki et al., 2020 ). Indeed, many mental health disorders, including depression, anxiety, and substance abuse disorder, begin during this period ( Blanco et al., 2008 ; Pedrelli et al., 2015 ; Saleh et al., 2017 ; Reddy et al., 2018 ; Liu, C. H., et al., 2019 ).

Stress experienced by college students is multi-factorial and can be attributed to a variety of contributing factors ( Reddy et al., 2018 ; Karyotaki et al., 2020 ). A growing body of evidence suggests that academic-related stress plays a significant role in college ( Misra and McKean, 2000 ; Dusselier et al., 2005 ; Elias et al., 2011 ; Bedewy and Gabriel, 2015 ; Hj Ramli et al., 2018 ; Reddy et al., 2018 ; Pascoe et al., 2020 ). For instance, as many as 87% of college students surveyed across the United States cited education as their primary source of stress ( American Psychological Association, 2020 ). College students are exposed to novel academic stressors, such as an extensive academic course load, substantial studying, time management, classroom competition, financial concerns, familial pressures, and adapting to a new environment ( Misra and Castillo, 2004 ; Byrd and McKinney, 2012 ; Ekpenyong et al., 2013 ; Bedewy and Gabriel, 2015 ; Ketchen Lipson et al., 2015 ; Pedrelli et al., 2015 ; Reddy et al., 2018 ; Liu, C. H., et al., 2019 ; Freire et al., 2020 ; Karyotaki et al., 2020 ). Academic stress can reduce motivation, hinder academic achievement, and lead to increased college dropout rates ( Pascoe et al., 2020 ).

Academic stress has also been shown to negatively impact mental health in students ( Li and Lin, 2003 ; Eisenberg et al., 2009 ; Green et al., 2021 ). Mental, or psychological, well-being is one of the components of positive mental health, and it includes happiness, life satisfaction, stress management, and psychological functioning ( Ryan and Deci, 2001 ; Tennant et al., 2007 ; Galderisi et al., 2015 ; Trout and Alsandor, 2020 ; Defeyter et al., 2021 ; Green et al., 2021 ). Positive mental health is an understudied but important area that helps paint a more comprehensive picture of overall mental health ( Tennant et al., 2007 ; Margraf et al., 2020 ). Moreover, positive mental health has been shown to be predictive of both negative and positive mental health indicators over time ( Margraf et al., 2020 ). Further exploring the relationship between academic stress and mental well-being is important because poor mental well-being has been shown to affect academic performance in college ( Tennant et al., 2007 ; Eisenberg et al., 2009 ; Freire et al., 2016 ).

Perception of academic stress varies among different groups of college students ( Lee et al., 2021 ). For instance, female college students report experiencing increased stress than their male counterparts ( Misra et al., 2000 ; Eisenberg et al., 2007 ; Evans et al., 2018 ; Lee et al., 2021 ). Male and female students also respond differently to stressors ( Misra et al., 2000 ; Verma et al., 2011 ). Moreover, compared to their cisgender peers, non-binary students report increased stressors and mental health issues ( Budge et al., 2020 ). The academic year of study of the college students has also been shown to impact academic stress levels ( Misra and McKean, 2000 ; Elias et al., 2011 ; Wyatt et al., 2017 ; Liu, C. H., et al., 2019 ; Defeyter et al., 2021 ). While several studies indicate that racial/ethnic minority groups of students, including Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino, and Asian American students, are more likely to experience anxiety, depression, and suicidality than their white peers ( Lesure-Lester and King, 2004 ; Lipson et al., 2018 ; Liu, C. H., et al., 2019 ; Kodish et al., 2022 ), these studies are limited and often report mixed or inconclusive findings ( Liu, C. H., et al., 2019 ; Kodish et al., 2022 ). Therefore, more studies should be conducted to address this gap in research to help identify subgroups that may be disproportionately impacted by academic stress and lower well-being.

The coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic is a major stressor that has led to a mental health crisis ( American Psychological Association, 2020 ; Dong and Bouey, 2020 ). For college students, the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in significant changes and disruptions to daily life, elevated stress levels, and mental and physical health deterioration ( American Psychological Association, 2020 ; Husky et al., 2020 ; Patsali et al., 2020 ; Son et al., 2020 ; Clabaugh et al., 2021 ; Lee et al., 2021 ; Lopes and Nihei, 2021 ; Yang et al., 2021 ). While any college student is vulnerable to these stressors, these concerns are amplified for members of minority groups ( Salerno et al., 2020 ; Clabaugh et al., 2021 ; McQuaid et al., 2021 ; Prowse et al., 2021 ; Kodish et al., 2022 ). Identifying students at greatest risk provides opportunities to offer support, resources, and mental health services to specific subgroups.

The overall aim of this study was to assess academic stress and mental well-being in a sample of college students. Within this umbrella, we had several goals. First, to determine whether a relationship exists between the two constructs of perceived academic stress, measured by the Perception of Academic Stress Scale (PAS), and mental well-being, measured by the Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale (SWEMWBS), in college students. Second, to identify groups that could experience differential levels of academic stress and mental health. Third, to explore how the perception of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic affected stress levels. We hypothesized that students who experienced more academic stress would have worse psychological well-being and that certain groups of students would be more impacted by academic- and COVID-19-related stress.

Materials and Methods

Survey instrument.

A survey was developed that included all questions from the Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being ( Tennant et al., 2007 ; Stewart-Brown and Janmohamed, 2008 ) and from the Perception of Academic Stress Scale ( Bedewy and Gabriel, 2015 ). The Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale is a seven-item scale designed to measure mental well-being and positive mental health ( Tennant et al., 2007 ; Fung, 2019 ; Shah et al., 2021 ). The Perception of Academic Stress Scale is an 18-item scale designed to assess sources of academic stress perceived by individuals and measures three main academic stressors: academic expectations, workload and examinations, and academic self-perceptions of students ( Bedewy and Gabriel, 2015 ). These shorter scales were chosen to increase our response and study completion rates ( Kost and de Rosa, 2018 ). Both tools have been shown to be valid and reliable in college students with Likert scale responses ( Tennant et al., 2007 ; Bedewy and Gabriel, 2015 ; Ringdal et al., 2018 ; Fung, 2019 ; Koushede et al., 2019 ). Both the SWEMWBS and PAS scores are a summation of responses to the individual questions in the instruments. For the SWEMWBS questions, a higher score indicates better mental health, and scores range from 7 to 35. Similarly, the PAS questions are phrased such that a higher score indicates lower levels of stress, and scores range from 18 to 90. We augmented the survey with demographic questions (e.g., age, gender, and race/ethnicity) at the beginning of the survey and two yes/no questions and one Likert scale question about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic at the end of our survey.

Participants for the study were self-reported college students between the ages of 18 and 30 years who resided in the United States, were fluent in English, and had Internet access. Participants were solicited through Prolific ( https://prolific.co ) in October 2021. A total of 1,023 individuals enrolled in the survey. Three individuals did not agree to participate after beginning the survey. Two were not fluent in English. Thirteen individuals indicated that they were not college students. Two were not in the 18–30 age range, and one was located outside of the United States. Of the remaining individuals, 906 were full-time students and 96 were part-time students. Given the skew of the data and potential differences in these populations, we removed the part-time students. Of the 906 full-time students, 58 indicated that they were in their fifth year of college or higher. We understand that not every student completes their undergraduate studies in 4 years, but we did not want to have a mixture of undergraduate and graduate students with no way to differentiate them. Finally, one individual reported their age as a non-number, and four individuals did not answer a question about their response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This yielded a final sample of 843 college students.

Data Analyses

After reviewing the dataset, some variables were removed from consideration due to a lack of consistency (e.g., some students reported annual income for themselves and others reported family income) or heterogeneity that prevented easy categorization (e.g., field of study). We settled on four variables of interest: gender, race/ethnicity, year in school, and response to the COVID-19 pandemic ( Table 1 ). Gender was coded as female, male, or non-binary. Race/ethnicity was coded as white or Caucasian; Black or African American; East Asian; Hispanic, Latino, or of Spanish origin; or other. Other was used for groups that were not well-represented in the sample and included individuals who identified themselves as Middle Eastern, Native American or Alaskan Native, and South Asian, as well as individuals who chose “other” or “prefer not to answer” on the survey. The year of study was coded as one through four, and COVID-19 stress was coded as two groups, no change/neutral response/reduced stress or increased stress.

Table 1 . Characteristics of the participants in the study.

Our first goal was to determine whether there was a relationship between self-reported academic stress and mental health, and we found a significant correlation (see Results section). Given the positive correlation, a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) with a model testing the main effects of gender, race/ethnicity, and year of study was run in SPSS v 26.0. A factorial MANOVA would have been ideal, but our data were drawn from a convenience sample, which did not give equal representation to all groupings, and some combinations of gender, race/ethnicity, and year of study were poorly represented (e.g., a single individual). As such, we determined that it would be better to have a lack of interaction terms as a limitation to the study than to provide potentially spurious results. Finally, we used chi-square analyses to assess the effect of potential differences in the perception of the COVID-19 pandemic on stress levels in general among the groups in each category (gender, race/ethnicity, and year of study).

In terms of internal consistency, Cronbach's alpha was 0.82 for the SMEMWBS and 0.86 for the PAS. A variety of descriptors have been applied to Cronbach's alpha values. That said, 0.7 is often considered a threshold value in terms of acceptable internal consistency, and our values could be considered “high” or “good” ( Taber, 2018 ).

The participants in our study were primarily women (78.5% of respondents; Table 1 ). Participants were not equally distributed among races/ethnicities, with the majority of students selecting white or Caucasian (66.4% of responders; Table 1 ), or years of study, with fewer first-year students than other groups ( Table 1 ).

Students who reported higher academic stress also reported worse mental well-being in general, irrespective of age, gender, race/ethnicity, or year of study. PAS and SWEMWBS scores were significantly correlated ( r = 0.53, p < 0.001; Figure 1 ), indicating that a higher level of perceived academic stress is associated with worse mental well-being in college students within the United States.

Figure 1 . SWEMWBS and PAS scores for all participants.

Among the subgroups of students, women, non-binary students, and second-year students reported higher academic stress levels and worse mental well-being ( Table 2 ; Figures 2 – 4 ). In addition, the combined measures differed significantly between the groups in each category ( Table 2 ). However, as measured by partial eta squared, the effect sizes were relatively small, given the convention of 0.01 = small, 0.06 = medium, and 0.14 = large differences ( Lakens, 2013 ). As such, there were only two instances in which Tukey's post-hoc tests revealed more than one statistical grouping ( Figures 2 – 4 ). For SWEMWBS score by gender, women were intermediate between men (high) and non-binary individuals (low) and not significantly different from either group ( Figure 2 ). Second-year students had the lowest PAS scores for the year of study, and first-year students had the highest scores. Third- and fourth-year students were intermediate and not statistically different from the other two groups ( Figure 4 ). There were no pairwise differences in academic stress levels or mental well-being among racial/ethnic groups.

Table 2 . Results of the MANOVA.

Figure 2 . SWEMWBS and PAS scores according to gender (mean ± SEM). Different letters for SWEMWBS scores indicate different statistical groupings ( p < 0.05).

Figure 3 . SWEMWBS and PAS scores according to race/ethnicity (mean ± SEM).

Figure 4 . SWEMWBS and PAS scores according to year in college (mean ± SEM). Different letters for PAS scores indicate different statistical groupings ( p < 0.05).

The findings varied among categories in terms of stress responses due to the COVID-19 pandemic ( Table 3 ). For gender, men were less likely than women or non-binary individuals to report increased stress from COVID-19 (χ 2 = 27.98, df = 2, p < 0.001). All racial/ethnic groups responded similarly to the pandemic (χ 2 = 3.41, df = 4, p < 0.49). For the year of study, first-year students were less likely than other cohorts to report increased stress from COVID-19 (χ 2 = 9.38, df = 3, p < 0.03).

Table 3 . Impact of COVID-19 on stress level by gender, race/ethnicity, and year of study.

Our primary findings showed a positive correlation between perceived academic stress and mental well-being in United States college students, suggesting that academic stressors, including academic expectations, workload and grading, and students' academic self-perceptions, are equally important as psychological well-being. Overall, irrespective of gender, race/ethnicity, or year of study, students who reported higher academic stress levels experienced diminished mental well-being. The utilization of well-established scales and a large sample size are strengths of this study. Our results extend and contribute to the existing literature on stress by confirming findings from past studies that reported higher academic stress and lower psychological well-being in college students utilizing the same two scales ( Green et al., 2021 ; Syed, 2021 ). To our knowledge, the majority of other prior studies with similar findings examined different components of stress, studied negative mental health indicators, used different scales or methods, employed smaller sample sizes, or were conducted in different countries ( Li and Lin, 2003 ; American Psychological Association, 2020 ; Husky et al., 2020 ; Pascoe et al., 2020 ; Patsali et al., 2020 ; Clabaugh et al., 2021 ; Lee et al., 2021 ; Lopes and Nihei, 2021 ; Yang et al., 2021 ).

This study also demonstrated that college students are not uniformly impacted by academic stress or pandemic-related stress and that there are significant group-level differences in mental well-being. Specifically, non-binary individuals and second-year students were disproportionately impacted by academic stress. When considering the effects of gender, non-binary students, in comparison to gender-conforming students, reported the highest stress levels and worst psychological well-being. Although there is a paucity of research examining the impact of academic stress in non-binary college students, prior studies have indicated that non-binary adults face adverse mental health outcomes when compared to male and female-identifying individuals ( Thorne et al., 2018 ; Jones et al., 2019 ; Budge et al., 2020 ). Alarmingly, Lipson et al. (2019) found that gender non-conforming college students were two to four times more likely to experience mental health struggles than cisgender students ( Lipson et al., 2019 ). With a growing number of college students in the United States identifying as as non-binary, additional studies could offer invaluable insight into how academic stress affects this population ( Budge et al., 2020 ).

