Dartmouth participated in the Healthy Minds Study in Fall 2024 as part of its JED Campus commitment, gathering responses from 974 undergraduate, graduate, and professional students, a 14% response rate. Half the respondents were undergraduate students and half the respondents were graduate and professional students. Results show improvements in several common mental health indicators, alongside persistent challenges that continue to shape student well-being. 

Unless otherwise noted, the changes highlighted below are statistically significant, meaning they likely reflect real differences over time rather than random variation in the sample. Two measures—financial strain and adequate sleep on weeknights—were also tracked but did not show statistically significant change; those are noted at the end. 

Where available, comparisons are provided to the 2024-2025 national student dataset.

Mental Health Trends

• Depression risk declined:
  • 24% of students who responded to the survey reported risk for moderate to severe depression, improved from 33% in 2021. This is also better than the national average (37%).
• Anxiety risk declined:
  • 23% reported moderate to severe anxiety, an improvement from 27% in 2021. This is also better than the national average (33%).
• Suicidal ideation decreased:
  • 7% reported seriously considering suicide in the past year, better than 11% in 2021 and below national average (11%).

Academic Impact Over the Preceding Four Weeks

• More students (40%) report no days of mental or emotional difficulties adversely affecting their academic performance in the last four weeks, improved from 20% in 2021. This is also better than the 2024-2025 national average (33%).
• Students indicating that mental or emotional challenges adversely affected their academics 1-2 days in the last four weeks improved from 34% to 30%. This is on par with the 2024-2025 national average, also 30%.
• Students indicating that mental health challenges adversely affected their academics on three or more days in the past four weeks improved to 30%, compared with 46% in 2021. This is also better than the 2024-2025 national average (37%).

Awareness and Use of Support

• 93% of students who responded to the survey say they know where to access Dartmouth’s mental health resources, improved from 82% in 2021 and better than the national average (83%).
• 78% agree Dartmouth has a good support system for students going through difficult times. This is an improvement from 2021 (53%) but is lower than the national average (85%).

Campus Culture and Community

• Nearly all (95%) of students who responded to the survey agree that students are working to promote mental health on campus. This is stronger than Dartmouth’s 2021 findings of 91% and higher than the national sample (88%).
• A large majority of students (85%) say Dartmouth is a community where people look out for one another, an improvement compared to 81% in 2021. In the national sample, 83% of students felt this way.
• Reported exposure to diverse perspectives is strong.
  • 95% report exposure to diverse opinions, cultures, and values.
  • 92% say they are becoming more open to perspectives different from their own. 

Institutional Prioritization of Mental Health

• About three-quarters (75%) of students agree that the administration at their school is listening to students’ health and wellness concerns, dramatically improved from less than half (45%) in 2021, but still below the national average (81%).
• Nearly three-quarters (72%) of students agree that students’ mental and emotional health is a priority at their school, improving from less than half (47%) in 2021, but still below the national average (84%).

Ongoing Challenges

• Loneliness remains a concern, though improved:
  • 43% of students reported risk of loneliness, an improvement from 57% in 2021. This is also better than the national sample (52%).
• Alcohol use remains high:
  • 62% of students reported drinking alcohol in the past two weeks, which is lower than Dartmouth’s 2021 findings (73%), but still substantially higher than the national average (40%).
  • Among those students who drank, about 54% reported at least one episode of high-risk drinking in that two-week period. This is lower than Dartmouth’s 2021 findings (68%) and lower than the national sample 60%.
  • Overall, looking at all student respondents together (students who did drink and those who did not) about one in three (33%) of Dartmouth students reported engaging in high-risk drinking at least once in the previous two weeks. This is lower than Dartmouth’s 2021 findings (about 50%), but still higher than the national sample of about one in four (24%).
• Stressors persist:
  • 14% worry about food running out before they get money. Although this is better than the national average (31%), for Dartmouth this represents an increase in concern compared to 2021 (10%).
  • Climate-related stress is widespread, with 86% and 82% of students reporting feeling sad and/or anxious, respectively, when thinking about climate change.

Health Behaviors

• 57% of students reported getting 8+ hours of sleep on weekend nights. This is notably worse than Dartmouth’s 2021 findings (68%), although better than the national sample (52%).
• About one-third of students spend three or more hours per day on non-academic, non-work online activities. In the national sample, more than half of students (about 56%) reported spending three hours or more on these online activities.

Additional Measures (not statistically significant)
The survey also tracked financial strain and weekday sleep duration. While important, changes in these measures were not statistically significant over time:

• 20% of students report current financial stress is always or often a problem (similar to 2021).
• Fewer than 20% of students get 8+ hours of sleep on weeknights (similar to 2021).