Ann Arbor Times

For the third consecutive year, college students in the United States are reporting declines in depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts. This is according to findings from the 2024-2025 Healthy Minds Study, conducted by the Healthy Minds Network at the University of Michigan. The survey gathered responses from more than 84,000 students across 135 colleges and universities, as well as over 9,000 faculty and staff members from 22 institutions.

The study reports that severe depression among students dropped to 18% in 2025 from 23% in 2022. Suicidal thoughts also decreased to 11% this year compared to 15% three years ago.

“These sustained reductions tell me this is not a blip. Whether it’s distance from the pandemic, better institutional support or something else driving the change, I think this is a promising counternarrative to what seems like constant headlines around young people’s struggles with mental health,” said Justin Heinze, associate professor of health behavior and health equity at U-M’s School of Public Health and a co-principal investigator of the study.

The Healthy Minds Study has been running since 2007. It is web-based and confidential, tracking trends related to mental health through questions on emotional well-being, substance use, mental health care utilization, and other behaviors.

While there have been improvements in some areas of student mental health, measures of psychological well-being—referred to as “flourishing”—declined slightly to 36%, down from a recent high of 38%. Additionally, more than half of surveyed students reported experiencing loneliness.

The study aims to provide data for colleges and universities so they can identify priorities for student mental health services and benchmark their performance against peer institutions. The information also supports national research efforts focused on improving campus mental health systems.

Key findings indicate that use of mental health services has remained stable over four years: about 37% of students received therapy or counseling in the past year while about 30% took psychiatric medication. Among those showing symptoms of depression or anxiety, roughly six out of ten received clinical treatment. Major barriers cited include lack of time, financial constraints, and a preference for handling issues independently or with family support.

“While overall access to mental health services seems to be similar to previous years, the good news is that students are accessing an increasingly diverse array of resources,” said Daniel Eisenberg, professor at UCLA Fielding School of Public Health and co-principal investigator. “Digital and mobile services are evolving rapidly and are now popular among students. An important challenge in the coming years will be to help students make sense of their many options and help them access something that will be a good fit for their needs and preferences.”

Faculty and staff results show broader implications for campus climate regarding mental health support. About half reported having conversations with students about these issues but were often not confident recognizing signs of distress.

“These findings underscore both the critical role that faculty and staff are playing in supporting students and the opportunity for institutions to provide training and resources that will strengthen their capacity to respond,” said Sarah Ketchen Lipson, co-principal investigator at Boston University School of Public Health. “Bringing training into existing spaces where faculty and staff time is required also sends an important message by the institution that mental health is integral to the overall mission.”

Sasha Zhou from Wayne State University noted persistent disparities among certain groups who continue to struggle more with mental health issues while using fewer treatment services.

“These disparities have been persistent in the last decade and underscore that there’s more work to be done to close the gap in mental health support,” she said. “Emerging research suggests that affinity-based peer support programs, curriculum-integrated psychoeducation and adaptations of social/emotional learning approaches show promise in supporting the mental health of underrepresented or overlooked students.”