In addition, we found that second-year students reported the most academic-related distress and lowest psychological well-being relative to students in other years of study. We surmise this may be due to this group taking advanced courses, managing heavier academic workloads, and exploring different majors. Other studies support our findings and suggest higher stress levels could be attributed to increased studying and difficulties with time management, as well as having less well-established social support networks and coping mechanisms compared to upperclassmen ( Allen and Hiebert, 1991 ; Misra and McKean, 2000 ; Liu, X et al., 2019 ). Benefiting from their additional experience, upperclassmen may have developed more sophisticated studying skills, formed peer support groups, and identified approaches to better manage their academic stress ( Allen and Hiebert, 1991 ; Misra and McKean, 2000 ). Our findings suggest that colleges should consider offering tailored mental health resources, such as time management and study skill workshops, based on the year of study to improve students' stress levels and psychological well-being ( Liu, X et al., 2019 ).

Although this study reported no significant differences regarding race or ethnicity, this does not indicate that minority groups experienced less academic stress or better mental well-being ( Lee et al., 2021 ). Instead, our results may reflect the low sample size of non-white races/ethnicities, which may not have given enough statistical power to corroborate. In addition, since coping and resilience are important mediators of subjective stress experiences ( Freire et al., 2020 ), we speculate that the lower ratios of stress reported in non-white participants in our study (75 vs. 81) may be because they are more accustomed to adversity and thereby more resilient ( Brown, 2008 ; Acheampong et al., 2019 ). Furthermore, ethnic minority students may face stigma when reporting mental health struggles ( Liu, C. H., et al., 2019 ; Lee et al., 2021 ). For instance, studies showed that Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino, and Asian American students disclose fewer mental health issues than white students ( Liu, C. H., et al., 2019 ; Lee et al., 2021 ). Moreover, the ability to identify stressors and mental health problems may manifest differently culturally for some minority groups ( Huang and Zane, 2016 ; Liu, C. H., et al., 2019 ). Contrary to our findings, other studies cited racial disparities in academic stress levels and mental well-being of students. More specifically, Negga et al. (2007) concluded that African American college students were more susceptible to higher academic stress levels than their white classmates ( Negga et al., 2007 ). Another study reported that minority students experienced greater distress and worse mental health outcomes compared to non-minority students ( Smith et al., 2014 ). Since there may be racial disparities in access to mental health services at the college level, universities, professors, and counselors should offer additional resources to support these students while closely monitoring their psychological well-being ( Lipson et al., 2018 ; Liu, C. H., et al., 2019 ).

While the COVID-19 pandemic increased stress levels in all the students included in our study, women, non-binary students, and upperclassmen were disproportionately affected. An overwhelming body of evidence suggests that the majority of college students experienced increased stress levels and worsening mental health as a result of the pandemic ( Allen and Hiebert, 1991 ; American Psychological Association, 2020 ; Husky et al., 2020 ; Patsali et al., 2020 ; Son et al., 2020 ; Clabaugh et al., 2021 ; Lee et al., 2021 ; Yang et al., 2021 ). Our results also align with prior studies that found similar subgroups of students experience disproportionate pandemic-related distress ( Gao et al., 2020 ; Clabaugh et al., 2021 ; Hunt et al., 2021 ; Jarrett et al., 2021 ; Lee et al., 2021 ; Chen and Lucock, 2022 ). In particular, the differences between female students and their male peers may be the result of different psychological and physiological responses to stress reactivity, which in turn may contribute to different coping mechanisms to stress and the higher rates of stress-related disorders experienced by women ( Misra et al., 2000 ; Kajantie and Phillips, 2006 ; Verma et al., 2011 ; Gao et al., 2020 ; Graves et al., 2021 ). COVID-19 was a secondary consideration in our study and survey design, so the conclusions drawn here are necessarily limited.

The implications of this study are that college students facing increased stress and struggling with mental health issues should receive personalized and specific mental health services, resources, and support. This is particularly true for groups that have been disproportionately impacted by academic stress and stress due to the pandemic. Many students who experience mental health struggles underutilize college services due to cost, stigma, or lack of information ( Cage et al., 2020 ; Lee et al., 2021 ). To raise awareness and destigmatize mental health, colleges can consider distributing confidential validated assessments, such as the PAS and SWEMWBS, in class and teach students to self-score ( Lee et al., 2021 ). These results can be used to understand how academic stress and mental well-being change over time and allow for specific and targeted interventions for vulnerable groups. In addition, teaching students healthy stress management techniques has been shown to improve psychological well-being ( Alborzkouh et al., 2015 ). Moreover, adaptive coping strategies, including social and emotional support, have been found to improve the mental well-being of students, and stress-reduction peer support groups and workshops on campus could be beneficial in reducing stress and improving the self-efficacy of students ( Ruthig et al., 2009 ; Baqutayan, 2011 ; Bedewy and Gabriel, 2015 ; Freire et al., 2020 ; Green et al., 2021 ; Suresh et al., 2021 ). Other interventions that have been effective in improving the coping skills of college students include cognitive-behavioral therapy, mindfulness mediation, and online coping tools ( Kang et al., 2009 ; Regehr et al., 2013 ; Molla Jafar et al., 2015 ; Phang et al., 2015 ; Houston et al., 2017 ; Yusufov et al., 2019 ; Freire et al., 2020 ). Given that resilience has also been shown to help mediate stress and improve mental well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic, interventions focusing on enhancing resilience should be considered ( Surzykiewicz et al., 2021 ; Skalski et al., 2022 ). Telemental health resources across colleges can also be implemented to reduce stigma and improve at-risk students' access to care ( Toscos et al., 2018 ; Hadler et al., 2021 ). University campuses, professors, and counselors should consider focusing on fostering a more equitable and inclusive environment to encourage marginalized students to seek mental health support ( Budge et al., 2020 ).

Limitations

While our study has numerous strengths, including using standardized instruments and a large sample size, this study also has several limitations due to both the methodology and sample. First, the correlational study design precludes making any causal relationships ( Misra and McKean, 2000 ). Thereby, our findings should be taken in the context of academic stress and mental well-being, and recognize that mental health could be caused by other non-academic factors. Second, the PAS comprised only the perception of responses to academic stress, but stress is a multi-factorial response that encompasses both perceptions and coping mechanisms to different stressors, and the magnitude of stress varies with the perception of the degree of uncontrollability, unpredictability, or threat to self ( Miller, 1981 ; Hobfoll and Walfisch, 1984 ; Lazarus and Folkman, 1984 ; Wheaton, 1985 ; Perrewé and Zellars, 1999 ; Schneiderman et al., 2005 ; Bedewy and Gabriel, 2015 ; Schönfeld et al., 2016 ; Reddy et al., 2018 ; Freire et al., 2020 ; Karyotaki et al., 2020 ). Third, the SWEMSBS used in our study and the data only measured positive mental health. Mental health pathways are numerous and complex, and are composed of distinct and interdependent negative and positive indicators that should be considered together ( Margraf et al., 2020 ). Fourth, due to the small effect sizes and unequal representation for different combinations of variables, our analysis for both the PAS and SWEMSBS included only summed-up scales and did not examine group differences in response to the type of academic stressors or individual mental health questions.

An additional limitation is that the participants in our study were a convenience sample. The testing service we used, prolific.co, self-reports a sample bias toward young women of high levels of education (i.e., WEIRD bias) ( Team Prolific, 2018 ). The skew toward this population was observed in our data, as 80% of our participants were women. While we controlled for these factors, the possibility remains that the conclusions we draw for certain groups, such as nonbinary students, ethnic/racial minorities, and men, may not be as statistically powerful as they should be. Moreover, our pre-screening was designed to recruit undergraduate level, English-speaking, 18–30-year-olds who resided in the United States. This resulted in our participant demographics being skewed toward the WEIRD bias that was already inherent in the testing service we used. Future research will aim to be more inclusive of diverse races/ethnicities, sexual orientations, languages, educational backgrounds, socioeconomic backgrounds, and first-generation college students.

Another limitation of our study is the nature of satisficing. Satisficing is a response strategy in which a participant answers a question to satisfy its condition with little regard to the quality or accuracy of the answer ( Roberts et al., 2019 ). Anonymous participants are more likely to satisfice than respondents who answer the question face-to-face ( Krosnick et al., 2002 ). We sought to mitigate satisficing by offering financial incentives to increase response rates and decrease straight-lining, item skipping, total missing items, and non-completion ( Cole et al., 2015 ). Concerns of poor data quality due to surveys offering financial incentives found little evidence to support that claim and may do the opposite ( Cole et al., 2015 ). On the other hand, social desirability bias may have influenced the participant's self-reported responses, although our anonymous survey design aimed to reduce this bias ( Joinson, 1999 ; Kecojevic et al., 2020 ).

Future Studies

Future studies should replicate our study to validate our results, conduct longitudinal cohort studies to examine well-being and perceived academic stress over time, and aim for a more representative student sample that includes various groups, including diverse races/ethnicities, sexual orientations, socioeconomic backgrounds, languages, educational levels, and first-generation college students. Additionally, these studies should consider examining other non-academic stressors and students' coping mechanisms, both of which contribute to mental health and well-being ( Lazarus and Folkman, 1984 ; Freire et al., 2020 ). Further explorations of negative and other positive indicators of mental health may offer a broader perspective ( Margraf et al., 2020 ). Moreover, future research should consider extending our work by exploring group differences in relation to each factor in the PAS (i.e., academic expectations, workload and examinations, and self-perception of students) and SWEMBS to determine which aspects of academic stress and mental health were most affected and allow for the devising of targeted stress-reduction approaches. Ultimately, we hope our research spurs readers into advocating for greater academic support and access to group-specific mental health resources to reduce the stress levels of college students and improve their mental well-being.

Utilizing two well-established scales, our research found a statistically significant correlation between the perceived academic stress of university students and their mental well-being (i.e., the higher the stress, the worse the well-being). This relationship was most apparent among gender and grade levels. More specifically, non-binary and second-year students experienced greater academic burden and lower psychological well-being. Moreover, women, non-binary students, and upper-level students were disproportionately impacted by stress related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Studies regarding broad concepts of stress and well-being using a questionnaire are limited, but our study adds value to the understanding of academic stress as a contributor to the overall well-being of college students during this specific point in time (i.e., the COVID-19 pandemic). Competition both for admission to college ( Bound et al., 2009 ) and during college ( Posselt and Lipson, 2016 ) has increased over time. Further, selective American colleges and universities draw applicants from a global pool. As such, it is important to document the dynamics of academic stress with renewed focus. We hope that our study sparks interest in both exploring and funding in-depth and well-designed psychological studies related to stress in colleges in the future.

Data Availability Statement

The raw data supporting the conclusions of this article will be made available by the authors, without undue reservation.

Ethics Statement

The studies involving human participants were reviewed and approved by Institutional Review Board at Rutgers University. The patients/participants provided their written informed consent to participate in this study.

Author Contributions

GB and MB contributed to conceptualization, study design, IRB application, manuscript drafting, and revision. XZ participated in the conceptualization and design of the questionnaires. HB participated in subject recruitment and questionnaire collection. KP contributed to data analysis, table and figure preparation, manuscript drafting, and revision. XM contributed to conceptualization, study design, IRB application, supervision of the project, manuscript drafting, and revision. All authors contributed to the article and approved the submitted version.

This study was made possible by a generous donation from the Knights of Columbus East Hanover Chapter in New Jersey.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher's Note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank Shivani Mehta and Varsha Garla for their assistance with the study. We also thank all the participants for their efforts in the completion of the study.

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Keywords: academic stress, well-being, college students, Perception of Academic Stress, Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale, COVID-19

Citation: Barbayannis G, Bandari M, Zheng X, Baquerizo H, Pecor KW and Ming X (2022) Academic Stress and Mental Well-Being in College Students: Correlations, Affected Groups, and COVID-19. Front. Psychol. 13:886344. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.886344

Received: 28 February 2022; Accepted: 20 April 2022; Published: 23 May 2022.

Reviewed by:

Copyright © 2022 Barbayannis, Bandari, Zheng, Baquerizo, Pecor and Ming. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Keith W. Pecor, pecor@tcnj.edu

† These authors have contributed equally to this work and share first authorship

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Mental Health of College Students Is Getting Worse

The COVID-19 pandemic took a toll on many college students, but researchers did not find a huge spike in reported mental health problems during the semesters of the pandemic. Rather they saw a continuation of a troubling trend. Photo by iStock/lightspeedshutter

The rate of mental health problems, including anxiety and depression, has steadily increased over the past eight years, with rates even higher among racial and ethnic minority students

Jessica colarossi.

To say that college years are a time of great change is an understatement; whether you stay at or close to home, or move away to a four-year university, the post–high school years are often a time of new experiences, unfamiliar responsibilities, growing pains, and learning curves. They can also be a time when some students have to navigate their own physical and mental health for the first time without parental support.

“College is a key developmental time; the age of onset for lifetime mental health problems also directly coincides with traditional college years—75 percent of lifetime mental health problems will onset by age 24,” says Sarah K. Lipson , a Boston University School of Public Health assistant professor of health law, policy, and management. For more than 10 years, she’s studied college student mental health with the Healthy Minds Network , a national project she coleads with researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, the University of Michigan, and Wayne State University. 

In a new study , Lipson and her colleagues reveal just how common depression, anxiety, and other mental health issues are, and how these issues take a toll on students of color unequally. The paper looks at survey data collected by the Healthy Minds Network between 2013 and 2021 from 350,000 students at over 300 campuses. It’s the first long-term, multicampus study of its kind to parse out differences in treatment and prevalence of mental health issues across race and ethnicity. The study was coauthored by Lipson and other members of the Healthy Minds Network team. 

“As a budding clinician of color, I think the tracking of these trends helps support efforts related to stigma reduction and [mental health] education that can be targeted toward certain communities,” says Jasmine Morigney , a clinical psychology doctoral student at Eastern Michigan University and a coauthor on the study.

