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The Need for Student Crisis Support in Higher Education

Julia Hoelzer

Department of Counseling and Higher Education, Northern Illinois University

HESA 503: U.S. College Students

Dr. Kelly Wesener Michael

December 2, 2021
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Student Crisis Support

Mental health is coming at the forefront of society. Prior to the pandemic, the discussion

around student crisis support was increasing within higher education. This has been exacerbated

by the pandemic that does not seem to be ending anytime soon. The death toll is rising, mask

mandates are going back into effect, and once again the fear of a virus is strong in the classroom.

Eight states require most people to wear masks indoors and is followed by recommendations

across the U.S. to wear a mask regardless of vaccination status (Markowitz, 2021). From the

student voice, there are commonly heard stories of immunocompromised individuals, the

difficulties of mask wearing in humid environments, wanting to be in person while still looking

at virtual learning as a viable option, and much more. According to Inside Higher Ed (2020),

“58 percent of college students surveyed said they were moderately, very or extremely worried

about their own mental health” (Anderson). Higher Education is not ready for the development

of mental health concerns among the student body. The goal of this review is to examine the

access to mental health support services for students, explore concerns regarding this lack of

resources and equity issues, and advocate for an increase in these services at both two-year and

four-year institutions.

Literature Review

As mental health concerns are rising among the college student population, there is a

need for greater accessibility to crisis support. There must be equal access to mental health

services for all individuals in need of help, both in critical cases and those typically considered

less immediate. One example of a shortage in crisis support on campuses is showcased at

Northern Illinois University (NIU), a public four-year institution. NIU has a three-page waitlist

for students coming into the Counseling Center and as such deters students from pursuing mental
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health services (Personal Communication, C. Carter, 2021). The lack of access to counseling

services has left students feeling unsupported by the college and unwilling to pursue help.

Without a change in resources, these schools will continue to face increasing numbers of mental

health concerns on their campuses. Yet, four-year universities are also not the only one’s

struggling to provide enough mental health services for students. This issue spans across higher

education into two-year institutions as well. According to McBride (2019), because more post

traditional students attend community colleges, there is a greater need for mental health services

and data suggests that more than half of these students don’t get help. Whether it is a four-year or

two-year institution, there is a prevalent struggle in proving support to students.

Another issue is that across the Unites States, there is also a roadblock to interstate

mental health support services, typically telehealth, where there is restriction to provide crisis

support in states where students might be living due to online learning, summer vacation, and

other away from the college campus. The Washington Post continues to point out that many

students would need to be redirected to their community for help, thus cutting off the university

connection to its student seeking mental health care (Lumpkin, 2020). This topic is relevant to

the current state of the world today as individuals around the globe and at home continue to

suffer from the effects of COVID-19. The purpose of this review is to outline the current state of

resources, ramifications to student success and alternatives to traditional services.

Current State of Resources

In order to expand access to mental health services, it is important to understand the

current state of resources on college campuses. The American Psychological Association

claimed that before the pandemic, most universities had waitlists for mental health services that

were as long as two to three weeks and are continuing to increase. This was confirmed by about
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90% of counseling directors nationwide, as they have reported a surge in students seeking crisis

support services (Abrams, 2020). These centers are crumbling under the weight of student need.

There is simply not enough staff to compensate for the growing numbers of individuals facing

anxiety, depression, seclusion, loneliness, and other mental health risk factors that leads a student

to pursuing help. One study found that people the age of 18 to 24, a common student age group,

is forecasting an increase of those mental health concerns. Giuntella et al. (2021) found that more

than 60% of this group is at risk to depression and anxiety, with about 25% of those at an even

higher risk reporting considering suicide. This is an increase from the 2019 review recording

only a 25% risk to this student group (para. 1). With waitlists so long, there are not enough

resources to adapt to such a spike.

The issue of fewer mental health resources on college campuses has been exacerbated by

the pandemic. Yet, literature of previous years shows that the need for more crisis support was

not far away from discussion within the higher education unit. According to Lipson et al. (2019),

one study found that mental health resource “utilization increased substantially over the past

decade, with much of this burden falling to campus counseling centers” (p. 63). Without support

outside of these centers, postsecondary education continues to falter against the majority of the

student body seeking help services. This ultimately places student mental health on the back

burner for negative implications to student success that could be stopped if changes to crisis

support services were made at these institutions.

