Prevalence of On-Campus Student Mental Health Services at U.S. Colleges and Universities: A Web-Based Analysis

The authors sought to quantify the proportion of U.S. postsecondary institutions that offer any on-campus mental health services to their students. In this cross-sectional study, data about the availability and descriptions of mental health services were gathered from websites of a main sample of 200 postsecondary institutions other than community colleges and a sample of 50 community colleges. Both samples were selected through a stratified sampling process. Descriptive statistics, weighted (main sample) and unweighted percentages, and confidence intervals were calculated. In the main sample, 191 institutions (95%, 95% CI=91%-98%) offered mental health services. Among community colleges, 40 (80%, 95% CI=69%-91%) offered such services. In both the main and community college samples, most institutions (92% and 75%, respectively) used "counseling" to describe the services offered. Extrapolation of these results suggests that >1,700 U.S. postsecondary institutions offer mental health services, making campus services a sizeable mental health services sector.