The researchers used screening tools to measure mental health symptoms, levels of flourishing, and whether a student received treatment during their time at college; participants self-identified their race and ethnicity.

They found that the mental health of college students across the United States has been on a consistent decline for all eight years of data analyzed, with an overall 135 percent increase in depression and 110 percent increase in anxiety from 2013 to 2021; the number of students who met the criteria for one or more mental health problems in 2021 had doubled from 2013. 

Need for Mental Health Support Outpacing Resources 

American Indian/Alaskan Native college students were found to have the largest increases in depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation, and other mental health problems, as well as the largest decreases in flourishing. Back in 2016, about a third of American Indian/Alaskan Native students screened positive for depression, a similar level to other racial and ethnic groups in the study. But by the 2019 and 2020 semesters, half of those respondents were screening positive for depression.

“There has not been nearly enough research on this population,” Lipson says. “My hope is that these data document the urgency around understanding some of the unique factors shaping these students’ mental health. American Indian/Alaskan Native students need to be brought into the conversation for universities to invest in resources that align with their preferences.”  

For white students, the prevalence of non-suicidal self-injury and symptoms of eating disorders increased most significantly compared to other groups. In all other categories—depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation, and one or more mental health problems—increases were seen the most among non-white students. During the semesters of the COVID-19 pandemic, American Indian/Alaskan Native students and Asian/Pacific Islander/Desi American (APIDA) students reported the most significant increases in mental health concerns, according to the data. 

Although more students overall are seeking help and access to mental health services on college campuses than they were in 2013—which is good news, says Lipson—the prevalence of mental health issues seems to be outpacing the number of students finding and receiving support. And some groups of students are actually less likely to get help than a decade ago. For example, Arab American students experienced a 22 percent jump in mental health issues, but had an 18 percent decrease in treatment over the eight years of the study, highlighting a critical gap between onset of symptoms and accessing help. During the semesters of the pandemic—when many schools went remote—fewer students of color were accessing necessary services. 

“I find the change in treatment rates among students of color in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic to be quite surprising,” Morigney says. Treatment declined the most in 2020 among APIDA and Black students. “Given the impact of the pandemic on this community and concentrated traumatic racism, it makes this finding quite alarming,” she says. 

Not Just a Pandemic Problem

Though researchers tracked significant increases in anxiety and depression during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Lipson says the numbers show a continuation of a troubling trend rather than a singular spike.  

“The crisis related to mental health exists beyond the college and university setting,” Lipson says. But the potential to intervene and reach students at a uniquely important time of life is huge. “It might not be perfect, but many four-year colleges offer some of the best resources people will ever have,” Lipson says, since these institutions can use their resources to remove many barriers to care, such as a lack of available providers, long wait times, and financial restraints. 

University policies to address and eliminate racial discrimination on campus and in healthcare settings can also reduce the mental health risk factors that many students of color experience.  

“I would love to see universities work to enhance and promote diversity in their behavioral health staff,” says Morigney. Students of color may not know if their campus counseling centers have staff with similar cultural backgrounds and could be reluctant to seek out services, she says. “The majority of mental health professionals are white, and universities are critical for not only providing students with culturally and ethnically diverse care, but also providing opportunities for clinicians of color to serve these student bodies.” Providing training opportunities to encourage students of color to enter the field of mental health is also a huge opportunity. 

“One of the most important aspects of this study is documenting these inequalities and communicating them to folks who can use this information to enact change,” Lipson says. For colleges across the country worried about retention rates— many colleges are seeing more students quit before completing their studies —she says the conversations about retaining students and mental health need to be brought together. It’s often the “same students who have the lowest rate of retention in higher education [who] are the same students who are least likely to access mental health services when they are struggling, and mental health is a predictor of retention,” she says. 

“In the big picture, we need to bring mental health into the classroom so that it doesn’t require a student needing to make time or getting motivated to seek help,” Lipson says. “There is a lot we can do to bring mental health into the default of students’ lives.”

BU students seeking support can reach out to  Student Health Services ; faculty, staff, and employee family members can contact BU’s  Faculty & Staff Assistance Office  for help with work and life challenges.

This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

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There are 16 comments on Mental Health of College Students Is Getting Worse

Mental Health of College Students Is Getting Worse | The Brink | Boston University (bu.edu)

“—-As a budding clinician of color, I think the tracking of these trends helps support efforts related to stigma reduction and [mental health] education that can be targeted toward certain communities,” says Jasmine Morigney

You indeed hit upon a serious issue, we continue in colleges and universities to teach one another “there is” a stigma to mental illnesses. Nor are we the least bit shy about it. The harm we do is readily observable, we choose not to look.

Historically rape/stigma took an entirely different path, whisper and innuendo. This version is an in your face college curricula related approach. And curiously it encounters no objection, not from students, not from administrators and not from professors themselves. Other versions have found disfavor, this one has not.

Harold A Maio

Why is (or should) mental health care becoming the job of universities or colleges? The amount of resources that need to be set up to provide such care jacks up the price of attending college and is not really the role of the academy. Professors are ill equipped to deal with student mental health problems and frankly should not have to because it is not their job.

Would we, as a society, expect our workplaces to have in-house mental health practitioners on site for the benefit of workers’ mental health? No. We’d expect individuals with mental health issues to use their health insurance to obtain such care. Why do we expect something different from universities?

And why are parents sending their children with mental health issues away from home and the health care that the student needs?

Finally, why as a society are we creating so many unresilient people these days?

I get the feeling I’m talking to a brick wall, but here goes.

Nothing in the research indicates it’s “the job” of colleges and universities to provide mental health care. Colleges and universities are increasingly offering SUPPORT, which is done out of a sense of human compassion, something that is glaringly lacking in the expressed opinions offered in your response. For most students, college is much more than academic instruction for the purposes of getting a degree- it is an experience in engaging with others and developing a sense of connection with others in a productive and satisfying way. As a retired Educational Administrator, among the knowledge, skills, and dispositions required for a position, perhaps the most crucial in considering a hire was dispositions, as the roles my employees would play require collaboration. Colleges and universities do this in explicit and implicit ways. If there are mental health issues, it is not only human compassion to offer support at the college level, it will better prepare these students to enter the workforce, which at least in part is what college is about.

Finally, regarding society creating unresilient people- these issues have always been out there but for decades were largely ignored. The result was a survival tactic which often included avoidance and denial which typically further resulted in a rather cold, unfeeling disposition, the likes of which I see in your response. As our society has evolved (thank heavens), we realize the wholeness in the human animal- not just a person who is required to output certain performances in work and family but as someone who has emotional needs which, when met, create better societies.

The point you’re missing is that academic and university life is severely CONTRIBUTING TO and CREATING mental health problems in students. Rigorous demands and expectations without any support or consideration of mental health leads to depression, burn out, anxiety, imposter syndrome etc. This is the reality for most students. And though I think its’s great universities now have some resources for mental health support or referral, when it comes to actual changes in policy that would help to improve student quality of life or prioritize work-life balance, it is all lip service. No academic program actually cares about that. hey all care about taking your money and saying we are highly rated. Not to mention the impact of COVID-19. Living through a global pandemic has increased feelings of isolation, stress, and fear all the while most programs haven’t made any significant changes in workload or demand. I’m currently in grad school at BU and professors have openly said “hating your life is just part of grad school. you’re stressed and drowning and then it’s done.” Basically telling people to get over it. I know people who had deaths in their family and were pressured to return to classes and work over being with their family and attending a funeral. This the culture of academia. They love to say they care about supporting students, but when students are actually in crisis it’s all about soldiering through it.

Also, I have my insurance through the university, therefore it is their obligation to help provide and refer me to health services. Many students are insured this way and in Massachusetts it’s specifically required all full-time students have some form of health insurance. So parents aren’t sending their kids with mental health issues away from care. Is society creating unresilient people, or do we as society prioritize work and productivity over mental wellness?

I’m guessing your post as “Anonymous” is directed at the first “Anonymous” and are not one and the same person, as your post contains a great deal of compassion and makes points which are reasonable. I agree that University life does create stresses and anxiety, and in this age of social media, even more so. If we had social media when I went to college, I’m not sure I would have made it without some professional help. I might be exaggerating, as I totally loved college.

I sincerely regret your experience with professors in Grad School at BU; hell, that’s almost a depraved indifference if someone commits suicide as a result. I would report these professors if I were in your shoes, but that may very well cause even more stresses.

I appreciate your thoughts. Best of everything to you in your continued life journey.

As someone who lives/thrives with depression, I find the comment by “Anonymous” very callous and without compassion. I did not ask for depression. It does run in my family and is largely caused by a hormone imbalance…NOT by my inability to handle stress. As a result, I am GRATEFUL that the company I now work with has been so patient and helpful in my process to learn how to deal with frustration without sounding like I am angry at my coworkers when I speak (yes, high functioning Asperger’s also). My mental health issues are genetically inherited. And I have a strong faithful family who supports me as well. I wish I had started asking for psychiatric help in college… But I have throughout my entire “adult life”, and I am a much stronger, more confident person. Why would we not want young people to learn IN COLLEGE that sometimes we need medical help to stay on the track to becoming better equipped to handle whatever life throws at you?! I’ve endured losing my roof to a tornado, living/working near the OKC Bombing, losing our home to a Hurricane… I am a strong and confident person…but it has taken every resource available to me to get there…I am not self-made! It really does take a village! And no, we are not wealthy people, especially since Katrina…but I did go back to full time work in order to assist my kids in getting the education they need to follow their passions and become mature, responsible adults. I get that it is a struggle to pay for a college education. But, it is WORTH THE WORK and I will keep advocating for EVERYONE to get the help they need through all of their life experiences.

Hey Julia, I appreciate your comment, as well as your sharing of personal experiences and how you’ve dealt with them. I realize it’s been quite a bit since you made this comment but I’m writing a college paper right now and would love to quote you on it. I do have on question like I would like you to answer regarding your comment and personal experiences. If that’s okay with you, please contact me at [email protected]

well I would first like to say that your comment is very inconsiderate of other people I can tell you have not gone through a hard time yet. They are not asking professors to be mental health doctors but to simply bring it up so that it does not seem so foreign to students and I.E. people such as yourself. Some people don’t exactly know what a mental health decline may look like or how to treat it. Mental health can decline at any moment depending on the situation and other surrounding factors so it’s nice to talk about it to get the discussion going and let people see different types. So many people commit suicide because they don’t know or didn’t have help or a simple person to talk to which is why we need to have the conversations open. A work field does have HR which can be used in many different ways including for your mental health so your argument definitely does have some weak points.

While I agree that “Professors are ill equipped to deal with student mental health problems and frankly should not have to because it is not their job,” professors (particularly early career) are often ill equipped to manage and/or mentor even their own graduate students. Part of the *responsibility* of professors that take on graduate students *should* be some career development via networking with the advisor colleagues, learning directly from experts (including their advisor, not just reading through manuscripts). All departments have different standards. Some departments do have written policies regarding advisor responsibilities while others allow advisors to be their own final judges. It’s a bit of a mess. But yes, advisors are not trained to deal with mental health issues, and it should not be a primary responsibility. Again, part of the problem is that the advisor-student environment itself can cause unnecessary anxiety. Some advisors are poor communicators, some are a bit passive-aggressive, some dole out projects not really in their field. Look at it this way, the mental health and personal issues of the professors also shouldn’t get dumped on students, and they often do.

Academia doesn’t have a great record of transparency, a lot of issues get buried. It’s a weird place to be. Some of my friends have had great experiences, others dropped out. I was witness to those that did drop, and based on what I saw, they had every reason to. Bright students but the faculty they had to directly interact with were a bit on the cruel side. Everyone makes their own decision if they want to tolerate situations for 5 years in order to complete a PhD.

Grad school is supposed to be part self-learning, part career training, part job transitioning, part mental shift from student to professional. Some department do a great jobs, others fail. Again, there’s little oversight and every advisor has a different style. A lot more accountability would help, on all sides.

In the big picture, student’s mental health is suffering because, since Reagan, the USA is moving from a great middle class society to a hunger games oligarchy. All but the most privileged are conscious of the need to beat the competition to maintain the living standards of their parents. This transcends race and Covid.

Colleges can put undue pressure on students, and some do break down under the pressures of classes, papers due, tests, homework, life outside class. It’s alot to juggle, and colleges need to consider if drinking from a firehose is the best way to enforce a love of learning and produce healthy graduates. My own son went to a peer uni, and was a great high school student, I had no doubt he could succeed. But the pressure of a top competitive college wore him down over the 4 years. He graduated but the experience destroyed him. Wish I had never sent him to be a full time student. Now he is on depression meds and unable to function. Really useful college degree.

It is ironic that this study done at BU, where my daughter graduated 12 years ago. We send our children assuming as administrators take care of situations as best as they could. My daughter was bullied in a Catholic elementary school for the majority time she attended they didn’t know how to handle bulling back then…then after getting her BA from BU same year recession hit our country…no job she kept looking no luck….she continued her education and graduated w honors earned MPA by then after doing so many odd jobs stress level escalated while bill collectors are calling her to collect money that she didn’t have….then COVID hit and another obstacles in moving forward….my daughter isn’t the only adult there are so many as a country we all should be concerned address the issue urgently. This isn’t a single family crisis it is national emergency when our educated adults are suffering and unemployed when their parents are not getting the help they need instead of thinking about their own retirement or what we are going to be faced as we aging?

i believe mental health is very important to the human body. Without sustaining good health, it could be life changing. Ive seen people who struggle with it and they go through it. Its rough.

