“Woven in”: Mental Health and College Graduation Rates

Despite the benefits of a 4-year degree colleges graduate an average of only 51% of their students within 6 years of matriculation. Previous studies have identified individual-level and institutional-level factors that influence college completion but have not adequately examined institutional actions regarding student mental health that improve completion rates. Using the positive deviance method, we conducted site visits at five institutions and interviewed 172 participants including administrators (44%), faculty (23%), and students (32%) regarding each college's practices. Four recurrent themes emerged: these colleges: (a) recognized the breadth and depth of mental health needs, (b) used proactive approaches with early alert and outreach programming, (c) offered diverse services with a quality improvement approach, and (d) embedded mental health services in the larger social system. Many of these innovations can be accomplished without extensive new resources and may help colleges improve graduation rates, particularly for students with mental health needs.