College counseling services provide crucial support to students with elevated suicide risk

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Students with a history of suicidal or self-injurious behaviors often have high distress and complex problems but greatly benefit from college counseling center services, according to the 2024 annual report from Penn State’s Center for Collegiate Mental Health that was published Jan. 28. 

The report, available at this link, shows college counseling centers can effectively support college students with a history of suicidal/self-injurious behaviors (S/SIB). When receiving counseling services, these students demonstrated a comparable amount of reduction in distress to students without histories of S/SIB. However, the levels of distress for students with elevated suicide risk were still higher at the end of treatment versus those without S/SIB histories, indicating the need for additional services/support mechanisms. 

“The data show that students with a history of suicidal or self-injurious behaviors could benefit from access to longer-term and comprehensive care, including psychological treatment, psychiatric services and case management at counseling centers, as well as adjunctive support that contributes to an overall sense of well-being, such as access to disability services and financial aid programs,” said Brett Scofield, executive director for the Center for Collegiate Mental Health (CCMH).

The findings underscore the important partnership between college counseling centers and the institutions they serve, and ongoing efforts to promote suicide prevention within higher education.  

The report notes that the overall suicide rate in the United States increased by 36% between 2000 and 2022 (Centers for Disease Control). According to the National Mental Health Association and the JED Foundation, it is estimated that approximately 1,100 college students die by suicide each year.  

Suicide prevention efforts within higher education over the past 20 years show evidence of success. More students are seeking mental health services, particularly those experiencing critical risk factors for suicide, according to the 2015 CCMH Report and the Healthy Minds Network. The percentage of students served nationally at counseling centers with suicidal/self-injurious behavior histories has grown from 26% in 2010-11 to 30% in 2023-24.  

College students are also less likely to die by suicide than their same age peers in the general population, which, according to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine in 2021, may be due in part to the collective services and comprehensive support systems available on college campuses.  

“College counseling centers play a critical role in supporting suicide prevention and campus safety efforts, but they are only one piece of the puzzle,” said Scofield. “At-risk students are best served when college counseling centers and institutions work together to provide collaborative care, which better positions them for academic success.” 

The 2024 Annual Report summarizes data contributed to CCMH during the 2023-24 academic year, beginning July 1, 2023, and closing on June 30, 2024. De-identified data were contributed by 213 college and university counseling centers, describing 173,536 unique college students seeking mental health treatment, 4,954 clinicians and 1,215,151 appointments. 

 Other findings in the 2024 report include: 

• Rates of prior counseling and psychotropic medication usage showed an increase in the past year and are at their highest levels since this data was first collected in 2012. 
• History of counseling continued to be the mental health history item with the largest 12-year increase: over 63% of students entered services with prior counseling. Notably, history of a psychiatric hospitalization has demonstrated a slight upward trend since 2020, although the general trajectory remains relatively stable over the past 12 years. 
• After a period of annual increases since 2012, history of trauma slightly declined in the past year, however, it has increased overall during the past 12 years, rising from 37.5% in 2012 to 45.5% this past year.  
• Although it slightly decreased the past year, anxiety continues to be the most common presenting concern, with 64.4% of clients having anxiety assessed by clinicians.  

CCMH is a national research center and international practice-research network (PRN) of more than 800 college and university counseling centers that brings together clinical work, research, and technology. CCMH collects data through routine clinical practice from college and university counseling centers, creating the largest PRN of its kind in the world. Since its development in 2004 by Dr. Ben Locke, CCMH has collected data from more than 1.5 million unique clients. 

Penn State students can learn about mental health resources available to them here.