We should all find out first. What are the main factors that cause this mental health problem? Is it caused by too much consumption of information from social media? Or overloaded with home assignments from college? Or is it because of life’s injustices and discrimination? Is it because of the misuse of social media? Then we will know when and how we can work to reduce it step by step. I do believe that the only key to managing mental health comes first from parents’ education (homeschooling) and then from the school’s policies. Through appropriate and effective support from parents and schools, there are possibilities to reduce mental health problems. How? Parents should ask questions like, How do you feel about the teaching and learning? How do you get along with others? What are the biggest challenges you have right now? We believe you CAN solve it or them. What strategies and supports are required? School administrators and teachers should make sure to have better and more positive communication with their students.

I normally tell my college students that life is a challenge, not a choice. Only you have the power to solve everything. The key is to think and act positively. Avoid negative activities, emotions, thoughts, judgments, and revenge. Focus on your goals. Your future depends on your attitude and beliefs. Even the best and most expensive colleges will not make miracles for you. However, they may do their best to help you, and only you are the one who has the power to shape and create yourself. ASK YOURSELF: What are the best things that empower my knowledge and skills to grow? How do I do it? When and where do I do it? Who can help me do it? I must do it now. By this time, in this place With this strategy, with this person A positive mindset has the power to change everything.

Thank you so much for shining light on this. People often underestimate the importance of mental health, when in reality, it affects every single thing we do! College can be a very stressful experience. When you think about it, it’s usually our first encounter with the real world, the adult world, and being asked suddenly to decide what we want to do for the rest of our lives can be so intimidating. This is exactly why Universities need to work on good support systems. Finding those schools and highlighting them is quite literally our mission in Supportive Colleges. So, from the bottom of our hearts, thank you for making this post. The more people know the importance of mental well-being, the more we can tackle it from the root!

How does the recent research on college student mental health reveal differences in the prevalence and treatment of mental health issues based on race and ethnicity?

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10 facts about today’s college graduates

Having a bachelor’s degree remains an important advantage in many sectors of the U.S. labor market. College graduates generally out-earn those who have not attended college, and they are more likely to be employed in the first place. At the same time, many Americans say they cannot afford to get a four-year degree – or that they just don’t want to.

Here are key facts about American college graduates.

This Pew Research Center analysis about U.S. college graduates relies on data from sources including the Census Bureau, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the National Center for Education Statistics, the National Student Clearinghouse and the Federal Reserve Bank, as well as surveys conducted by the Center.

Everyone who took the Pew Research Center surveys cited is a member of the Center’s American Trends Panel (ATP), an online survey panel that is recruited through national, random sampling of residential addresses. This way nearly all U.S. adults have a chance of selection. The survey is weighted to be representative of the U.S. adult population by gender, race, ethnicity, partisan affiliation, education and other categories. Read more about  the ATP’s methodology .

Nearly four-in-ten Americans ages 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree, a share that has grown over the last decade. As of 2021, 37.9% of adults in this age group held a bachelor’s degree, including 14.3% who also obtained a graduate or professional degree, according to data from the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey. That share is up 7.5 percentage points from 30.4% in 2011.

An additional 10.5% had an associate degree in 2021. About four-in-ten Americans ages 25 and older had a high school diploma with no further education (25.3%) or completed some college but didn’t have a degree (14.9%).

In a reversal, women are now more likely than men to graduate from college, according to the Current Population Survey . In 2021, 39% of women ages 25 and older had a bachelor’s degree or more education, compared with 37% of men in the same age range. The gap in college completion is even wider among adults ages 25 to 34: 46% of women in this age group have at least a bachelor’s degree, compared with 36% of men.

In an October 2021 Pew Research Center survey of Americans without a degree, 34% of men said a major reason why they have not received a four-year college degree is that they just didn’t want to. Only one-in-four women said the same. Men were also more likely to say a major reason they didn’t have a four-year degree is that they didn’t need more education for the job or career they wanted (26% of men said this vs. 20% of women).

Women (44%) were more likely than men (39%) to say not being able to afford college was a major reason they don’t have a bachelor’s degree. Men and women were about equally likely to say a major impediment was needing to work to help support their family.

There are racial and ethnic differences in college graduation patterns, as well as in the reasons for not completing a degree. Among adults ages 25 and older, 61% of Asian Americans have a bachelor’s degree or more education, along with 42% of White adults, 28% of Black adults and 21% of Hispanic adults, according to 2021 Current Population Survey data. The share of bachelor’s degree holders in each group has increased since 2010. That year, 52% of Asian Americans had a four-year degree or more, compared with a third of White adults, 20% of Black adults and 14% of Hispanic adults.

The October 2021 Center survey found that among adults without a bachelor’s degree, Hispanic adults (52%) were more likely than those who are White (39%) or Black (41%) to say a major reason they didn’t graduate from a four-year college is that they couldn’t afford it. Hispanic and Black adults were more likely than their White counterparts to say needing to work to support their family was a major reason.

While a third of White adults said not wanting to go to school was a major reason they didn’t complete a four-year degree, smaller shares of Black (22%) and Hispanic (23%) adults said the same. White adults were also more likely to cite not needing more education for the job or career they wanted. (There weren’t enough Asian adults without a bachelor’s degree in the sample to analyze separately.)

Only 62% of students who start a degree or certificate program finish their program within six years, according to the most recent data from the  National Student Clearinghouse , a nonprofit verification and research organization that tracked first-time college students who enrolled in fall 2015 with the intent of pursuing a degree or certificate. The degree completion rate for this group was highest among students who started at four-year, private, nonprofit schools (78.3%), and lowest among those who started at two-year public institutions (42.2%).

Business is the most commonly held bachelor’s degree, followed by health professions.  According to the  National Center for Education Statistics , about a fifth (19%) of the roughly 2 million bachelor’s degrees conferred in 2019-20 were in business. Health professions and related programs were the second most-popular field, making up 12.6% of degrees conferred that year. Business has been the single most common major since 1980-81; before that, education led the way.

The  least  common bachelor’s degrees in 2019-20 were in military technologies and applied sciences (1,156 degrees conferred in 2019-20), library science (118), and precision production (39).

There is a growing earnings gap between young college graduates and their counterparts without degrees. In 2021, full-time workers ages 22 to 27 who held a bachelor’s degree, but no further education, made a median annual wage of $52,000, compared with $30,000 for full-time workers of the same age with a high school diploma and no degree, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This gap has widened over time. Young bachelor’s degree holders earned a median annual wage of $48,481 in 1990, compared with $35,257 for full-time workers ages 22 to 27 with a high school diploma.

The unemployment rate is lower for college graduates than for workers without a bachelor’s degree, and that gap widened as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. In February 2020, just before the COVID-19 outbreak began in the U.S., only 1.9% of college graduates ages 25 and older were unemployed, compared with 3.1% of workers who completed some college but not a four-year degree, and 3.7% of workers with only a high school diploma. By June 2020, after the pandemic hit, 6.8% of college grads, 10.8% of workers with some college, and 12.2% of high school grads were unemployed.

By March 2022, the unemployment rate had nearly returned to pre-pandemic levels for college graduates (2%) while dropping to 3% among those with some college education but no four-year degree, and 4% among those with only a high school diploma.

Recent college graduates are more likely than graduates overall to be underemployed – that is, working in jobs that typically do not require a college degree, according to an analysis of Census Bureau and BLS data by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York . As of December 2021, 41% of college graduates ages 22 to 27 were underemployed, compared with 34% among all college graduates. The underemployment rates for recent college grads rose in 2020 as the COVID-19 outbreak strained the job market, but have since returned to pre-pandemic levels.

As of the end of 2021, only 34% of underemployed graduates ages 22 to 27 worked what the Fed defines as “good non-college jobs” – those paying at least $45,000 a year – down from around half in the 1990s. The share of underemployed graduates ages 22 to 27 in low-wage jobs – those earning less than $25,000 annually – rose from about 9% in 1990 to 11% last year.

When it comes to income and wealth accumulation, first-generation college graduates lag substantially behind those with college-educated parents, according to a May 2021 Pew Research Center analysis . Households headed by a first-generation college graduate – that is, someone who has completed at least a bachelor’s degree but does not have a parent with a college degree – had a median annual income of $99,600 in 2019, compared with $135,800 for households headed by those with at least one parent who graduated from college. The median wealth of households headed by first-generation college graduates ($152,000) also trailed that of households headed by someone with a parent who graduated from college ($244,500). The higher household income of the latter facilitates saving and wealth accumulation.

The gap also reflects differences in how individuals finance their education. Second-generation college graduates tend to come from  more affluent families , while first-generation college graduates are more likely to incur education debt than those with a college-educated parent.

Most Americans with college degrees see value in their experience. In the Center’s October 2021 survey , majorities of graduates said their college education was extremely or very useful when it came to helping them grow personally and intellectually (79%), opening doors to job opportunities (70%) and developing specific skills and knowledge that could be used in the workplace (65%).

Younger college graduates were less likely than older ones to see value in their college education. For example, only a third of college graduates younger than 50 said their college experience was extremely useful in helping them develop skills and knowledge that could be used in the workplace. Among college graduates ages 50 and older, 45% said this.

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Katherine Schaeffer is a research analyst at Pew Research Center .

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Recognizing the reality of working college students.

When academically qualified people do not have the financial resources needed to enroll and succeed in college, higher education fails to fulfill the promise of promoting social mobility—and may actually serve to reinforce social inequities. The cost of college attendance is rising faster than family incomes, and increases in federal, state, and institutional grants have been insufficient to meet all students’ demonstrated financial needs. Between 2008–09 and 2017–18, average tuition and fees increased in constant dollars by 36 percent at public four-year institutions and 34 percent at public two-year institutions, while median family income rose by only 8 percent . The maximum federal Pell Grant covered 60 percent of tuition and fees at public four-year institutions in 2018–19, down from 92 percent in 1998–99. Full-time, dependent undergraduate students in the lowest family-income quartile averaged $9,143 in unmet financial need in 2016, up 149 percent (in constant dollars) from $3,665 in 1990.  

Students who do not have sufficient savings, wealth, or access to other financial resources have few options for paying costs that are not covered by grants: they can take on loans, get a job, or do both. While these options pay off for many students, a higher education finance system that requires the use of loans and paid employment disproportionately disadvantages individuals from groups that continue to be underrepresented in and underserved by higher education.            

Growth in student loan debt is well documented. As of the second quarter of 2019, total outstanding student loan debt in the United States exceeded $1.6 trillion and represented the largest source of nonhousing debt for American households. Annual total borrowing among undergraduate and graduate students from federal and nonfederal sources increased 101 percent (by $53 billion) in constant dollars from 1998–99 to 2018–19 .

Many individuals who use loans to pay college costs complete their educational programs, obtain jobs with sufficiently high earnings, and repay their loans. But the implications of borrowing vary across groups and are especially problematic for students who do not complete their degree. The Institute for College Access and Success reports lower loan repayment rates for Pell Grant recipients, first-generation students, and black and Hispanic students as well as for students who attend for-profit institutions. Black students also average higher rates and amounts of federal loans and experience higher default rates .

Like taking on loans, working for pay can have benefits. Paid employment can provide students with money they need to stay enrolled, and it can build human capital and improve labor-market outcomes. An exploratory study by Anne-Marie Nuñez and Vanessa A. Sansone found that first-generation Latinx students developed new relationships, skills, and knowledge through work and experienced satisfaction and enjoyment from working. But working can also have harmful consequences. And, as with loans, the negative implications of paid employment are more commonly experienced by students from underserved and underrepresented groups.

The circumstances of working students today can undermine the mission of higher education for multiple reasons.

1. Many undergraduates are working more than twenty hours per week.

The US Department of Education reported that, in 2017, 43 percent of all full-time undergraduate students and 81 percent of part-time students were employed while enrolled (see table). The proportion of full-time students working for pay was higher in 2017 than in 2010, when 41 percent were employed, but lower than in 2005, when 50 percent worked for pay while enrolled. Employment rates for part-time students follow a similar fluctuating pattern: 86 percent in 2005, 75 percent in 2010, and 81 percent in 2017. In all, more than 11.4 million undergraduate students (58 percent) worked for pay while enrolled in 2017.

2. Working for pay is more common among undergraduates from underserved groups.

The financial need to work while enrolled, with all its negative consequences, disproportionately burdens students from historically underserved groups. While students from all family backgrounds work for pay, students from low-income families are more likely to do so—and, among those who are employed, work more hours on average—than their higher-income peers. The US Department of Education reports that, in 2017, 16 percent of black full-time students and 13 percent of Hispanic full-time students worked at least thirty-five hours per week while enrolled, compared with 9 percent of white full-time students.

Students who are classified as independent for financial aid purposes more commonly work for pay while enrolled than students who are classified as financially dependent (69 percent versus 59 percent in 2015–16, according to our analysis of 2016 NPSAS data). Working undergraduates who are independent also average more hours of work per week than working-dependent undergraduates (33.8 versus 22.1). Among working students, nearly three quarters (71 percent) of those who were also single parents with a dependent child worked thirty or more hours per week in 2016, compared with 50 percent of all working students.

3. Working for pay while enrolled is more common at under-resourced institutions.

The rate of employment and the rate of working more than twenty hours per week are higher among full-time students attending two-year institutions than among those attending four-year institutions. In 2017, 50 percent of full-time students at two-year institutions worked, and 72 percent of these working students worked more than twenty hours per week, according to the US Department of Education . By comparison, 41 percent of full-time students at four-year institutions worked; 60 percent of these students worked at least twenty hours per week.

Two-year institutions, as well as for-profit and less selective four-year institutions , enroll higher shares of students from low-income families. The Center for Community College Student Engagement reported that nearly half (46 percent) of Pell Grant recipients attending public two-year colleges in 2017 worked more than twenty hours per week.

4. Working while enrolled can be harmful to student outcomes.

Working can have costs, as time spent working reduces time available for educational activities. Research has shown that working more than twenty hours per week is associated with lower grades and retention rates. Studies also show that working may slow the rate of credit-hour accumulation, encourage part-time rather than full-time enrollment, and reduce the likelihood of completing a bachelor’s degree within six years. These outcomes lengthen the time to degree, which can increase opportunity and other college costs. Reducing enrollment to less than half time reduces eligibility for federal Pell Grants and other aid. And the need to allocate time to paid employment may create stress, especially for students who are also parents or other caregivers. A disproportionate share of single parents enrolled in college are black and American Indian women.

