Healthy Minds Survey points to encouraging findings, areas for renewed focus

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Campus & Community
Healthy Minds Survey points to encouraging findings, areas for renewed focus

Survey assessed student mental health, sense of belonging, and utilization of services and resources on campus

Julie McDonough

Harvard Correspondent

September 9, 2025 long read

Findings released Tuesday show Harvard students scored better than the national average on measures related to mental health, belonging on campus, and awareness and utilization of resources and support services. But University administrators say there are opportunities to increase awareness of specific mental health resources and build stronger connections among students on campus.

The data, gathered through the Healthy Minds Survey, analyzed feedback on a variety of measures including anxiety, depression, disordered eating, suicidality, and binge drinking. It also measured students’ sense of belonging on campus, exploring issues of loneliness and isolation. The third sector of data collected measured students’ awareness of resources on campus and identified barriers to access.

The Healthy Minds Survey was conducted at Harvard in spring 2025. With a response rate of 25 percent, more than 5,900 students across undergraduate and graduate Schools completed the 25-minute survey. Healthy Minds, a national initiative launched in 2007 by the University of Michigan, administered the survey, which is designed to gather information about mental health on college campuses. Since its inception, more than 850,000 students at 600 colleges and universities have participated, including Stanford University, MIT, Tufts University, and Boston University.

A joint initiative of the Office of the Associate Provost for Student Affairs and Harvard University Health Services, the Healthy Minds survey at Harvard stems from recommendations put forth by the 2020 Report of the Task Force on Managing Student Mental Health. To learn more about the survey data, the progress made since 2020, and next steps, the Gazette sat down with Robin Glover, associate provost for student affairs, Giang Nguyen, associate provost for campus health and wellbeing and executive director of Harvard University Health Services (HUHS), and Barbara Lewis, senior director of student mental health and chief of Counseling and Mental Health Services (CAMHS).

Robin Glover, Giang Nguyen, and Barbara Lewis.

Harvard file photo; file photo by Stephanie Mitchell/Harvard Staff Photographer; Veasey Conway/Harvard Staff Photographer

Why did the University conduct the Healthy Minds survey last spring?

Glover: One of the recommendations from the Task Force on Managing Student Mental Health was for the University to collect data regularly on student mental health. We had done smaller surveys, but we did not have a comprehensive, University-wide mental health survey. In addition, it had been a few years since we implemented the recommendations from the task force, and we wanted to see how we were doing.

Nguyen: We also wanted to have some sense of where we stood in relation to college and university students across the country. Healthy Minds provided us with the perfect vehicle. It was a well-established survey that had been done with hundreds of thousands of students across the country for many years. It was a good platform to understand the Harvard student experience and to compare that to students at other higher education institutions. We are very grateful to all of the students who took the time to complete the survey. The feedback is invaluable as we consider next steps for services and resources on campus.

The findings are grouped by mental health, belonging, and utilization of care and services. What was the most interesting or noteworthy finding from each group?

Nguyen: With regard to mental health, in general, Harvard students’ reported state of mental health is better than what we are seeing nationally. On the emotional flourishing scale, for example, 47 percent of Harvard students scored in the flourishing range versus 38 percent in the national sample. In addition, while not immune to anxiety or depression, Harvard students are experiencing it at a lower rate than their peers nationally (22 percent versus 36 percent nationally for depression, 23 percent versus 32 percent for anxiety). With that said, we would love to see higher rates of flourishing and lower rates of anxiety or depression.

Glover: With regard to belonging, the data was very positive. Eighty-one percent strongly agree or agree that they fit in at Harvard and 83 percent see themselves as part of the community. This was a reassuring finding because we know that connecting with others in our campus community can be a challenge for some students. Though we did have 45 percent report they felt like they were isolated from campus life and 68 percent felt that others know more about what is happening on campus. There seems to be an opportunity here for everyone in our community to share information with each other about educational, social, or wellness events and activities on campus.

Lewis: With regard to utilization of services on campus, 89 percent of students indicated knowledge of mental health care and services available to them. This was really gratifying to see as we have been working hard over the past few years to raise awareness of the resources we offer and increase access to services in a timely manner. We were surprised that financial considerations arose as a barrier to access. Many of the services and support we offer to students are actually free of charge, so we feel we have some education to do around that piece.

Was there anything that surprised you about the data overall?

