Mental Health in Community Colleges: A Review

This paper examines the various perceptions of community college students on mental health challenges, access to resources, barriers to treatment, and possible interventions for care improvements. Data was gathered via literature review. Resources for college students enrolled in a two-year or community college program have been limited despite similar or higher rates of mental health crises compared to their four-year student counterparts. Overall, these findings point to the necessity of advancing initiatives to close the mental health treatment gap between community colleges and four-year universities, as well as between racial and ethnic minority students within community colleges. A better understanding of how mental health affects community college students could inform more effective interventions from college staff and clinicians. More research is needed to generalize results and implement interventions to improve access to care.