Abstract
Students experiencing mental illnesses find their campus experience challenging for a number of reasons, including the enduring and detrimental stigma so strongly associated with mental illnesses. With one in three undergraduate students reported feeling so depressed it was difficult to function, and with 86% of students with mental illnesses are expected to withdraw from college before obtaining their degree, the importance of propagating mental health awareness and encouraging help-seeking behavior is vital (Salzer, 2012). Students at higher risk for mental health issues, particularly student veterans, foster students, and LGBT students, are matriculating in higher education at higher rates. This beckons the conversation that a larger, more visible and comprehensive dialogue around mental health and the reality of its presence on college campuses needs to be instituted. California Community Colleges constitute 25% of the nation’s college student population, and as more and more students enroll into higher education, more students with a mental illness are in college classrooms. The education of student mental health at institutions of higher education is critical if campuses are to address the prevention and early intervention needs of their students, faculty, and staff. The methodology used for this research was both qualitative and quantitative. Qualitative methods were utilized to assess how the grant enhanced campus responded to student mental health needs. Based on the data collected and analyzed between June 1, 2012 and March 31, 2013, the Campus Based Grant (CBG) resourced the delivery and education of prevention and intervention (PEI) strategies and best practices to over 21,000 persons. Additionally, the CCC SMHP enhanced the capacity of 23 campuses’ to respond to the mental health needs of students by as much as 76%. Overall, the CCC SMHP had a significant impact on the existing mental health services on campuses and was awarded a CBG. Furthermore, based on the findings of this research, college leaders and policymakers should consider the struggles with which students with mental illnesses contend, and the difference mental health education can have on all stakeholders of institutions of higher education.