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Students stressed, worried about money, college presidents acknowledge

Gazette - 4/21/2022

Apr. 21—One-third of degree-seeking college students said in a recent poll that they had considered dropping out of school in the last six months — largely due to "emotional stress" — capturing the scope and gravity of mental health needs facing today's college students.

The presidents of colleges and universities across Eastern Iowa — speaking at a "future of higher education" panel hosted this week by the Corridor Business Journal — acknowledged the rising mental health needs on their campuses.

"This is going to sound strange, but I'm actually grateful for the pandemic in this regard," University of Iowa President Barbara Wilson said.

"It has allowed us at Iowa to talk about mental health and wellness every day. ... I think all of us understand mental health in a different way because of this pandemic. We understand the issues of loneliness. We understand the stress associated with not being able to predict the future," she said.

"And, in a way, it's allowed us to open up conversations that we have for too long not been discussed."

Instead of asking UI community members to grapple with mental health challenges individually, Wilson said her campus has reframed the discussion to focus on holistic wellness involving physical and mental well-being and the implication for academic success.

"We cannot hire enough counselors at Iowa," she said.

"I will just be honest with you, the need for individualized counseling exceeds our capacity to hire people to help students," Wilson said, noting the UI has partnered with a local nonprofit to provide a 24-hour text chat service for students in crisis or just needing to talk.

"That's been a game changer for us," she said.

The UI also has embedded wellness specialists in every college on campus and in residence halls.

"When I talk with students, what I hear from so many of them is the last two years have been really hard for an age group that — when you think about it — is inherently social, that derives its sense of identity from interactions with others," Wilson said.

"And they've been on Zoom and on laptops and in isolation with some places in quarantine for the last two years, and it's been rough.

"So I think we're going to have some generational issues that we're going to have to deal with as we go forward," she said.

Today's sophomores missed some of the traditional orientation experiences freshmen typically enjoy when they start at a college or university.

"How do we go back and fill in the gaps?"

Cornell: Flexibility

Cornell College President Jonathan Brand said his campus in Mount Vernon has doubled the number of mental health therapists on campus, leaned into telehealth options, and listened to faculty and staff needs as they navigate the new pandemic-era higher education landscape.

"This is where the work flexibility has really come into play," Brand said. "Many schools are telling faculty and staff to come back to campus and come back to more traditional work hours ...

"We haven't gone in that direction. We actually have retained a flexibility for our faculty and staff to figure out a work arrangement that allows them to be at home and to be on campus on a weekly basis.

"That," he said, "has had really dramatic benefits for our employees."

Enrollment, financial aid

Many campuses nationally and locally reported sweeping enrollment declines during the pandemic, and the Gallup/Lumina poll released Wednesday shows stress and anxiety weren't the only reason.

The second most common reason undergraduates said they considered dropping out was "cost of attendance," at 36 percent.

During this week's panel discussion, the college and university presidents discussed recent enrollment drops and efforts to reverse the slide — with Iowa's three public universities, Coe College, Kirkwood Community College and Mount Mercy University all reporting fewer students in fall 2021 than in 2020.

Cornell was among those that saw a slight uptick, but Brand said that doesn't mean it's safe from losses in the future.

"We all talk about this demographic cliff that's coming in 2026 where we will experience about a 15 percent decline in high school graduates," he said.

"Based on birthrates from last year," he said, "you just have to fast forward 18 years to know what going to college is going to look like. ... This is going to continue until 2040. ... So we are in for a 15-year period that's really going to be even harder than it is now unless we can change some trends in terms of number of percentage of students who choose to go to college."

The presidents reported increased financial aid is among their efforts to educate more students.

"We are furiously raising, aggressively raising money for scholarships and financial aid," UI President Wilson said. "We can't keep up with the unmet needs that our students come to us with. ... We know that education is much more expensive than it was when many of us were in school, so financial aid is critical."

The UI campus, she said, now has two food pantries, "which I'm sure 10 years ago wasn't the case."

"We've got students with really basic needs," Wilson said. "As one of our student life people said, 'You cannot know how many of our students are one flat tire away from dropping out of school.' "

Student poll

To that point, financial aid was the most cited reason students gave for staying enrolled in fall 2021, according to the Gallup/Lumina poll. Nearly half also listed "confidence in the value of the degree or credential" as another reason for sticking with it.

"Nearly two-thirds (65 percent) of currently enrolled students say they opted to continue their education to obtain knowledge or skills," according to the poll. "Nearly as many students say they were motivated by a degree's ability to help them pursue a more fulfilling career (61 percent) or get a higher-paying job (60 percent)."

Among students who either did drop out or never enrolled in the first place, cost was listed as the top barrier — with more than half of those polled citing it as the reason they're not pursuing a degree.

"All other reasons significantly trail financial considerations," according to the report, which notes few — 19 percent — said they unenrolled because they don't see value in additional training or education and even fewer — 16 percent — said a degree doesn't align with their beliefs or values.

"This underscores the perceived importance of education, even for those who have stopped out or have chosen not to enroll at all," according to the report.

Among the students polled, the overall percent of students who considered stopping their studies remained mostly stable from fall 2020 to 2021 — reaching 32 percent of bachelor degree-seeking students and 41 percent of associate-degree students. But the portion who considered stopping due to stress skyrocketed, according to the Gallup and the Lumina Foundation poll.

About 76 percent of students pursuing a bachelor's degree in fall 2021 said emotional stress was a reason they considered dropping out, compared with 42 percent in fall 2020.

About 63 percent of associate degree students cited stress as a key factor for their dropout considerations at the start of this academic year, compared with 24 percent last year, according to the Gallup/Lumina report.

"While a growing mental health crisis challenged institutions prior to the pandemic, feelings of isolation and academic difficulties caused by the pandemic have exacerbated mental health struggles nationally," according to the research made public Wednesday, noting more than a third of students in 2020 reported some form of depression or anxiety.

"One year later, students are still struggling with their well-being, and it's posing a significant risk to their ability to complete their degrees."

Vanessa Miller covers higher education for The Gazette.

Comments: (319) 339-3158; vanessa.miller@thegazette.com

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