Community college students struggle with mental health

Surveys of tens of thousands of community college students across the country have found that many suffer from mental health problems that can harm their academic success.

The Center for Community College Student Engagement (CCCSE), a service and research initiative of the University of Texas at Austin, published new report The framework is based on data from two student surveys: the Community College Student Engagement Survey and the Incoming Student Engagement Survey. The surveys cover at least 60,000 mostly returning community college students from 149 institutions and nearly 14,000 incoming students from 61 institutions.

The report notes that more than half of respondents (56 percent) A study of student engagement at community colleges found that mental or emotional problems impacted their academic performance over the past month. More than a third (37 percent) said mental health problems could cause them to quit classes or drop out of college.

In addition, 66 percent said they had felt anxious, nervous or nervous in the past two weeks, and 60 percent were concerned that they did not feel much interest or enjoyment in completing daily activities, the report said.

Community college students also struggled to seek mental health help. While the majority of respondents in both surveys agreed that their colleges prioritize mental health, 30 percent of respondents A study of community college student engagement found that they do not know where to turn if they need help with mental health issues and 42 percent of students said they needed help but had never asked for support. Among incoming students, an even larger share—39 percent—did not know where to turn for help.

“Given the impact of mental health issues on academics, colleges must take a more active role in both understanding and addressing student mental health and well-being,” Linda Garcia, executive director of CCCSE, said in a press release. “Community colleges have the opportunity to be the place where students find the mental health support they need.”