Community colleges are also stretched beyond capacity in student crisis support. These

two-year institutions are showing to not have specific resources dedicated to mental health

services and such, students are not being supported for their needs. (Shankar & Ip, 2018). The

numbers are displaying the prevalence of not enough resources for students in this sector of
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higher education. These two-year institutions might even be suffering greater than their

counterparts as they often spread broad responsibilities across sectors rather than a center

focused specifically on mental health support. Francis and Horn (2017) reported on a study that

showed:

Only 8% of 2-year colleges had psychiatric services available to students on campus as

compared to 58% of 4-year institutions…19% of counselors at 2-year institutions

according to the survey did not offer mental health services on campus…20% outsourced

the mental health work…Forty-nine percent of counselors at 2-year colleges noted that

the severity of student mental health concerns has increased, but 58% continue to be

required to provide academic advising and registration services (p. 267)

It is clear that 2-year institutions are stretched thin in its resources for student crisis support at a

greater rate than four-year universities. As this mental health needs increase, so does the students

getting left behind by community colleges at a faster ratio alongside the four-year institutions. As

shown, the current state of resources in higher education is not able to accommodate the high

number of students experiencing mental health concerns, which creates negative implications on

their overall personal and student success.

Ramifications to Student Success

It is clear that there is a lack of resources necessary to provide student crisis support in

higher education. Students are harmed more than the average population because these

institutions not stepping up and fulfilling this need. This leads to ramifications to student success

such as fearing reporting mental health concerns, lower grades, leaving the institution, or self-

harm (Mofatteh, 2020). There is an overall stigma in society surrounding mental health that

deters college students from seeking help, especially when there is none readily available. The
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act of disclosure is considered to be admitting that something is wrong and thus discredits the

individual as weak. This is an idea easily able to run rapid in a complex, diverse, loud

environment such as a college campus (Corrigan & Kosyluk, 2013). This threat is greater when

tied in with little resources to help tear down the stigma. Professionals must become advocates

against the mental health stigma. A student life will be harmed because higher education is not

offering proper support services to them. This is an injustice and there must be additional

services at institutions to account for mental health concerns on campus.

The consequences of fewer student crisis support services is implicated not only by the

stigma surrounding mental health, but also in risk factors such as anxiety, depression, loneliness,

and other. According to the Suicide Prevention Resource Center, “Research suggests that

depression is associated with lower grade point averages, and that co-occurring depression and

anxiety can increase this association. Depression has also been linked to dropping out of school”

(“Consequences of”, n.d.). The role of higher education professionals is to help students grow

and succeed in their college experience. Without the resources to help these students impacted by

mental health issues, higher education is failing this philosophy. Institutions, from universities to

two-year schools, are not offering the proper resources to students and are allowing mental

health concerns to continually grow amidst the COVID-19 pandemic (Son et.al, 2020). More

student crisis support will help to alleviate the growth of the aforementioned factors to further

student retention and success.

Above anything else, while students are active members in higher education, it is

essential to provide an environment that promotes self-compassion rather than reinforces self-

harm. With the lack of resources to student crisis support, the college environment stimulates the

growth for self-harm (Czyz et. al, 2013). Data suggests that experiencing risk factors such as
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anxiety, depression, abuse, and other concerns increase the likelihood for considering suicide

(AFSP, 2021). The greatest consequence to the absence of access to mental health services is the

loss of a student life. This should be incentive enough for higher education to examine the

current state of resources as well as the tremendous effects for developing more meaningful

services for student crisis support.

Alternatives to Traditional Services

While this review has sought to examine the need for greater access to student crisis

support, there are existing alternatives to traditional mental health services that campuses should

consider. One university that has implemented alternative methods to addressing mental health

concerns is the University of Colorado-Boulder. This university has implemented a system that

partners with experienced professionals in the mental health field. The police on campus carry

iPads that will allow for student calls to filter through them as another resource to meet the

demand with students seeking help. The University of Utah is another institution that utilizes

alternatives to traditional mental health services. They are developing its own hub for student

crisis support that works with external sources like police and counseling centers to take some

weight off their shoulders while still being available to help in a crisis. Finally, one other

intriguing alternative to a direct counseling service is by Arizona State University. They reach

completely outside of their scope into partnering with current, standing professional health

centers to refer students. This removes the responsibility of the institution to address mental

health concerns that does not have the capacity to handle the influx of increased student mental

health services (“3 models”, 2021). These preceding examples are the impeccable effort of

current institutions working to solve the lack of resources of mental health services. However, it

continues to engage in the point that where higher education is at today with student crisis
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support is not enough. There must be practices developed across the four-year and two-year

institutions of higher education to accommodate the growing mental health concerns amongst a

budding student body.

