Dive Brief:
- Campus counseling centers are short-staffed despite an increasing number of students seeking assistance from campus counselors.
- Counseling center budgets have begun to grow again after a period of shrinkage during the recession, but not enough to keep up with demand, Inside Higher Ed reports.
- Counseling center directors say they have an average of one staff member for every 1,772 students during the 2012-2013 school year, compared to one for every 1,673 the previous year, according to a survey by the Association for University and Counseling Center Directors.
Dive Insight:
Anxiety is the most common issue that students seek help for, followed by depression, according to the AUCCCD survey. In the most recent survey, 46% of the students looking for help with anxiety — up 5% from one year earlier and a record since the survey began —and 39% wanted treatment for depression. Another record: 18% of the students showed suicidal thoughts or behaviors. Budgets were up for 59% of the directors and stagnant for 35%.
