Dive Brief:
- A year after the formation of the Task Force on Student Psychological Health and Welfare at the University of Pennsylvania, administrators released a report recommending a fresh commitment to supporting students' mental health.
- The Chronicle of Higher Education reports on Penn’s campus culture, which pressures students to strive for perfection and, in the absence of reaching that elusive goal, to fake it.
- The university has joined the Jed & Clinton Health Matters Campus Program to get consulting services over the course of four years and improve its mental health issues and policies.
Dive Insight:
As the number of students applying to college increases, top-tier universities continue to break their own selectivity records, admitting just a small portion of applicants. These universities are often the most expensive in the country, making the pressure to succeed even greater for those racking up loans to pay their tuition and expenses. In a 2010 study of the most stressful universities, Northwestern, Harvard, Columbia, U Penn, and Washington University topped the list.
Concentrated suicides, like the University of Pennsylvania saw in a 15-month period, often prompt schools to take action. The Jed Foundation’s campus program has more than 75 schools enrolled, all seeking to improve mental health programming for students. The foundation’s website includes a framework for success in this important arena that universities considering their own campus culture might review.