Mental health among college students and on college campuses across the United States is a significant concern.
During the pandemic, there was an increase in the need for mental health care.
While new data shows fewer students are experiencing symptoms of depression and anxiety, numbers are still high and colleges are not letting their guard down.
Saint Mary’s College has been intentional about reaching out to students in need.
College students are reporting lower rates of depression, anxiety, and loneliness but college and universities are not letting their guard down. (WSBT photo)
Sophomore Samantha Marshall is proud to be majoring in computing and applied mathematics at Saint Mary’s College.
“I’m a first-generation student actually, so none of my parents went to college,” said Marshall.
Still, Marshall’s first year at Saint Mary’s was not easy.
“I had a rough first year. I had like everything bad happen. I got in a car accident, I had appendicitis, I had like everything. But I made it,” said Marshall.
While Marshall admits her first year was a challenge, she says she is doing much better this school year.
“Saint Mary’s has a really good support system where I had professors reaching out to me, I had friends right there getting me my work when I needed it. So, I had a really good support system,” said Marshall.
Marshall says she was able to lean on the support from people she met at Saint Mary’s and use the resources that are available to students.
“That’s been a big focus for the last couple years; creating experiences on campus that are building community,” said Sarah Granger, the director of the Health and Counseling Center at Saint Mary’s College.
Granger says Saint Mary’s has been intentional about building a support system by encouraging engagement and connection throughout the campus community.
“Academic pressures are nigh,” said Granger, “they are not only dealing with the academic pressure, but a lot of our students—or a number of our students— have financial concerns, or may have some food insecurity.”
College students are reporting lower rates of depression, anxiety, and loneliness but college and universities are not letting their guard down. (WSBT photo)
Granger says students are facing a variety of challenges during a time when they are growing, changing and learning to live on their own.
The 2024-25 Healthy Minds Study just released this fall showed, for the third year in a row, students reported lower rates of depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts.
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More than 84,000 students from 135 colleges and universities across the United States, including Indiana and Michigan, were surveyed.
The survey found 37.5% of college students were experiencing depression in 2025, and 31.9% were experiencing anxiety.
While those numbers are still high, both have been trending downward over the past three years.
“I think that mirrors a lot of what we’re seeing on our campus,” said Granger, “a lot of the students that are coming through our doors for counseling for other mental health concerns are expressing the anxiety and depression.”
The Healthy Minds Study also showed that, while most students knew where to seek help for mental health, there were barriers that kept them from reaching out.
The top barriers students noted in the study were a lack of time (24%) and finances (20%).
“We’ve put a lot of parameters in place and guidelines to help ensure students are seen pretty quickly if they’re calling to be seen or if they’re calling more urgently,” said Granger, “in most cases, we’re able to get them in that same day to be seen by one of our counselors.”
At Saint Mary’s College, there are four full time counselors.
A student walks on the campus of Saint Mary’s College. Saint Mary’s College has been intentional about reaching out to students in need (WSBT photo)
Granger says that is a better counselor per student ratio than at many other similar sized collages.
“It’s just about walking alongside them as they kind of figure out the highs and lows of adulthood,” said Madeline Reinke, a Saint Mary’s College Counselor.
Reinke is currently seeing around 50 students.
She says some come regularly and others visit when they feel they need extra support.
“You really have to kind of be aware of a lot of things and try to juggle not just the academic course load, but your social life, your future decisions. All of these things are happening at this very delicate age. It’s a lot of pressure,” said Reinke.
Perhaps most impactful is Saint Mary’s College Student Care Team.
The Student Care Team is comprised of about 17 people and includes faculty and staff representing a variety of offices.
The care team meets weekly to review reports about student wellbeing and formulate a plan to reach out and offer resources.
“They kind of run through the list of students who are of concern and then kind of make a plan to figure out who’s going to touch base or what the plan of care really is,” said Reinke.
“If there’s a concern, faculty, staff, another student can put a report in either through the formal reporting system, or just an email to the student care team. That triggers this sort of background practice of going out and checking on the student, finding out how they’re doing, finding out if they need help and what type of help that is, where we can get them in, and who do they need to speak with,” said Granger.
Reinke and Granger says the goal of the car team is to eliminate barriers, create engagement and build relationships to ensure students get the physical and mental healthcare they need.
“Saint Mary’s is a tight-knit community. There is always somebody around the corner waiting to help,” said Reinke.
Marshall says that support has made a difference for her.
“This year I’m definitely doing a lot better for sure. I took advantage of a lot of the good resources that Saint Mary’s Offers,” said Marshall.
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