A new report sheds light on the mental health challenges community college students face, which can affect their academic performance and even cause them to drop classes or stop out.
More than half (56%) of students responding to one survey on which the report is based said that emotional or mental difficulties had hurt their academic performance over the previous four weeks. And more than one-third (37%) indicated mental health issues could cause them to withdraw from classes or college.
In addition, three in 10 respondents said they would not know where to go if they needed help with their mental health, with 42% saying they needed help but never sought it.
The report comes from the Center for Community College Student Engagement (CCCSE), located at the University of Texas at Austin. It is based on the results of two surveys: the 2023 Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE) — administered to more than 60,000 public two-year students from 149 institutions — and the 2023 Survey of Entering Student Engagement (SENSE), which included almost 14,000 students from 61 institutions.
A focus area for colleges
The findings show that colleges can do more to better understand and address their students’ mental health needs and well-being, says CCCSE Executive Director Linda Garcia.
“Community colleges have an opportunity to be the place where students find the mental health support they need,” she said in a release accompanying the report.
In the foreword to the report, Russell Lowery-Hart, chancellor of the Austin Community College District (Texas) and a member of CCCSE’s advisory board, added that the report’s findings should challenge colleges to build a culture of care and support systems for students who need help.
“Institutions can no longer afford to simply send emails explaining what services and supports are available,” he wrote. “Even when students know how to access the needed help, they typically will not engage it.”
The report notes that both returning and new students face similar mental health challenges, indicating that colleges should intervene early and continue to support students throughout college.
“The importance of early intervention is further supported by the fact that roughly 40% of community college students do not persist from their first fall enrollment to the following fall,” it says.
A breakdown of findings
The report provides the results of both surveys, which asked students about depression, anxiety, effects of mental health issues on academics and more. It also breaks down responses by gender, race/ethnicity and self-reported grade point average (GPA).
For example, nearly two-thirds (63%) of women and 47% of men reported that emotional or mental difficulties hurt their academic performance in the previous four weeks. While students who identify as another gender comprise a small percentage of respondents, most of those students (85%) reported trouble with their academics due to mental health issues, the report says.
A higher percentage of women (39%) than men (29%) also said their mental health issues or emotional well-being are likely (somewhat likely, likely or very likely) to cause them to withdraw from classes. Again, students with another gender identity had a much higher rate, 63%.
The report also observes that students reporting lower GPAs are more likely to say that mental health difficulties hurt their academic performance. Seventy percent of students with self-reported GPAs of a “C” or lower said they had one or more days when emotional or mental health difficulties hurt their academic performance, compared to about half (52%) of students with GPAs of a “B” or higher.
Students’ POV on services
In both surveys, students gave overall high marks for their colleges’ efforts to make their mental health and well-being a priority. Students who likely have a depressive or general anxiety disorder were much less inclined to believe their college prioritizes these disorders, the report says, again noting the importance of providing information about available resources early in students’ interactions with their college and throughout their college experience.
What’s of particular concern is that 30% of CCSSE respondents and 35% of SENSE respondents said they would not know where to go for help with mental health issues if they needed it. Hispanic/Latino students (30%) were the most likely to report they would not know where to turn for help.
Less than one-quarter (23%) of CCSSE respondents reported not needing help for their mental health and emotional well-being over the past year; among those who said they did need help, 42% never sought help, the report says. Hispanic/Latino students (46%) were more likely to say they had never sought help in the past year compared to other racial/ethnic groups, including Black/African American (43%), Asian (41%) and White (41%) students.
In terms of barriers to seeking help, one-third of students (32%) cited a lack of resources, such as money, time and transportation, with 19% saying they do not know what kind of help they need, and 12% saying they worry about what others would think of them. Another 7% said they do not know where to seek help. CCSSE observed that 30% of students responded “Other” to this question, which the center says suggests that colleges should dive deeper via interviews and focus groups to determine those factors.
Five questions to ask
CCSSE reports five questions to help guide colleges in this area. They are:
- Do our students believe their mental health and well-being are a priority at our college?
- Do our students know where they can seek help on our campus?
- If our students need help, how often do they seek it?
- What barriers prevent our students from seeking help?
- How do our students want to receive help?
The report includes some promising practices in the sector, from technology-focused approaches, such as free teletherapy apps at Arizona’s Cochise College, to comprehensive efforts with additional counselors and outreach campaigns, like those at Alamo Colleges in Texas and Hudson County Community College in New Jersey.
