mental health
March 23, 2023 | 5:10 PM
More and more students are dropping out because of a mental health crisis, not because of a degree.
A new Gallup survey reports that 41% of students currently enrolled in post-secondary programs have considered quitting their education in the past six months.
This number has increased significantly since the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, with 33% of students considering dropping out within the last six months.
Mental stress was the most common reason for wanting to drop out, accounting for 55%.
“Personal mental health reasons,” included in survey responses for the first time this year, was the second most common choice at 47%.
Students in four-year degree programs appeared to perform poorly, as nearly half of bachelor’s degree students said they “frequently” experienced emotional stress.
Gallup researchers, supported by the Lumina Foundation, an educational advocacy group, surveyed 12,015 U.S. adults ages 18 to 59 between October and November last year.
Participants must hold a high school degree or equivalent, no I do not have an associate’s or bachelor’s degree yet.
Forty-seven percent of the female students surveyed said they “frequently” experience emotional stress, compared to just 30% of male students.
Meanwhile, 43% of young students between the ages of 18 and 24 were “frequently stressed.” Only 29% felt the same way when compared to students over the age of 25.
Even with restrictions due to the lifting of the pandemic, the report found that “students in associate or bachelor’s degree programs were less likely to consider dropping coursework before completion in 2022 than they were in 2021.” No.”
Surprisingly, the least-cited reason given by students for wanting to drop out was that their degree did not serve their personal goals.
Student mental health has become an important policy foundation in recent years.President Joe Biden I was asked In his State of the Union address in February, he announced a $280 million grant program to strengthen mental health support in schools and help schools hire more counselors to address this issue.
“When millions of young people suffer bullying, violence and trauma, we owe it to them to have more mental health care in schools,” Biden said in his speech.
A 2022 study by Boston University found that depression among college students has increased by nearly 135% and anxiety by 110% in the past eight years.
