According to a new report by the United Negro College Fund, students at HBCUs have better mental health than students that attend other colleges and universities. The study shows that HBCU students were nine percent more likely to “report signs of mental flourishing than American college students overall.”
The researchers believe this is the most thorough analysis of HBCU and PBI students’ mental health to date. The report, “Community, Culture and Care: A Cross-Institutional Analysis of Mental Health Among HBCU and PBI Students,” used data from the Healthy Minds Study, a large annual survey of college students nationwide, spanning two years.
“HBCUs have a long tradition of being centers of excellence and academic achievement,” said Akilah Patterson, the lead researcher on the study and a Ph.D. candidate in the University of Michigan’s Department of Health Behavior and Health Equity. “But this work also highlights that HBCUs are much more than that. They’re cultivating an environment of affirmation and belonging and support.”
45 percent of the HBCU and PBI students in the study’s sample showed favorable mental health based on the Flourishing Scale, which consists of eight statements—including “I am a good person and live a good life”—that are used to determine whether a respondent is “flourishing” mentally. The three statements most commonly selected by students in the sample were “I am a good person and live a good life,” “I actively contribute to the happiness and well-being of others,” and “I am confident and capable in the activities that are important to me.”
The study also shows that 36 percent of college students in general and 38 percent of Black students at PWIs indicated positive mental health. Anxiety, depression, and eating disorders were also less common among HBCU and PBI students than among all college students.
Additionally, HBCU and PBI students showed a stronger sense of community on campus, as seen by the 83 percent who agreed with the statement, “I see myself as part of the campus community,” compared to 73 percent of all Healthy Minds respondents. Sixty percent of HBCU and PBI students stated they have friends “with whom I can share my thoughts and feelings,” and 54 percent said they have a social club or community where they feel like they belong. These students reported having strong relationships with people on campus.
Prior studies have connected a sense of belonging to both strong academic accomplishment and mental well-being, but the results did not always demonstrate a causal relationship between the high belonging rates and the other favorable mental health outcomes of HBCU and PBI students.
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