Why the wait lists at campus counseling centers?

I’ve been out of the state, so missed this unsettling piece by MPR’s Tim Post on the big increase in serious mental health cases among college students.

Nationally, he reports:

There has been a big jump in the number of students on campus with serious psychological disorders. They make up 44 percent of students who come to college counseling centers now according to a report from the American College Counseling Association. A decade ago it was 16 percent.

A Minnesota example:

At the University of Minnesota, the campus mental health clinic saw 2,490 students last year. That’s about 90 percent more than they served a decade ago.

Post discusses the possible reasons behind the jump. Read the full story and listen to the audio here.

About the blogger

Alex Friedrich

afriedrich@mpr.org

Alex Friedrich reports on higher education issues for MPR News. Among the stories he has covered: the fall of the Berlin Wall, aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, collapse of the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis, 2003 Moscow suicide bombing and 2004 presidential elections in the Republic of Georgia. He holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Georgia and a master’s in European political economy from the London School of Economics.