Higher education research is infrequently concerned with community college students, which leaves significant gaps in our knowledge about our students’ experiences. This is particularly true for students from vulnerable populations, such as single parents, first-generation college attendees, and those from low-income families or underrepresented racial or ethnic groups. These risk factors can present significant obstacles to completion. In order to increase attainment rates, community college leaders must better understand and address these barriers to progression and attainment. 

With this in mind, ACCT has worked with the Wisconsin HOPE Lab, the Healthy Minds Study at the University of Michigan, and Single Stop on two groundbreaking reports that shed light on some of the challenges our students face. Too Hungry to Learn?, the first report in the series, highlighted the extent to which homelessness and food insecurity affect community college students. The most recent report, Too Distressed to Learn?, authored by Daniel Eisenberg, Sara Goldrick-Rab, Sarah Ketchen Lipson, and Katharine Broton, uses survey results from more than 4,000 students to describe the prevalence of students experiencing a current or recent mental health condition. The survey, which was administered to students at 10 community colleges across the country, assesses students’ mental health conditions using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9, which is based on the DSM-IV criteria for a major depressive episode. 

The survey results are sobering. Almost half of the respondents reported at least one mental health condition, a rate that is 10 percentage points higher than students at four-year colleges. Depression (36 percent) and anxiety (29 percent) were the most common conditions. Students aged 25 and younger were more likely to report a mental health condition (56 percent, compared to 42 percent of those over 25). Across all age and gender groups, a majority of students experiencing a mental health condition reported that their condition had affected their academics within the past four weeks.

Of those students reporting a mental health condition, only 41 percent reported receiving treatment services. The vast majority of community colleges (88 percent) do not have a psychiatrist or other licensed prescriber on staff or contracted to provide services, and more than half (57 percent) do not offer suicide prevention resources or programming. The ratio of counselors to students at community colleges is 1 to 3,000, compared to 1 to 1,600 at four-year institutions.

The report, which can be found on ACCT’s website, offers recommendations for campus leaders interested in supporting students with mental health conditions. Its authors recommend on-campus counseling and health services centers for students struggling with mental health conditions. Campuses without the capacity to offer such services can partner with organizations such as Single Stop, which help students access a wide array of public benefits such as Medicaid and subsidized health insurance in the individual health insurance exchange markets created by the Affordable Care Act. Colleges can also work to break down the stigmas around mental health issues. These efforts can be developed by the college or with external partners. For example, Active Minds, a national organization of student mental health advocacy groups, has chapters at many community colleges that harness the power of student voices to educate and advocate in campus communities.

Colleges also must develop comprehensive plans to address mental health on their campuses, including developing protocols to help students who may be a danger to themselves or others and training faculty and staff to recognize distressed students. Collaborative efforts are also possible; the Jed Foundation’s Campus Program partners with community colleges to help them conduct an internal assessment of their programs, services, and opportunities for improvement. 

A proactive, integrated approach works best when confronting the challenges faced by many community college students. This report highlights the role mental health conditions play in students’ lives and how their academic outcomes are affected by these conditions. When campus leaders address mental health on their campuses, they not only improve the well-being of their students. They also smooth the pathway to college completion that can ensure future success.