Thriving in College

Every two years, the College Student Mental Wellness Advocacy Coalition in partnership with the  Hi, How Are You Project, surveys college students nationwide to better understand how they are experiencing mental wellness — and what helps students thrive, cope, and move forward.

The 2026 Thriving College Student Index, conducted between October 10 and November 7, 2025, includes responses from more than 11,000 currently enrolled college students. The findings offer a clear and nuanced picture: today’s students are resilient and hopeful, but many are navigating compounding pressures — and the environments around them play a meaningful role in whether they thrive.

Thriving Is Built Through Daily Habits

One of the clearest patterns in the data is the role of everyday routines. Students who are thriving are significantly more likely to maintain healthy daily habits than students who are struggling:

• Get adequate sleep: 54% thriving vs. 26% struggling
  
  
• Maintain healthy eating habits: 56% vs. 23%
  
  
• Exercise regularly: 52% vs. 30%
  
  
• Spend time outdoors: 57% vs. 32%
  
  

These differences show that mental wellness is not shaped by a single choice or moment, but by compounding behaviors that either reinforce stability or make stress harder to manage.

Connection Makes a Measurable Difference

Social connection is another powerful differentiator between students who are thriving and those who are struggling:

• 81% of thriving students regularly socialize with friends and family, compared to 34% of struggling students
  
  
• 67% of thriving students often feel social or friendly, compared to just 16% of struggling students
  
  

Across the full student population, students most often turn to:

• Music (82%) and
  
  
• Social connection (69%)
  as everyday ways to support their mental wellbeing.
  
  

These findings reinforce that belonging, relationships, and shared experiences are not peripheral to student wellness — they are foundational.

Why Awareness Doesn’t Always Turn Into Action

The Index also highlights a persistent gap between what students know and what they feel able to do.

Many students understand mental health challenges and know where to find support:

• 75% know they can seek professional help
  
  
• 71% know where to find free mental health information
  
  

But important barriers remain:

• 42% feel uncomfortable discussing mental health
  
  
• 44% fear being judged for doing so
  
  

Students can often recognize distress in others:

• 83% can recognize when a friend is struggling emotionally
  
  
• But only 62% feel confident helping a friend who has talked about harming themselves
  
  

These gaps show that reducing stigma and increasing confidence are just as important as increasing awareness.

The Opportunity in Campus and Residential Environments

The data also points to an important opportunity for campus and residential communities.

Students generally trust campus counseling services:

• 73% say they trust them
  
  

But far fewer have actually used them:

• Only 18% have received mental health care on campus
  
  

Residential environments are widely seen as socially engaging:

• 77% say their residential community offers opportunities to engage socially
  
  

Yet:

• Only 33% believe their residential community supports their mental wellbeing
  
  

At the same time:

• 53% of students say their living environment positively impacts their mental health
  
  
• Students who are struggling are twice as likely to report negative impacts from where they live
  
  

Together, this suggests a meaningful opportunity to better align trust, connection, and mental wellness support in the places where students live and learn.

A Student Population That Is Resilient, But Under Strain

Across all students:

• 56% are thriving
  
  
• 29% are maintaining
  
  
• 14% are struggling
  
  

Many continue to experience pressure:

• 60% feel tired or exhausted
  
  
• 49% feel stressed
  
  
• 43% experience anxiety
  
  

At the same time:

• 40% report feeling thankful
  
  
• 32% feel hopeful
  
  

This combination of challenge and optimism reflects a generation that is finding ways to cope and move forward, even as demands remain high.

What the Data Calls For

The Thriving College Student Index is designed to support practical, evidence-based action across higher education and student housing.

The findings point to clear opportunities to:

• Support healthier daily habits
  
  
• Reduce stigma and lower barriers to seeking and offering help
  
  
• Strengthen the role of campus and residential communities in supporting student wellbeing
  
  
• Build cultures where connection, support, and mental wellness are part of everyday life
  
  

The Coalition remains committed to advancing collaboration, credible data, and shared learning so that more students can thrive in college and beyond.