5. Students from low-income families and other underserved groups are less likely to have jobs that advance career-related knowledge and skills.

While any employment may improve conscientiousness, teamwork, and other occupational skills, not all jobs will advance career-related knowledge and skills . About a quarter (26 percent) of working students under the age of thirty held a job in the food and personal services industries in 2012, according to data in Learning While Earning , a report from Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce; only 6 percent held managerial positions. In addition to working more hours on average than their higher-income peers, students from lower-income families are also less likely to have paid internships or other positions related to their career goals.

In a 2016 study , Judith Scott-Clayton and Veronica Minaya of Columbia University found that students with on-campus work locations and major- or career-related positions had higher rates of bachelor’s degree completion than students with other employment. Yet students from lower-income families and other underserved groups are less likely to hold on-campus and major-related jobs.           

Ensuring that Work “Works”

Higher rates and intensity of employment among students from underserved backgrounds and those attending under-resourced institutions suggest that employment during college is serving to reinforce inequity in higher education opportunity, experiences, and outcomes. Changes in public policy and institutional practice are needed if higher education is to address these inequities. These efforts should focus on reducing the financial need to work and on minimizing the harm, while maximizing the benefits, of work.

Reducing the Need to Work

Even with current levels of employment, many students are struggling to make ends meet. In the 2015 National Survey of Student Engagement , most seniors at four-year institutions (63 percent) reported being “worried about having enough money” and half (48 percent) reported that they “did not participate in [unspecified] activities due to lack of money.” Reports of financial stress were more common among first-generation, black, and Hispanic students and among students over the age of twenty-four. More than a third (38 percent) of Pell Grant recipients at community colleges who worked more than twenty hours per week reported “running out of money” at least six times in a year, even though 46 percent worked more than twenty hours per week, according to the Center for Community College Student Engagement ; only 22 percent reported having access to cash, credit, or other sources of funds for an “unexpected need.”

The following strategies may help to reduce students’ financial need to work more than twenty hours per week, while still ensuring that they have the financial resources needed to enroll, engage, and persist to degree completion.

1. Reduce unmet financial need.

Federal, state, and local public policy makers can reduce unmet financial need by appropriating more resources to institutions, which can then be used to keep tuition low, and allocate more need-based grant aid. Institutional leaders can reduce unmet financial need by maximizing the availability of need-based grant aid, limiting merit-based grant aid, and controlling costs. Offering additional need-based aid to low-income students has been shown to reduce employment rates and number of hours worked and increase the likelihood of on-time degree completion .

2. Do not penalize students who work for pay in financial aid calculations .

Students should work to cover their own contribution to the Expected Family Contribution, as well as unanticipated costs that arise while enrolled. Student earnings from work should not be viewed as a way to cover costs that are omitted from an institution’s official cost of attendance or for covering unmet need. Working should provide a mechanism for paying unanticipated costs without influencing the availability of resources to pay the costs needed to stay enrolled.

3. Help students make individually appropriate decisions about federal loans and work.

Whether because of risk or loan aversion or because of incomplete or inaccurate information, some students do not use federal loans. Higher rates of loan aversion have been observed among men and Hispanic students . K–12 and higher education counselors and administrators should educate students, especially those from underserved groups, about the costs and benefits of paid employment and different types of loans and discuss how working more than twenty hours per week may increase time to degree, reduce the likelihood of completion, and result in other costs.

4. Ensure that students apply for and receive the need-based grant aid for which they are eligible.

Not all students who are eligible for need-based aid apply for and receive the aid. In 2011–12, in part because of a lack of clear information, approximately 20 percent of all undergraduates , and 16 percent of those with incomes below $30,000 , did not file a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), a condition for receiving most federal and state need-based aid. The Institute for College Access and Success reports FAFSA verification may also limit aid receipt and enrollment, especially for low-income students.

Minimizing Harm, Maximizing Benefits

Colleges and universities should also act to minimize the harm and maximize the benefits of working. The following strategies may help.

1. Increase the availability of on-campus and major-related employment.

Institutions should identify on-campus employment opportunities for students that are related to their major field and provide opportunities to build career-related knowledge and skills. Descriptive analyses suggest that academic outcomes are better for students who are employed on campus rather than off campus.

2. Ensure that high-quality academic and other supports are available to working students.

Creating an institutional environment that promotes success for working students requires a campus-wide effort. Observers have recommended that institutions support working students by offering courses in the evenings, on weekends, and online; making available future course schedules; offering access to academic advising, office hours, and other support services at night and on weekends; offering online course registration and virtual academic advising; providing child-care options; and designating space for working students to study. Institutions may also connect employment and educational experiences through career counseling and occupational placement.

3. Recognize differences in employment-related needs and experiences.

Institutions should also recognize differences in the supports needed by different groups of working students, as, for example, the experiences, needs, and goals of working adult part-time students are different from those of working full-time students who are still dependents. The Learning While Earning report recommends that institutions develop collaborations with area employers in order to provide adult working students with “convenient learning options; child care; affordable transportation options; employment partnership agreements; access to healthcare insurance; paid sick, maternity, and paternity leave; financial literacy and wealth building information and retirement and investment options; and tuition assistance.”

Colleges and universities, especially those that enroll high shares of working adults, should also consider mechanisms for awarding credit for work and other prior experiences. These mechanisms include the College Board’s College-Level Examination Program and the American Council on Education’s College Credit Recommendation Service.

Employment during college too often contributes to inequity in higher education opportunity, experiences, and outcomes. More can and should be done to ensure that all students—especially students who must work for pay while enrolled—can fully engage in the academic experience, realize the potential benefits of working, and make timely progress to degree completion.

Laura W. Perna is GSE Centennial Presidential Professor of Education and executive director of the  Alliance for Higher Education and Democracy (AHEAD)  at the University of Pennsylvania. Her recent publications include Improving Research-Based Knowledge of College Promise Programs (2019, with Edward Smith) and Taking It to the Streets: The Role of Scholarship in Advocacy and Advocacy in Scholarship  (2018) . Her email address is [email protected] . Taylor K. Odle is a PhD student in higher education in Penn’s Graduate School of Education and an AM candidate in statistics at the Wharton School. He was previously assistant director for fiscal policy and research at the Tennessee Higher Education Commission. His email address is [email protected] .

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PTSD is rising among college students, recent studies find — here’s how to manage it

The covid-19 pandemic, among other factors, could be contributing to the rise of mental health disorders among young adults.

By Caroline McDonald

Recent studies have shown that post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety are on the rise in college students.

The research, published on JAMA Network , indicated that PTSD among college students increased from 3.4% to 7.5% between 2017 and 2022. Over 390,000 participants were involved in the study.

The study also analyzed the rise in ASD, acute stress disorder. The data revealed a “notable increase” in both PTSD and ASD, which “highlight the escalating mental health challenges among college students.”

Experts are now seeking to understand why these disorders are increasing among young adults.

Why are college students struggling with PTSD?

According to The New York Times , the disorder diagnoses peaked during the COVID-19 pandemic, when campuses across the nation shut down and “upended young adults’ lives.”

The research pointed to contributing factors such as “pandemic-related stressors (e.g., loss of loved ones) and the effect of traumatic events (e.g., campus shootings, racial trauma).”

About six out of every 100 people will experience PTSD in their lifetime, according to the National Center for PTSD . The disorder occurs after an individual has “been through a traumatic event.” The likeliness of developing the disorder is higher in women than it is in men.

The symptoms of PTSD can include flashbacks, intrusive thoughts and sensitivity to reminders of a traumatic event, according to The New York Times , with the symptoms continuing more than a month after the event occurs.

Academic researcher Shannon E. Cusack told The New York Times that some are skeptical about whether the “profound disruptions” caused by the pandemic connote the kinds of “triggering events” linked to PTSD.

“They’re causing symptoms that are consistent with the PTSD diagnosis,” Cusack said. “Am I not going to treat them because their stressor doesn’t count as a trauma?”

According to the study , “these findings suggest the need for targeted, trauma-informed prevention and intervention strategies by mental health professionals and policy makers to support the affected student population.”

How can I cope with PTSD in college?

“It is important for anyone with PTSD symptoms to work with a mental health professional who has experience treating PTSD,” according to the National Institute of Mental Health . Professionals are equipped with the knowledge and expertise necessary to help people with treatment plans.

The National Institute of Mental Health provided further methods to help those struggling with symptoms of PTSD:

• Create realistic, manageable goals.
• Practice activities, like exercise, that reduce stress.
• Avoid drugs and alcohol.
• Have routines for meals, sleep and exercise.
• Understand that your symptoms will “improve gradually, not immediately.”
• Talk with a trusted friend or member of your family.

Harvard Health provided some ways college students can manage symptoms of anxiety:

• Work on self-care. Self-care is a critical way to ease stress. A self-care routine can consist of healthy eating habits, exercise and proper sleep.
• Utilize campus resources. Campuses have resources to help students cope with stress and adapt to new situations. Search for mental health counseling, academic advising and student groups.
• Don’t avoid others. Some students try to combat intense stress by skipping class or avoiding stressors. But this will make anxiety worse. Try introducing yourself to someone new or emailing a professor or TA. Practice the small steps.

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After the pandemic students are starting to come back to college, report shows

Janet W. Lee

A new report finds college enrollment numbers, which plummeted during the pandemic, are slowly but steadily ticking back up.

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Digital college texts were meant to help students. Here’s why they didn’t

“I’m taking a ten-week macroeconomics course, yet my textbook costs over $120 for just five months — and that’s the cheapest option,” lamented my friend at the University of Washington. Sadly, this experience is all too common. Textbook prices have outpaced inflation three times over the past four decades, turning these essential tools into financial burdens.

The shift from print to digital textbooks was supposed to signify progress, but it created more problems than it solved. Many digital textbooks now require students to purchase access codes from publishers, locking them into time-limited subscriptions. Once the code expires, the textbook becomes inaccessible. Thus, we bid adieu to the era when textbooks could be resold or passed down to siblings. With access codes, we are forced to pay full price every time.

The problem worsens when publishers bundle online homework platforms with textbooks, essentially forcing students to buy them as a single, often expensive unit. Instructors might not even use the textbook’s content, preferring their own materials, yet students still have to purchase the bundle simply for homework that affects their grades. Adding insult to injury, sometimes the textbooks included in these bundles don’t even cater to the needs of most students, making the purchase even more unjust.  Now, an environmental science student might be forced to pay for a calculus textbook filled with advanced mathematical proofs despite having no use for it. 

Publishers are reaping massive profits from this model, charging hundreds of dollars for each digital textbook while their marginal costs remain negligible. Meanwhile, students graduate thousands of dollars deeper in debt, money that could have been invested in tuition, housing, or their futures. 

It’s time for a change. Here’s how we can end the era of outrageously priced textbooks:

• Prioritize alternatives : Instructors should avoid assigning textbooks whenever possible. If lecture notes and past materials are sufficient, share them freely. If only digital homework is necessary, allow students to purchase it separately.
• Recommend, don’t assign : Textbooks can be valuable supplements, but when they don’t serve most students, instructors should designate them as “recommended” rather than “required.”
• Embrace open textbooks : When textbooks are necessary, prioritize open-source options. These freely accessible resources offer high-quality content without the hefty price tag.
• Legislative action : For unavoidable traditional textbooks, consider legislation to cap prices and encourage publishers to offer more flexible access options based on students’ needs. Students in 10-week quarter systems shouldn’t have to purchase textbooks for five months.

I’m proud that student groups like WashPIRG are taking the lead. Initiatives promoting open textbooks at universities like UMass Amherst , the University of Maryland and Rutgers have saved students millions of dollars since access to open textbooks became available. We also appreciate local educators who go the extra mile. For example, the team behind the Intermediate Data Programming course at the University of Washington created an open-access textbook on GitHub. This invaluable resource, a compilation of lesson readings, videos and practice problems, benefits students far beyond their own classroom.

Yet, as my friend’s experience highlights, more work must be done. Textbooks are gateways to knowledge, empowering students to become informed citizens and innovators. When these resources are out of reach, it creates an uneven playing field, stifling potential and weakening our society. Making textbooks affordable isn’t about individual success; it’s an investment in a brighter future for us all. Let’s demand this change together.

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• v.81; 2022 Sep

Undergraduate students' involvement in research: Values, benefits, barriers and recommendations

• Yusuff Adebayo Adebisi

a Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria

b Global Health Focus, Abuja, Nigeria

Developing, maintaining, and sustaining undergraduate research initiatives can benefit academic institutions, faculty mentors, and students. As the world evolves, more research is required to advance knowledge and innovation in all fields. This implies that students must be prepared for today's knowledge-driven world. Research in the medical and health sciences has stalled in many developing countries, where a dual burden of communicable and noncommunicable diseases is prevalent. In this article, I discuss the values and benefits of undergraduate healthcare students participating in research and scientific publishing, as well as the challenges they face. I also make recommendations to encourage undergraduates to get involved in research. The potential of undergraduate research has not yet been fully realized. Undergraduate research's main objectives are to teach students how to do research and to help them acquire skills that they can use beyond the academic environment. Undergraduate research will complement rather than conflict with university education and should go beyond the mandatory terminal year thesis and must cover the entire course of their studies. The key to successful undergraduate research participation is for students to see and understand the importance of rigor, academic integrity, and responsible research conduct. This means academic institutions should carefully plan research programs, activities, and courses for students. Building capacity in research has a long-term impact on valuable learning outcomes as undergraduate students prepare for professional service. Stakeholders and educational authorities must invest in strengthening undergraduate involvement in research.

