Barnes & Noble Education Reveals New Data on the State of College Student Mental Health
16 December 2021 - 1:42AM
Business Wire
Barnes & Noble College’s Student Mental
Health Pulse Survey Reveals Key Stressors and Attitudes Toward the
Return to In-Person Learning as the Fall 2021 Semester Ends
Barnes & Noble Education, Inc. (NYSE: BNED), a leading
solutions provider for the education industry, published findings
from its Barnes & Noble College Student Mental Health Pulse
Survey today. With the fall semester coming to an end, BNED wanted
to understand how the return to campus has impacted student mental
health. Using Barnes & Noble College (BNC) Insights, BNED’s
research platform, the company surveyed 1,116 college students aged
18-24 years old, across the U.S. to find out. The survey’s findings
provide a look at the current state of student mental health and
insights into how campus resources can help mitigate student
stressors and improve student wellbeing.
Mental Health Resources
The survey found that 8 in 10 students (83 percent) reported
experiencing feelings of significant stress or anxiety since the
fall 2021 semester started.
When asked if their college or university provided resources for
mental health/student well-being, nearly 70 percent of students
indicated that their campus did provide resources and just over
half of those students (54 percent) said they felt those resources
would be helpful to them.
However, 80 percent of students who acknowledged their campus
provided support said they rarely or never take advantage of the
resources available to them.
Overcoming the Stigma Surrounding Mental Health
The lack of using mental health resources may be due to the
stigma that continues to surround mental health. Barnes & Noble
College’s February 2021 report: COLLEGE 2030™: Transforming the
Student Experience, found that students want a removal of the
stigma attached to mental health services with one COLLEGE 2030
survey respondent noting that campuses need to “do a better job of
advertising counseling services in a way to remove the stigma
associated with them.”
In late October, the Biden administration rolled out a
nationwide plan to address student mental health and within the
plan also noted that “the goal is to eliminate stigma associated
with seeking mental health support.” To understand if students
still felt a stigma on the topic, BNC asked students if they were
hesitant to talk to friends or family about concerns with their
mental health. While the survey found that 42 percent of students
were comfortable discussing their mental health with friends and
family, almost half of students (45 percent) said they were
not.
In hearing these results, BNED CEO and Chairman, Michael P.
Huseby noted that “As we continue to understand the obstacles to
providing effective mental health services, it is critical that
colleges and universities shape the conversations happening on
their campuses and cultivate an open and positive discourse around
seeking mental health support.”
College Student Stressors
While it’s important to remove the stigma of discussing mental
health and seeking services, BNC also wanted to understand what
factors are causing students to feel significant levels of stress
and anxiety.
When students were asked to rank what caused the most stress for
them, the survey found over half of students (57 percent) ranked
“getting good grades” as the number one stressor. Interestingly,
only 1/4 of students (25 percent) said “accumulating debt/paying
for tuition” caused the most stress and just 12 percent of students
ranked “finding a job post grad” as the factor stressing them out
the most.
In addition to academic factors, BNC examined which non-academic
related factors were causing stress for college students, finding
that 38 percent listed “the COVID pandemic and if it will end” as
the number one stressor. One fifth of students said “the health of
the environment/future of the planet” was causing the most stress
while another 20 percent of students said it was “the political
division within the country.” Just over 1/10 of students (12
percent) said “racial injustice and equality” was the number one
stressor and 9 percent of students claimed “gun violence” as their
number one non-academic stressor.
Fostering a Sense of Community
In addition to more accessible mental health resources on
campus, having a sense of community can help students overcome the
factors that are causing them anxiety. After a year of remote
learning, BNC was curious if returning to on-campus learning would
help students feel a sense of community and improve their mental
wellbeing.
The survey found that 75 percent of students who are attending
in-person or hybrid classes feel happy now that they are back on
campus and participating in in-person learning and on-campus
activities. In addition, 73 percent of students said that being on
campus in-person helped them feel a sense of community.
See the full survey findings here.
Survey Methodology
Barnes & Noble College Insights™ conducted online
quantitative survey of 1,116 college students aged 18-24 years,
across the U.S. in November 2021 to better understand the state of
student mental health.
About Barnes & Noble Education
Barnes & Noble Education, Inc. (NYSE: BNED) is a leading
solutions provider for the education industry, driving
affordability, access, and achievement at hundreds of academic
institutions nationwide and ensuring millions of students are
equipped for success in the classroom and beyond. Through its
family of brands, BNED offers campus retail services and academic
solutions, a digital direct-to-student learning ecosystem,
wholesale capabilities and more. BNED is a company serving all who
work to elevate their lives through education, supporting students,
faculty, and institutions as they make tomorrow a better, more
inclusive and smarter world. For more information, visit
www.bned.com.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211215005630/en/
Media: Carolyn J. Brown
Senior Vice President Corporate Communications & Public Affairs
908-991-2967 cbrown@bned.com
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