Glover: While students overall were aware in general of the mental health services offered, they were not as familiar with the specific services and indicated that they had not been made aware within the past academic year. This suggests to us that perhaps we need to be more intentional about identifying the specific services we offer. We also need to be sure that we remind students every year about the services offered and reach out to them through many different channels. Students turn over every year and we want to make sure we keep up a steady drumbeat of outreach and information so students know what we offer and how they can get help.

Binge drinking was one of the areas where Harvard reported higher rates than the national data. Any thoughts on why or what the University might do to improve?

Lewis: Binge drinking was a bit higher than the national average. Twenty-nine percent of Harvard students reported binge drinking versus 26 percent in the national average. This suggests we have work to do in this area. It may start with partnering with students to better understand this data and how we might address it. Our Center for Wellness and Health Promotion offers 1:1 sessions for students to discuss their relationship with alcohol or other substances. This may be a resource we should highlight more frequently.

Does the data show progress against the recommendations that came from the 2020 Task Force on Managing Student Health?

Glover: One of our goals for the Implementation Committee of the Managing Student Mental Health Task Force was to increase awareness and access to services and resources on campus. The data tell us that the vast majority of students are aware of the mental health resources offered and are accessing them. This awareness has been helped by our website — www.harvard.edu/wellbeing that created a one-stop-shop for students. Before, we had a very decentralized model, and it was hard for students to know how to find the support they needed.

Lewis: On the topic of access, our utilization of care has risen, with initial consults for mental health care at Counseling and Mental Health Services increasing 14 percent per year over the past two years. Overall, 79 percent of students are satisfied with the services that they receive. We have also dramatically shortened wait times to access services by putting in place our Clinical Access Team, a team of licensed clinicians devoted to initial consultations, who then refer students to appropriate resources including CAMHS, TimelyCare, or a professional in the community. As a result, wait times for non-urgent needs have decreased significantly. These are all improvements we have made that data show are making a difference.

How do you interpret the imposter syndrome finding for Harvard students?

Glover: The imposter syndrome data was a bit surprising, though not totally unexpected. These were questions about whether students compare their abilities to others and if they are afraid of being exposed as less capable than their peers. Approximately six in 10 Harvard students often compare themselves to their peers and think others might be more intelligent. Fifty-two percent of students fear that others will discover how much knowledge or ability they lack.

Lewis: Imposter syndrome can lead to feelings of isolation, so it is important to address it and make sure all students know that they belong here. Some things to consider include openly discussing imposter syndrome, providing workshops, celebrating students’ accomplishments, encouraging mentorship, and reframing success to include effort and growth.

Tell me more about the finding on isolation and loneliness. Do you see this as part of a larger trend?

Nguyen: Yes, 45 percent of Harvard students reported feeling isolated on campus. It’s not surprising to see this data for Harvard students and of course it’s not just Harvard. There is a national epidemic of isolation and loneliness. The question is — what do we do about it? How can we help students not feel isolated and alone? Because we are in a university setting, we have a unique opportunity to build patterns of belonging and promote connection. This is an area we will want to explore moving forward.

Why do you think financial factors rose to the top as a barrier to accessing services? Do you think this is something that can be addressed?

Lewis: This is data that tells us that we have some education to do because many of the mental health services offered at Harvard are free of charge to students. Students can access Counseling and Mental Health Services and TimelyCare for short-term mental health care at no charge to them. At Harvard, financial concerns should not be a barrier to initiating care.

If a student does need longer-term care, they may need to use their health insurance plan. We know insurance can be confusing to students, but the CAMHS Clinical Access Team can help students navigate their insurance. This is a service that is extremely valuable, but not many students are aware of it. Appointments can be made online as well so it is a service that is easy to access.

Given this data, what will be areas of focus moving forward?

Glover: We need to continue our outreach to remind students of the services that are offered and to emphasize that they can get the care that they need in a timely manner. We may need to do some work about emphasizing specific services and consider different forms of outreach. We will also look at the specific topics of isolation, imposter syndrome, and binge drinking, as we mentioned previously, since our data showed room for improvement in those areas.

Where can students find out more about the mental health and support services offered on campus?

Nguyen: A good place to start is our wellbeing website at www.harvard.edu/wellbeing or our CAMHS website. Students (and the faculty or staff who support them) can also access School-specific resources through the Crimson folder for their School. It is always a good idea to reach out to Student Affairs staff at the College or your School as they have knowledge of all the resources available to students at Harvard.