1. Introduction

As the world evolves, the need for research grows, and it remains a factor of key importance in creating a knowledge-driven economy and supporting development initiatives as well as driving innovations across all fields [ 1 ]. It is becoming more and more important to increase undergraduate student involvement in research [ 2 ]. Academic institutions, faculty mentors, and students can all benefit from developing, maintaining, and sustaining undergraduate research initiatives. By integrating research into their academic courses and giving them a strong academic foundation, students can strengthen their autonomous critical thinking abilities as well as their oral and written communication skills, among others. As students are ready for professional service, the research process affects important learning goals that have a lasting impact. All students should be prepared for the contemporary knowledge-driven world because, today, doing research is not just for academics but also for individuals and institutions interested in knowledge creation and advancement.

The advancement and innovation of all fields, including the health sciences and related areas, depends on research [ 3 ]. Society can benefit greatly from health-related research [ 4 ], which can provide vital insights into disease trends and risk factors, treatment outcomes or public health interventions, care patterns, costs and usage of healthcare services, and more. By doing research to find solutions to problems that are currently unknown, we can close knowledge gaps and change the way healthcare professionals work as well as how we respond to public health issues. With the increase in health concerns ravaging the world [ [5] , [6] , [7] ], it is clear that research is indispensable – whether it be tackling diseases of poverty, performing clinical trials, responding to the rise of chronic diseases, improving access to medicines, increasing vaccines uptake, containing local epidemics, developing innovation in treatment plans, or ensuring that marginalized populations have access to HIV care treatments, among others. This suggests that there is a pressing need to advance knowledge creation and utilization, and that gathering local, grassroots data at all levels of healthcare is important.

Research in the medical and health sciences has seen a downturn in many developing countries [ 8 ], where a double burden of communicable and non-communicable diseases is highly prevalent. The development of undergraduate health sciences students' research capacity is a key intervention to address this issue. With the support of faculties, it is possible for undergraduate students to learn about and participate actively in research. In this article, I discuss the values and benefits of undergraduate healthcare students' involvement in research and scientific publishing, as well as the challenges they face. I also provide recommendations to advance undergraduates’ involvement in research.

2. Values and benefits of undergraduate research

Involving undergraduate students in research should go beyond the mandatory terminal year thesis and must cover the entire course of their studies. There are myriads of benefits to involving (healthcare) students in research and scientific publishing at the undergraduate level. Research is a methodical process of investigation that includes data collection and analysis, the recording of significant information, and subsequent analysis and interpretation of that information in accordance with the protocols defined by specific academic and professional disciplines [ 9 ]. This implies that conducting research is an important way to improve students’ ability to think critically and solve problems, both of which are essential throughout their career as healthcare professionals. Critical thinking abilities have been linked to better patient outcomes, higher patient care quality, and improved safety outcomes [ 10 ]. While problem-solving focuses on identifying and resolving issues, critical thinking entails asking insightful questions and critiquing solutions. Early exposure of healthcare students to the value of research is a critical strategy for increasing their interest in and attitude toward it. Table 1 highlights the achievements of some students that engaged in research as undergraduates.

Examples of students that got involved in research as undergraduate and their achievements.

The elements required for professional competency in the health fields are covered in healthcare student curricula. This includes understanding of the fundamental theories and literature in the field of study, as well as knowledge of the terminology or technical language specific to health sciences. Incorporating research methodology and the hypothesis-driven scientific process can help to build on this foundation while also stimulating independent critical thinking. By involving undergraduate students in research, they can build trust in the scientific process. Besides that, independent thinking can give an undergraduate student the confidence to draw their own conclusions based on available evidence. No doubt that undergraduate students who took part in research projects will have greater thought independence, a stronger intrinsic motivation to learn, and a more active role in their learning. As a result, as undergraduates prepare for their respective professions, the research process has a very positive impact on their practice.

Students who participate in research may have the chance to develop the advanced writing abilities needed for science publishing and communication [ 11 ]. Even though healthcare students write a lot throughout their time in college, many still struggle to write in a way that is considered acceptable. This is due to the fact that students frequently plagiarize in writing assignments since there is usually little to no formal training on academic writing, and some institutions pay less attention to this. It has also become more challenging for students to express themselves in their own words during academic assessments as a result of the encouragement to memorize academic information verbatim by some teachers. Writing is difficult, but it is a skill that can be honed. Improving students' writing skills is much easier if proper attention is paid to strengthening their capacity for and involvement in the academic research process. This will be useful to them throughout their career, whether they choose to be academic or not.

Investing in academic writing skills among students, particularly in developing countries, is critical for improving scientific outputs on health issues confronting the region. It is not enough to know how to conduct research; academic writing is also important. Additionally, it is crucial for academic institutions to encourage students to present their research work at scientific conferences, which are frequently restricted to postgraduate students. This gives them the chance to collaborate more frequently with faculty members while also giving them another learning opportunity and boosting their confidence and presentation skills. Students who make significant contributions to the intellectual aspect of a research should not be relegated to acknowledgement section of the paper but should be included as co-authors. Furthermore, students should not be denied first authorship because of power dynamics. This will definitely improve students’ attitude towards research.

Through research, students can observe how the theories and concepts they have learned are applied. The active learning aspect of research allows students to connect with their own interests, which is not possible in a passive learning setting. If a research culture and thought process are instilled in healthcare students as they progress through the academic institution in a more systematic, logical, and integrated manner, it will be easier for them to understand what they are learning and will promote active participation in class. This is due to the fact that students who conduct research will be able to understand the research process and how scientists think and work on problems; learn about different lab techniques (as needed); develop skills in data analysis and interpretation; and be able to integrate theory and practice. Further, undergraduates should be involved in research as early as possible because it allows them to identify, develop, and nurture their interests while being open-minded to other areas. This will make choosing and transitioning into research area of choice much easier for them as they pursue postgraduate studies. Because of the high-level of interest and fundamental knowledge gained through undergraduate research participation, it will be possible to increase the enthusiasm, completion rates, and quality of academic research at the postgraduate level. Besides that, undergraduate research allows students to decide whether or not they want to pursue a career in research.

Due to the opportunity for students to pursue their individual interests, research experiences have been linked to a boost in students' motivation to learn [ 12 ]. This means undergraduates will have the chance to take more control over their own learning experiences and have their intellectual curiosity piqued by research. Student-faculty research mentoring relationships frequently develop over time. In contrast to what is possible in the classroom, students form a distinct type of interaction with their research mentor. Most of the time, the interaction is more intense and lasts longer. It frequently serves as the foundation for lifelong friendships and career guidance. When students are looking for jobs or graduate schools, faculty research mentors are an excellent source of recommendations and advice. Additionally, students gain experience working in a research team, which typically involves group work, stronger relationships with colleagues and faculty members, and the development of communication skills. All of which are qualities that employers are increasingly looking for. The key to successful undergraduate research participation is for students to see and understand the importance of rigor, academic integrity, and responsible research conduct. This means academic institutions should carefully plan research programs, activities, and courses for students.

One of the most significant benefits of student research participation is the possibility of publishing articles in peer-reviewed journals. This will also give students early exposure to the process and concept of scientific publishing. Students who submit their manuscript to a reputable journal for publication can also benefit from peer review, which allows them to improve their paper and learn more from the reviewers’ comments. Also, undergraduate students who are exposed to the scientific publishing process early on will be less likely to become victims of predatory journals. Students with publishing experience may be inspired and motivated to pursue a career in research. Having publication allows students to improve their resumes and graduate school applications. Publishing counts as research experience and demonstrates that undergraduate students who have published are enthusiastic about research. As an active learning process, research requires students to frame questions, devise a strategy for testing their hypotheses, analyze data, and write clearly to report their findings, among other things. The research experiences, skills, and knowledge students acquire at the undergraduate level will better prepare them for many of their future endeavors, including careers and postgraduate study. In addition to exposing students to conducting original/primary research, it is important to engage them in secondary research activities including writing reviews, correspondence, commentary, viewpoints, book chapters, and more. Secondary research improves students' writing abilities and thought processes, enables the construction of intelligent arguments, enhances their capacity to use scientific databases to find evidence, and teaches them how to engage in constructive criticism, among others.

While the benefits of undergraduate research to students have been highlighted in the preceding paragraphs, academic institutions can also benefit from engaging undergraduates in research [ 13 ]. Teams conducting research benefit from the enthusiasm and energy of curious undergraduate students. They frequently keep asking for more tasks to complete since they are eager to learn. Undergraduate students often pose inquiries that can be quite perceptive and, perhaps rather unintentionally, alter the way advisors approach research problems and better improve the quality of scientific output from such institutions. In contrast to how faculty research mentors interact with graduate students and other senior team members, undergraduate researchers need responses to inquiries in unique ways, which usually facilitate an opportunity for multidirectional intense learning.

Furthermore, undergraduate students' contributions to peer-reviewed publications and local, regional, national, or international research presentations at conferences and other scientific gatherings will benefit the university or institution's visibility in the scientific community and attract more funding. Students can actively contribute to scientific knowledge provided they are motivated and have the necessary research knowledge and abilities. I serve as a practical example. At the undergraduate level, I published more than 50 articles (including both primary and secondary research) in peer-reviewed journals on a diverse range of public health issues, including the COVID-19 pandemic. While still an undergraduate, I received research and travel grants and presented scientific papers both locally and internationally. This captured the attention of the media, and many undergraduates are now inspired to participate in research more than ever. With the right support systems in place, undergraduates' contributions to scientific literature can be valuable, benefiting not only the student but also the academic institution and society. Imagine a university where students receive the assistance they require to develop their capacity for scientific publishing and research. Such an institution would contribute more to science and knowledge creation, raising their profile in the process. Undergraduate research initiatives are an untapped gold mine if they are nurtured, funded, and supported adequately.

3. Barriers and challenges facing involvement of undergraduate students in research

Healthcare undergraduates interested in research face a number of challenges that have been documented in academic literature. In this section, I conducted a rapid unsystematic review of primary studies and used Table 2 to summarize the challenges and barriers facing undergraduate research identified in randomly selected academic papers.

Barriers and challenges facing healthcare students’ involvement in research.

The rapid review of the fifteen (15) original studies in Table 2 revealed the major barriers and challenges limiting undergraduate student involvement in research across different countries. The findings of the reviewed studies were clearly similar. The key barriers and challenges to undergraduate involvement in research can be divided into three categories: a significant lack of knowledge and skills to participate in research; little to no faculty support, mentorship, funding and motivation for undergraduates to participate in research; and structural barriers limiting student involvement in research such as lack of time due to the loaded curriculum, dearth of research facilities as well as lack of major plans and strategies for undergraduate research.

4. Recommendations

There is an urgent need for stakeholders all over the world to look into the issues and devise tailored strategies to increase the involvement of (healthcare) students in research. Here are my eight (8) recommendations to advance the involvement of undergraduate students in research:

• 1. Research methods and processes should be taught to students as early as their second year of college. Even though some universities only cover research methodologies in the final year, it is essential to include more content on scientific writing and research methods as a mandatory course throughout the whole academic program. Undergraduate teaching curricula and approaches should promote inquiry-based learning. All professional classes' academic curricula might include regular discussions of new advances in the medical and health sciences, and the academic departments might be tasked with organizing these conversations. Long-term, this practice would foster a research aptitude in undergraduate students since opportunity like these would stimulate their minds.
• 2. As part of academic program, students should be evaluated for their interest in research and assigned suitable researchers to serve as their research mentors. Faculty research mentors must also be compensated. Lecturers do not receive credit for mentoring students for publications or research projects. Credit points should be awarded for each peer-reviewed publication attributed to such mentorship to encourage faculty-student research collaboration and motivate them to serve as research mentors for undergraduates. Mandatory structured mentorship programs are desperately needed.
• 3. During the undergraduate program, students should have the opportunity to participate in more research trainings, internships, and placements locally and internationally. This will contribute significantly to students' research skills and experience.
• 4. Students should be encouraged to publish at least two papers, either primary or secondary research, in peer-reviewed journals before graduation. Besides that, the final year thesis must be published and must be on a topic with the potential to make or drive impact.
• 5. Encourage undergraduate students to participate in scientific meetings, conferences, and seminars and to present their research, project, ideas or innovation in such gathering. Funding should be provided for undergraduate research conferences so that students can share their work, learn from the experiences of others, and improve institutional collaboration. This is a worthwhile investment towards advancing knowledge creation and utilization.
• 6. Existing undergraduate journals (e.g., International Journal of Medical Students), student research capacity building initiatives (e.g., Global Health Focus), undergraduate research funding initiatives, and other efforts aimed at promoting student involvement in research should be supported in order to provide more opportunities for students to participate in research.
• 7. A platform should be established to celebrate, provide incentives, and awards to undergraduates who contribute to the advancement of scientific knowledge. More students will be inspired to participate in research as a result of this. Funding (e.g., travel grant, research grant, etc.) should be made more accessible to students that have demonstrated remarkable passion for knowledge creation.
• 8. More research should be conducted across academic institutions to better understand the local barriers that prevent undergraduates from participating in research.

5. Conclusion

Undergraduate research is a treasure trove that has yet to be fully tapped. The primary goal of undergraduate research is to teach students how to conduct research and to develop necessary skills that can be applied outside of the academic setting. Bolstering undergraduate research will complement, rather than conflict with, university education. There is an urgent need to develop global and local initiatives as well as strengthen current initiatives to further encourage undergraduate students to participate in research and scientific publishing.

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62 Best Research Opportunities for High School Students

June 2, 2024

Hands-on laboratory-based research experiences are coveted by just about every STEM-oriented teenager on the planet. Of course, this level of demand renders research opportunities for high school students a valuable and rare commodity. Fortunately, there are a number of reputable summer programs run by universities, government agencies, and private research laboratories that afford young scientists this highly sought-after experience. Research opportunities during the actual school year are more challenging to locate as colleges are, at that time, catering to their own students, and the rigidity of the high school calendar makes participation a further challenge.