Recommendations for Practice

Based on current research regarding the lack of mental health services on college

campuses and effects on student success, there is much to be done in the mental health sector of

higher education. One method to address this issue would be to implement partnerships across

schools, both in state and across state lines. Two-year institutions are suffering the hardest

against the pressure of a growing student population in need of crisis support services. By

partnering with neighboring institutions and health care centers, this burden is one to bear

together. This continues to connect the institution to students by showing they care for their

mental health needs and creating a sense of belonging. For students at universities far from

home, partnerships offer support closer to home which may be of comfort to the student in need.

Similar to community colleges, this would allow the university to stay connected in students’

lives while offering more accessible alternatives. Additionally, with the pandemic increasing

online presence, telehealth is a more viable option to partner across state lines. If a student is

completely remote, there will be more resources available to their geographic location while still

being marketed as their institutions support services. This increases a sense of belonging to the

institution as well as feeling advocated for mental health needs. The goal here is to offer student

crisis support that seeks to decrease risk factors while increasing connectedness to higher

education.

Another best practice to address the lack of student crisis support on campus would be to

provide high quality mental health training to student affairs professionals. These individuals
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may include but are not limited to residential advisors, academic advisors, professors, and

graduate assistants. As these individuals work closely with students, they would be an accessible

source for mental health care to the student. Student-to-student resources are a stepping-stone to

more student crisis support. Regardless of the level of mental health need, feeling supported

amongst your peers is a path towards declining mental health risks as a whole. Student-to-staff

training will facilitate supervisors how to best support the student population. This may result in

recommending the counseling center on campus or external sources in the area. This information

is crucial for higher education authorities to not only be made aware of but also to be readily

available to share. More importantly, it will increase communication between students and the

professors they are learning from. This will increase student engagement and responsibility in the

classroom by creating a safe environment formed from this new training. With this practice,

mental health issues are sought to decline from the better accessibility and awareness of these

professionals.

A final method to implement at higher education institutions would be to create a group

specifically to provide resources about student crisis support. This would be similar to a

department on campus where students would go to first for mental health needs, run by the

students overseen by a counseling professional. The major issue with mental health services is

that there is not enough resources currently available to accommodate the increased demands

from the student body. This group would help to alleviate this strain while still offering

legitimate counseling resources to students in need. It is likely that through first coming to an

organization like this would help students in traditionally minor cases without going to the

college counseling center and decreasing the foot traffic into these overrun centers at both two-

year and four-year institutions. This allows for more services to the student population. This
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group would be able to implement the new training for higher education and student affairs

professional. These are the people that would be able to facilitate the aforementioned student-to-

student and student-to-staff communication. Furthermore, this group will have information to

both local and national resources where students can turn apart from the institution. By having

this information, the group will also be the coordinator for partnering with other higher education

schools. While his has a chance to push students away from campus, it is centered within the

institution, showing that caring for the student is above anything else. A centered group on

campus dedicated to student crisis support brings mental health to the forefront of higher

education intended for the increasing number of students in need.

Conclusion

The access to mental health support for students is in dire need for more services

available. There is not enough existing on university campuses, four year and community

college, to accommodate the student body. The data showcased throughout this review suggests

that higher education is far behind in the current state of mental health resources. Prior to the

pandemic, cases of psychiatric demands were spiking and have been worsened following 2020.

Without changes at these institutions, the ramifications to student success such as risk factors

like anxiety, depression, and self-harm will continue to grow. It is the role of higher education to

maintain an environment that will support students’ health while they attend. Some universities

are beginning to implement systems alongside traditional services. However, this is simply not

enough for the escalating numbers. Recommendations for practice include partnering with

neighboring institutions, offering additional training to higher education and student affairs

professionals, and implementing a group on campus dedicated only to student crisis support.

Through this, postsecondary education can begin to move forward in assisting the ever-growing
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mental health issues among the student population. Student crisis support is necessary in higher

education and must come up to speed with the world around it.
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References

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