A new Lumina Foundation and Gallup 2024 State of Higher Education Study finds 35% of college students have thought about leaving school in the past six months. The top reasons given are mental health and stress.
Current and prospective students pursuing a bachelor’s degree are prioritizing their wellbeing. When asked why they would consider stopping their coursework, more than half of respondents (54%) say it would be due to emotional stress and 43% say it would be for mental health reasons. The cost of attendance rounds out the top three responses with 31%.
Emotional stress is the reason many students (67%) pursuing a bachelor’s degree have considered pausing their studies or leaving their program altogether. On the other hand, 56% say it is due to their mental health.
Female students more than their male counterparts consider dropping out of school due to mental health and stress. The study found 64% of female college students have contemplated dropping out of their program due to emotional stress compared to 37% of male college students. Likewise, 52% of female college students have deliberated over remaining in their program for mental health reasons, compared to 27% of male college students.
“Overall declines in wellbeing began pre-pandemic, and COVID-19 only exacerbated these challenges,” Stephanie Marken, a senior partner in the Education Division, wrote. “Unfortunately, Gallup finds that lower levels of happiness, along with heightened negative emotions, continue post-pandemic. In fact, the “World Happiness Report” confirms that the U.S. has lost its spot in the top 20 happiest countries for the first time in the publication’s 12-year history, and the decline is in part due to declines in youth happiness.”
Read the full report here.
Director of The Raceless Gospel Initiative, an associate editor, host of the Good Faith Media podcast, “The Raceless Gospel” and author of Take Me to the Water: The Raceless Gospel as Baptismal Pedagogy for a Desegregated Church.