What type of research opportunities can a high school student have, anyway?

Research opportunities for high school students can range from introductory to highly advanced. Some programs focus on teaching students the fundamental skills required for research while others place students with a real working research group and allow them to contribute to legitimate experiments and papers. Your level of involvement will depend on the university or organization’s policies, your mentor, your lab team, and the type of research being conducted.

What types of research experiences look best on college applications?

Authentic, laboratory-based research experiences that you get paid for are the hardest types of positions to nail down, primarily because very few of these spots are available. Moreover, such research groups are conducting serious work—consequently, they’re looking for serious, high-achieving students who will positively enhance their dynamic. Additionally, these positions typically require a longer time commitment, with students working full-time (or close to full-time) hours for several months or even years. As such, accepting one of these positions may limit the other types of summer opportunities that you can participate in. Finally, due to safety concerns and restrictions, you will likely need to be at least 16 years old to participate in many types of lab-based research.

On the flip side are research opportunities that you pay to be involved in, with some being more selective than others. Many families wonder if these programs offer legitimate research experience or are simply another way to capitalize off of the college admissions craze, and the answer is that you have to do your homework.

Although some research opportunities offer little in the way of experience, others are truly authentic opportunities to work with a mentor and delve into an area of interest for academic enrichment—no different than any other cost-based summer program. In these cases, the fact that a student prioritized their intellectual curiosity and spent several months seriously pursuing a topic of interest will be an excellent addition to their application. We’ve gone ahead and done the hard work for you—any one of the opportunities listed below is legitimate and worthy of investing your time and resources into.

How do I decide what types of research opportunities to apply for?

If conducting research is important to you, we recommend applying to a mix of highly selective and lesser selective programs to maximize your chances of being accepted to at least one. Beyond selectivity, it’s important to consider additional several factors:

• Time commitment —Some programs may require a multi-week, full-time commitment over the summer. Others may require nights and weekends during the school year.
• Time frame —Some programs are only available in the summer while others run year-round (sometimes for multiple years).
• Cost/stipend —Do you have to pay for the program, or does the program pay you? Research whether the program will be a good fit for your financial situation, including how much it costs and if you’ll receive compensation for your work, either via academic credit or a paycheck. Note that many residential programs are cost-based while commuter programs that only accept local students are more likely to be fully funded and/or offer a stipend.
• Location —Evaluate whether you’d like to attend a local program, are willing to travel to a residential program, or would prefer a virtual option.
• Level of mentor interaction —During some programs, you’ll be closely supported by PhD faculty members, while others may be run by graduate or postdoc students and require students to be more independent.
• Opportunity to publish or enter research competitions —If publishing research or submitting your project/paper to a research competition is important to you, you’ll want to look into whether the program prepares you for that venture.

Our list includes a bevy of summer program choices as well as year-long internships and apprenticeships. We’ve divided the list into three sections: Virtual, Residential/Multi-Location, and Location-Specific.

For each entry, we list the geographic location of the program, the time frame and length of the program, any associated costs or stipends, and the eligibility criteria for participation.

Virtual Research Opportunities for High School Students

Virtual research opportunities for high school students offer ultimate flexibility, in regard to time commitment as well as subject matter.

1) Polygence

• Location : Virtual
• Timeframe : Academic year and/or summer
• Length: 2-6 months
• Cost : $495-$3,695
• Eligibility: No age restrictions

For high school students who want to showcase authentic passion on their college applications, Polygence offers the most personalized and flexible online research program that helps students turn their interests into unique research projects. Accordingly, they pair intellectually curious students with PhD-level mentors to design experiments, build robots, create podcasts, write original screenplays, and publish in peer-reviewed journals in all fields from the humanities to STEM. All 1:1 programs include ten meetings with a mentor in your chosen field as well as a self-selected project topic and outcome, which could include a research paper, a prototype, or a creative piece of work.

A multitude of personalized options are available, including additional brainstorming sessions, time with a specialist who will guide the student through the publishing or research competition process, and academic credit through UCI x GATI. Moreover, Polygence’s Pods program allows students to work with like-minded peers in a group setting.

Sound like a good fit? College Transitions readers can save $50 on their Polygence package.

Research areas available include:

• Computer science, engineering, AI, & game design
• Biology, biotech, chemistry, neuroscience, and physics
• Medicine, surgery, dentistry, and public health
• Business, finance, and economics
• Math, statistics, sports analytics, and quantitative analysis
• Psychology, psychiatry, cognitive science, and social sciences
• Creative writing, history, philosophy, and literature
• Animation, the arts, fashion, photography, and dance

Residential/Multi-Location Research Programs

In the following section, we’ve outlined programs that are residential or offer opportunities in multiple locations, making them more accessible to a wider array of students.

Programs are organized alphabetically by discipline.

Biology Research Opportunities for High School Students

2) university of chicago research in the biological sciences (ribs).

• Location : Chicago, IL
• Timeframe : Summer
• Length: 4 weeks
• Cost : $14,000
• Eligibility: Current sophomores and juniors

In UChicago’s highly selective RIBS program, students practice a range of molecular, microbiological, and cell biological research techniques. The goal? To prepare them to work in a research laboratory. Accordingly, for the first two weeks, students undergo basic training in lab skills and techniques. Then, they spend the final two weeks of the course immersed in an independent research project. At the end of the course, they present the project during a research forum. Moreover, students can expect weekly writing assignments and seminars. To be competitive, students should have a demonstrated interest in science as well as top grades in those classes.

Biomedical Research Programs for High School Students

3) rosetta institute of biomedical research molecular medicine workshops.

• Location : Berkeley; San Diego; Columbia; London; virtual
• Length: 2 weeks
• Cost : $3,580-$4,180 (residential); $2,280-$2,480 (commuter); $430-1,050 (online)
• Eligibility: High school students aged 14-18

Curious about biomedical research but not ready to pursue a full-blown lab internship? Rosetta Institute offers a number of residential and online two-week programs that introduce high schoolers to topics in medicine, drug development, pharmacy, and nursing. For example, current workshops include Medicinal Chemistry, Neurological Bioinformatics, and Molecular Biology of Cancer. All students are taught by PhD-level instructors and complete an original research project.

Chemistry Research Opportunities for High School Students

4) american chemical society — project seed.

• Location : Multiple
• Length: 8-10 weeks
• Cost : Free, and students receive a $4,000 stipend
• Eligibility: All high school students whose families meet annual income requirements, but preferably current sophomores, juniors, or seniors

Having been operational for more than fifty years, Project SEED (Summer Experiences for the Economically Disadvantaged) runs programs at over 350 institutions and has served over 12,000 students. The goal of the program is to empower a diverse cohort of high school students to conduct hands-on research experience in the chemical sciences. Accordingly, all students work full-time on meaningful independent or small group projects, are closely guided by a mentor, and either write a report or do a poster presentation at the end of their fellowship.

Genetics Research Opportunities for High School Students

5) jackson lab summer student program.

• Location : Bar Harbor, ME or Farmington, CT
• Length: 10 weeks
• Cost : Free, and students receive a $6,500 stipend plus funded room, board, and travel
• Eligibility: High school seniors can apply to the Bar Harbor program, while eligible undergrads can apply to either program.

Hoping to design and execute an original independent research project? You’ll be able to do just that through Jackson Lab’s Summer Student Program, which immerses students in one of seven areas: bioinformatics and computational biology, cancer, developmental biology and aging, genomics, immunology and infectious disease, metabolic diseases, and neurobiology and sensory deficits. Moreover, students are closely guided by a mentor and present their research at the end of the summer. Finally, the application process is intense and competitive, requiring two letters of recommendation, a transcript, a resume, evidence of a strong interest in genetics and genomics, and four essay responses.

Pre-Health Research Opportunities for High School Students

6) national institutes of health high school summer internship program.

• Location : Research groups are available at many of NIH’s 27 institutes and centers , including the main campus in Bethesda, MD
• Cost : Free; all students receive a stipend
• Eligibility: High school seniors age 17+

Through their HS-SIP Program, the National Institutes of Health places high school students in full-time research positions within their many active research groups. Subject areas include biomedical, behavioral, and social sciences, and are geared toward students who are interested in pursuing research and healthcare. Moreover, students can take part in Summer Poster Day, where they present their research to the NIH community. They also have access to professional development programs and educational/career advising.

Note that this research opportunity for high school students is extremely competitive; approximately 7% of applicants are ultimately accepted. Finally, if you are under the age of 18 when you participate in the program, you will need to live within 40 miles of the campus that you’d like to intern at.

STEM/Humanities Research Opportunities for High School Students

7) army educational outreach program—high school internships.

• Location : Various
• Timeframe : All Year
• Length: 3 months
• Cost : Free, and all interns receive a stipend
• Eligibility: All current high school students. Some sites may have additional eligibility requirements.

With programs currently available in twenty states, the Army Educational Outreach Program places high school students in university research labs or at a US Army Research Laboratory/Center. Each site has its own technical focus, from biology and materials science to cybersecurity and AI. Regardless of specialty, all interns receive formal mentorship from a professional scientist or engineer, have access to high-tech equipment, and work on relevant research that addresses a current major challenge.

8) Boston University RISE

• Location : Boston, MA
• Length: 6 weeks
• Cost : $5,350 plus room & board
• Eligibility: Current high school juniors

A residential program located on the Boston University campus, RISE offers high school students the opportunity to conduct laboratory research in one of two tracks: Internship or Practicum. Students in the Internship track work full-time on a research project that aligns with their interests, and are mentored by a faculty member, postdoc fellow, or grad student. 15 subject areas are available, including astronomy, mechanical engineering, medical laboratory research, and nutrition. Alternatively, Practicum students work in small groups on structured research related to systems neuroscience and neurobiology.

Research Opportunities for High School Students—Continued

9) michigan state high school honors science, math and engineering program.

• Location : East Lansing, MI
• Length: 7 weeks
• Cost : $4,000

HSHSP is a highly selective, residential program where students can pursue research opportunities in science, engineering, and mathematics. After learning more about the research process, students deeply explore a problem of interest while engaging in an authentic (not “fail-proof”) research experience. Along the way, they’ll work with professionals and peers in their field of interest. Finally, many students have gone on to publish their work or be recognized at prestigious research competitions.

10) MIT Research Science Institute

• Location : Cambridge, MA
• Cost : Free
• Eligibility: High school juniors

With a combined focus on academic coursework and hands-on research, RSI students first take one week of STEM coursework with MIT professors. Here, they’ll learn about current research topics in biology, chemistry, engineering, mathematics, physics, and the humanities. Then, for the remaining five weeks, students “experience the entire research cycle start to finish.” During this time, they participate in an intensive, mentored individual project experience that culminates in a written and oral presentation.

The program looks for students who are exceptionally academically talented. As such, the application process is quite intensive. PSAT Math scores must be over 740 and ACT Math scores must be over 33. In addition, students must write several essays, acquire teacher recommendations, and provide transcripts. Ultimately, only 100 students are accepted.

11) NASA Internship Programs

• Location : Various; there are 15 centers and facilities in the US. Remote opportunities may also be available.
• Timeframe : Available during the fall, spring, and summer
• Length: 10-16 weeks, depending on session
• Cost : Free; the majority of interns receive a stipend, but some are unpaid
• Eligibility: High school students aged 16+

NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement (OSTEM) offers a number of internship opportunities for high school students. Available projects change each year and are location-specific, and not every NASA center will offer internship opportunities every session. That said, current projects span a range of subject areas, including Climate Change in the Hudson Estuary and Characterizing the Urban Land Surface Temperature. During the research internship, students will be closely mentored by a research scientist, engineer, or other professional. Note that you will need to make your own housing arrangements if you are not a local student.

Are you an undergraduate student? Check out NASA Pathways , which can provide a direct transition into full-time employment at NASA.

12) Smith College Summer Science and Engineering Program

• Location : Northampton, MA
• Length: 2-4 weeks
• Cost : $4,745 (2 weeks); $8,082 (4 weeks)
• Eligibility: Female high school students in grades 9-12; some programs have specific prerequisites

Fun fact: Smith was the first women’s college to create a program in engineering science. As such, their summer programs are an excellent place for young women to participate in hands-on, introductory research experiences. Two-week sessions are offered, and students can take one or both. Each session offers six distinct course choices. For example, the first session offers Chemistry of Herbal Medicine, Designing Intelligent Robots, and Novel Bacteriophage Discovery. Second session courses include Where the Body Meets the Mind, Supercontinents, Rocks, and Fossils, and the Art and Science of Microcontrollers. Students spend five days a week in class, attending lectures and conducting experiments & fieldwork. Additionally, the program is team-based, allowing students to learn from each other’s ideas and perspectives.

13) Stony Brook University Garcia Center Research Experience for High School Students

• Location : Stony Brook, NY
• Timeframe : Summer (with possible academic year continuation)
• Cost : $4,000 plus room & board

At the Garcia Center for Polymers at Engineered Interfaces, high school students can design an original research project in polymer science and technology during an intensive seven-week summer program. Uniquely, the research can then be continued during the academic year under the guidance of a faculty mentor. Students should be highly motivated and high-achieving, with at least three upper-level science courses under their belt. Finally, past participants have regularly published their research and won recognition in national competitions.

14) Stony Brook University Simons Summer Research Program

• Cost : Students need to cover transportation costs (if commuting) or room/board (if residential). Room/board is $2,781. Stipends are also awarded at the end of the program.

After being matched with a mentor and research team, students are fully immersed in the research process. Placement availability varies from year to year, but typically about thirty projects are available across over a dozen disciplines. These include biochemistry, computer science, geosciences, and pharmacological sciences, among others. Moreover, some have prerequisites, such as specific AP courses or previous programming experience.

All students participate in weekly faculty research talks, workshops, events, and a culminating poster symposium.

