Mental health for college students has improved for the third year in a row, according to a national survey on mental health co-led by Sarah Lipson, a Boston University School of Public Health associate professor.
The annual Healthy Minds Study has received over 935,000 respondents since it launched in 2007 launch and surveys college students across the United States on mental health outcomes, knowledge and attitudes.
The 2024-25 report, which was released in September, found 17% of students reported severe depression symptoms, a 2% drop from 19% in 2023. Suicidal ideation dropped from 13% to 11%, according to the report.
Lipson said the study found student mental health consistently declined “for about 10 years straight” until 2022, when the percentage of students who reported experiencing major depression decreased by 3% from the year before.
Lipson attributed this improvement to the COVID-19 pandemic, which led schools to adopt a “public health approach” to mental health support. Using the same public health tactics used to combat the COVID-19 virus — like screenings, preventative measures and testing — the researchers could now address student mental health more effectively, she said.
“The minute that the biggest crisis of COVID was over, schools were faced with the much bigger crisis [of] student mental health,” Lipson said. “It was this really opportune time to [use] everything that we just learned.”
Lipson said she hopes students’ mental health will continue to improve, but educational institutions must maintain and increase mental health resources to make this progress possible.
This means partnering with student organizations, collecting survey data or feedback from an advisory board and visiting residence halls and academic classrooms, Lipson said. To encourage students to utilize these resources, schools need to “meet students where they’re at,” she added.
“One of the biggest barriers for students getting mental health resources and support is just that they’re so busy,” Lipson said. “We’ve seen levels of [mental health] knowledge go up overall, and still, many students aren’t utilizing the resources that are available to them.”
However, Lipson added, this approach is “a two-way street.”
“There’s a huge role for student activism and students to be pushing the administration … to meet their needs, and there’s a huge role and responsibility for the administration to be really proactive in creating solutions that meet students’ needs,” she said. “It goes both ways, and it’s best when the administration and activism are working together.”
This dynamic is reflected on BU’s campus, where numerous student-led organizations work to address the topic of mental health.
The Mental Health Committee, for instance, is an advocacy group within BU Student Government aiming to “expand awareness and destigmatize mental health,” said Committee Chair Armaan Anthony.
“It’s okay to not be okay. To be able to share your struggles [is] the most important thing, and it’s not something to be ashamed of,” Anthony said. “Being able to come forward and be completely honest and confront some of those issues that you are having is going to be beneficial.”
Anna Simms, a member of the MHC, said some individuals, especially men and people of color, “don’t want to be labeled as weak” or unable to handle their stress.
“We just have to start talking about [mental health] more and make it more normal,” Simms said.
Anthony added the MHC is working on various initiatives, including a fundraiser for the National Alliance on Mental Illness, the nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization, as well as a suicide prevention walk.
Nelissa Julot, former social media coordinator for the Black, Indigenous, People of Color Mental Health Collective at BU, said she is not surprised college student mental health is improving, especially at BU, where students are encouraged to take advantage of mental health care resources.
Julot said the BIPOC Health Collective has made its own effort to provide university-wide support. The club posted an infographic sharing the University’s resources, hosted a yoga event led by a professional instructor and handed out mental health care kits on International Mental Health Day.
However, Lipson said despite university initiatives to support student mental health, some issues are “outside of the college ecosystem” and fall beyond an institution’s control.
She said schools should focus on supporting “particularly vulnerable” student populations, such as LGBTQ+ and international students, who often face “enormous stress” from federal actions and policy.
“There’s nothing that a school could do right now to reduce a [transgender] student’s fears about their ability to get an ID that matches their identity,” Lipson said. “That’s not within the purview of what a school is going to be able to do, but a school can certainly support those students and be proactive in recognizing [their] needs.”