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Students and Mental Health

Schools’ responses

Legal challenges

Model policy

Media coverage

Student Guide (new!)

Many college-age students suffer from depression. In the 2006 National College Health Assessment, 43.8% of the 94,806 students surveyed reported they “felt so depressed it was difficult to function” during the past year, and 9.3% that they had “seriously considered suicide” during the year. Students also named depression as one of the top ten impediments to academic performance.  Academic demands, living away from home, financial responsibilities and new relationships are contributing factors.

Schools’ Responses Can Add to the Problem

Colleges and universities should be committed to the success of all their students and should encourage students to seek counseling when they feel depressed or overwhelmed or otherwise have mental health needs. Yet some schools lack comprehensive policies for responding to such students or do so in discriminatory or punitive ways, requiring them to leave or evicting them from college/university housing. Some charge students with disciplinary violations for suicidal gestures or thoughts. Such measures discourage students from seeking help. They isolate students from social and professional supports—friends and understanding counselors and teachers—at a time of crisis, increasing the risk of harm. 

• Statement on Student Mental Health Issues in the Wake of the Virginia Tech Incident
• Op-Ed by Bazelon attorney Karen Bower in Inside Higher Education  
• August 20, 2007—UPENN Collaborative invites students with mental illnesses who have had to leave college to tell your story. The Collaborative also invites students with mental illnesses to participate in a study of social networks.
• Proposed Federal Rules Expand Disclosure of Student Information
  Proposed rules could erode privacy and place at risk the confidentiality of students’ mental health information. Comments are due by May 8, 2008.

Legal Challenges

Punitive measures also expose schools to liability under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Under the ADA, colleges and universities must provide protected students with “reasonable accommodations” —modifications to normal rules and procedures to allow those students to continue and succeed in higher education. With assistance from the Bazelon Center, students have been successful in their ADA challenges to punitive practices, securing permanent policy changes at their schools.

• George Washington University lawsuit documents
• Doe v. Hunter (City University of New York) lawsuit documents

The Department of Education Office of Civil Rights has also issued several decisions which address school practices imposing involuntary leaves of absence or placing conditions on students’ return from leave. 

• OCR complaints (PDFs):
  • DeSales
  • Marrietta
  • Bluffton
  • Woodbury
  • Guilford University
  • San Diego Community College
  • Holy Names College

Students, parents or others who believe that an educational institution has discriminated against someone on the basis of disability can file a complaint with the Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights within 180 days of the date of the alleged discrimination. 

• How to file a complaint with the Department of Education Office of Civil Rights

Model Policy

The Bazelon Center has created a model policy to help colleges and universities navigate these complex issues and develop a nondiscriminatory approach to a student who is in crisis because of a mental health problem. The model was developed after consultation with mental health experts, higher education administrators, counselors and students.

• Bazelon Center Offers a Model Policy (news release)
• Supporting Students: A Model Policy for Colleges and Universities (PDF)(Word document)

Media Coverage

A Wake-Up Call on Campus: Virginia Tech has inspired counseling services to reasses
9/17/07 U.S. News & World Report

Some U.S. colleges face legal challenges for evicting suicidal students
9/6/2006 Associated Press

Lawsuit Prompts College to End Policy on Suicide Attempts
8/6/06 Eve Bender Psychiatric News

Depressing Times On Campus: Student Sues After College Kicks Him Out Following Bout Of Depression 4/6/06 CBS News

Advocacy Group Offers Guidelines for Campuses in Dealing With Students With Mental Health Issues
by Paula Wasley 5/17/07 Chronicle of Higher Education

Laws Limit Options When a Student Is Mentally Ill
by Tamar Lewin 4/19/07 New York Times

Lawsuits Change Campus Responses to Suicidal Students
10/06 Women in Higher Education

Student Guide

Campus Mental Health: Know Your Rights! is the title of a new guide for students who want to seek help for mental illness or emotional distress. The online publication, also available as an Adobe PDF file to download and print, was produced by Leadership21, an advisory committee of young leaders, with the Bazelon Center.