15) Summer Science Program

• Location : Astrophysics: UNC Chapel Hill, University of Colorado, Georgia College & State University, New Mexico State University; Biochemistry: Purdue, Indiana University; Genomics: Georgetown, Purdue, New Mexico State; Synthetic Chemistry : Southwestern Oklahoma State University
• Cost : $8,800 max; all program fees are scaled according to what each family can afford
• Eligibility: Current high school juniors and exceptional sophomores

The Summer Science Program offers four different immersive research programs that take place on different college campuses around the country. These include programs in astrophysics, biochemistry, genomics, and synthetic chemistry. Each program has its own research focus. For example, astrophysics students will dive into Asteroid Orbit Determination while genomics students explore Antibiotic Resistance and Directed Evolution.

Students spend six days a week in class deeply investigating their research topics and learning more about general experimental science. They also take part in guest lectures and other special programming.

16) Texas Tech University Anson L. Clark Scholars Program

• Location : Lubbock, TX
• Cost : Free; all students receive a $750 stipend upon completion of their projects
• Eligibility: High school juniors and seniors aged 17+ by the start of the program

The Clark Scholars Program is one of the only programs on this list with research disciplines in the sciences as well as the humanities. For example, current research areas include everything from nutritional sciences and mechanical engineering to history. Over the course of seven weeks, students work closely with a faculty member to complete a research paper in their discipline. They also participate in weekly seminars, discussions, and field trips.

17) University of California Santa Barbara Research Mentorship Program

• Location : Santa Barbara, CA
• Cost : $11,874 (residential); $4,975 (commuter)
• Eligibility: High school sophomores and juniors

During this intensive program, students work 35-50 hours per week on an interdisciplinary research project of their choice. Nearly thirty research areas are available in both the STEM disciplines and humanities; current topics include biochemistry, computer science, history, music, and anthropology, among others. Over the course of the program, they also take two courses: Introduction to Research and Presentation Techniques. Finally, students occasionally continue their research remotely during the academic year, depending on their mentor’s availability.

18) University of California Santa Barbara Summer Research Academies

• Cost : $8,224 (residential); $2,575 (commuter)
• Eligibility: High school sophomores, juniors, and seniors

Running for four weeks, the UCSB Summer Research Academies allow students to earn up to four credits. While taking a university-level course that teaches fundamental research concepts, students spend the first two weeks of the program developing a research question & framework via hands-on labs. They’ll then spend the final two weeks of the course analyzing their results and building presentations. Overall, they’ll spend about 25-40 hours per week working. Finally, twelve different tracks are available; each involves multiple disciplines. For example, “Bionic Creatures” combines mechanical engineering, materials science, soft robotics, biomanufacturing, and collective motion.

19) University of California Santa Cruz Science Internship Program (SIP)

• Location : Santa Cruz, CA
• Length: 9 weeks (two weeks virtual, seven weeks in-person)
• Cost : $4,750 plus room & board
• Eligibility: High school students aged 14+, although some research groups require students to be 16+

UCSC’s SIP Program offers a wide range of research focus areas, including science and engineering as well as social science, humanities, and art. For example, over 100 projects are currently offered that include everything from “Eating Insects in Silicon Valley: Cultural Gaps Between Food-Tech and Tradition” and “Future Projected Changes in the Distribution and Variability of Ocean Chlorophyll in Climate Simulations.” Before you dive in, you’ll spend two weeks doing online research prep (this part is conducted remotely) followed by seven weeks of in-person, mentored research. Students get to engage in authentic, open-ended projects that fully immerse them in the academic research experience. Moreover, they’ll present their findings at a symposium at the end of the program.

20) University of California Davis Young Scholars Program

• Location : Davis, CA
• Cost : $6,750
• Eligibility: High school sophomores and juniors who will be 16+ by the start of the program

Interested in biological, agricultural, environmental, or natural sciences? If so, UC Davis is a stellar place to explore those interests through research. All students have the opportunity to work on independent, original projects while receiving one-on-one faculty mentorship. Moreover, they each produce a journal-quality paper and symposium presentation. In addition to research, students also participate in a lecture series presented by UC Davis faculty; past topics have included forensic entomology and nutrition, among others. Finally, field trips to educational facilities like the Monterey Bay Aquarium and Bodega Bay Marine Laboratory round out the experience.

21) University of Florida Student Science Training Program

• Location : Gainesville, FL
• Cost : $5,200
• Eligibility: Rising seniors aged 16+

Thinking about a career in science, medicine, math, computer science, or engineering? UF’s Student Science Training Program could be the right fit. For thirty hours per week, you’ll work with a faculty mentor and lab team on university-level, ongoing research. Moreover, you’ll participate in a science lecture series as well as a UF Honors Program seminar class. Over the course of the program, you will write a research paper, present a poster, and give two oral presentations. Finally, social programming is included.

22) University of Iowa Secondary Student Training Program

• Location : Iowa City, IA
• Cost : $7,500

During this intensive and competitive program, students conduct research within small groups that are supported by a University of Iowa faculty member. There are twenty current active research areas, including chemistry, geography, neurology, orthopedics & rehabilitation, and religious studies. You’ll be working on your project approximately seven hours per day, attending classes in the evenings, and participating in structured activities on the weekend. Moreover, all groups will create and present a poster at the culmination of the program.

23) University of Massachusetts Amherst Summer Programs

• Location : Amherst, MA
• Cost : $3,636 (residential); $2,167 (commuter)
• Eligibility: Rising sophomores, juniors, and seniors

UMass Amherst offers two introductory, research-focused opportunities for high school students. These are Antibiotic Resistance: A Global Health Crisis, which allows students to join the Department of Microbiology in researching new antibiotics, and Energy Without Borders, which delves into climate change, infrastructure, and green energy. In both courses, you’ll learn research methods, complete multiple lab experiences, and present a research poster. Finally, students can earn two college credits upon successful completion of the program.

Location-Specific Research Opportunities for High School Students

The following programs are not residential and only offered in a specific location. Many also only accept local students, although some do allow out-of-state students to apply. If that’s the case, you will need to secure your own living accommodations and transportation. Moreover, if you are under the age of 18, you will need to be supervised by a parent or guardian.

Programs are organized alphabetically by state.

24) California Academy of the Sciences—Careers in Science Intern

• Location : San Francisco, CA
• Focus: STEM
• Length: Multi-year (2-3 years)
• Eligibility: 9 th or 10 th grade student enrolled in an SFUSD school with a GPA of 2.5 or higher

25) Cedars Sinai INSPIRE High School

• Location : Los Angeles, CA
• Focus: Pre-Health
• Cost : Free; all students are paid
• Eligibility: High school students age 16+

26) City of Hope Summer Student Academy

• Location : Duarte, CA
• Focus: Biomedicine
• Cost : Free; all students receive a stipend of $4,000

27) Sandia National Laboratories—Internships

• Location : Livermore, CA
• Focus : STEM
• Timeframe : Academic year and summer internships available
• Length: Academic year or 10-12 weeks (summer)
• Cost : Free; all positions are paid

28) Scripps Student Research Internship Program

• Location : La Jolla, CA
• Focus : Translational science/genomics
• Cost : Free; stipends are typically offered

29) UCSF SEP High School Intern Program

• Focus : Biomedical research
• Length: 8 weeks
• Eligibility: High school juniors enrolled in an SFUSD high school, SF charter school, or College Track San Francisco

30) UCSF Summer Student Research Program

• Location : Oakland, CA
• Length: 9 weeks
• Cost : Free; all students are given a stipend between $3,000-$4,300
• Eligibility: High school juniors or seniors, aged 16+

Connecticut

31) jackson lab academic year fellowships.

• Location : Farmington, CT*
• Focus: Genetics
• Timeframe : Academic year
• Length: 1 school year
• Cost : Free; students must be able to receive academic credit for their work
• Eligibility: High school juniors and seniors age 16+ within commuting distance of the lab

*Some fully remote opportunities are available

32) Yale School of Medicine Discovery to Cure High School Internship

• Location : New Haven, CT

33) Yale University Social Robotics Lab High School Internship

• Focus: Robotics and human social behavior
• Eligibility: Rising juniors and seniors aged 16+

34) Argonne National Laboratory — Exemplary Student Research Program

• Location : Lemont, IL
• Focus: Engineering
• Eligibility: Application must be completed by participating teacher

35) Chicago EYES on Cancer

• Focus : Biomedicine
• Timeframe : All year, with two 8-week summer research experiences
• Length: 2 years
• Cost : Free; all students receive $3,100 stipend
• Eligibility: High school sophomore, junior, or senior aged 16+

36) University of Kansas Biotech Research Apprentice Program

• Location : Overland Park, KS
• Focus : Biotech
• Length: Semester

37) Jackson Lab Academic Year Fellowships

• Location : Bar Harbor, ME*

38) National Cancer Institute Werner H. Kirsten Student Internship Program

• Location : Frederick, MD
• Timeframe : Academic year & summer
• Length: 1 year
• Cost : Free; academic credit available during school year, stipend provided in summer
• Eligibility: High school junior age 17+ who attends an eligible school located within a 30-mile radius of campus

39) University of Minnesota Lillehei Heart Institute Summer Research Scholars Program

• Location : Minneapolis, MN
• Focus: Cardiovascular medicine
• Eligibility: High school juniors and seniors age 16+ as well as undergraduate students

40) Coriell Institute for Medical Research

• Location : Camden, NJ
• Eligibility: High school student aged 17+

41) Princeton Laboratory Learning Program

• Location : Princeton, NJ
• Focus : Natural Sciences or Engineering
• Length: 5-6 weeks

42) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory High School Internship

• Location : Princeton, NJ*
• Focus : Physics
• Eligibility: High school seniors (program takes place summer after graduation)

*Remote projects may be available.

43) Rutgers Institute for Translational Medicine and Science Summer Research Program (RITMS)

• Location : Rutgers, NJ
• Focus : Translational medicine/science

44) Rutgers Waksman Institute Summer Experience Program

• Location : Piscataway, NJ*
• Focus : Molecular biology/bioinformatics
• Cost : $2,000
• Eligibility: High school students who have completed a high school-level biology course

*Online version of the program is also available

45) Los Alamos National Laboratory High School Internship Program

• Location : Los Alamos, NM
• Length: 11 weeks
• Eligibility: New Mexico high school seniors aged 16+

46) Sandia National Laboratories—Internships

• Location : Albuquerque, NM

47) Baruch College STEM Research Academy

• Location : New York, NY
• Timeframe : Spring/summer
• Cost : Free, but all students receive a stipend of $1,575
• Eligibility: Must be a NYC public high school sophomore junior to apply

48) Burke Neurological Institute NeuroAcademy

• Location : White Plains, NY
• Focus: Neuroscience
• Eligibility: Completion of NYS Regents Living Environment or equivalent Biology class; cumulative GPA of 3.4 or higher

49) City Tech College STEM Research Academy

• Length: Two semesters (January-August)
• Eligibility: NYC public school sophomore or junior

50) Columbia Zuckerman Institute—BRAINYAC Program

• Eligibility: High school sophomores and juniors from select partner programs/schools in Upper Manhattan and the Bronx

51) HOPP Summer Student Program at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

• Focus: Biomedical or computational research
• Eligibility: High school students aged 14+

52) University of Rochester Laboratory for Laser Energetics Summer High School Research Program

• Location : Rochester, NY
• Focus: Laser energetics
• Eligibility: Rochester-area high school students who have completed their junior year

53) Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute

• Location : Cleveland, OH
• Timeframe : Varies; depends on lab
• Length: Varies; depends on lab

54) OHSU School of Medicine Partnership for Scientific Inquiry (PSI)

• Location : Portland, OR
• Focus: Biomedical research
• Timeframe : Academic semester + summer
• Length: 16+ weeks
• Eligibility: Oregon-based high school sophomores, juniors, and seniors aged 16+

Pennsylvania

55) fox chase cancer center high school research programs.

• Location : Philadelphia, PA
• Timeframe : During school year
• Length: 2-3 months; depends on program
• Eligibility: Philadelphia-area high school students; students must be 16+ for some programs

56) Penn State College of Medicine Research Internships

• Location : Hershey, PA
• Length: Varies; could be weeks to months depending on lab
• Cost : Paid and unpaid internships available

57) University of Pennsylvania GRASP Lab High School Internships

• Focus: Robotics
• Cost : Free; stipend typically available
• Eligibility: Rising high school senior

58) George Mason University Aspiring Scientists Internship Program (ASSIP)

• Location : Fairfax, VA*
• Eligibility: High school students aged 15+ or 16+, depending on program

*Some fully remote and hybrid opportunities are available, depending on the lab.

59) Jefferson Lab High School Summer Honors Program

• Location : Newport News, VA
• Eligibility: High school students aged 16+ who live within 60 miles of the lab

60) Virginia Tech Fralin Biomedical Research Institute Summer Research Program

• Location : Roanoke, VA
• Focus: Health behaviors research
• Cost : Free; all students receive a stipend of $4,800
• Eligibility: Rising high school junior or senior in the Roanoke Valley

61) Pacific Northwest National Laboratory High School Research Programs

• Location : Richland, WA
• Timeframe : Summer & academic year programs available
• Length: Academic year or 10 weeks (summer)
• Eligibility: High school students aged 16+; some labs may require students to be 18+

62) Seattle Children’s Hospital Research Training Program

• Location : Seattle, WA
• Eligibility: High school sophomores, juniors, or seniors within commuting distance of downtown Seattle

Final Thoughts—Research Opportunities for High School Students

If gaining research experience is important to you, it’s in your best interest to explore a number of different programs, evaluating whether their structure, length, cost, and outcomes are in line with your goals. Finding the right opportunity may take some time, but it will be well worth the effort required.

• Research Programs

Kelsea Conlin

Kelsea holds a BA in English with a concentration in Creative Writing from Tufts University, a graduate certificate in College Counseling from UCLA, and an MA in Teaching Writing from Johns Hopkins University. Her short fiction is forthcoming in Chautauqua .

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