In this op-ed, Sofia Barnett calls on Ivy League schools to better support the mental health of their students.
Content warning: This story contains a discussion of suicide.
Three days before my best friend at college attempted suicide, her emergency next-day appointment at our school’s counseling service was canceled. For months, she had been struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder and balancing the pressures of being a low-income student seeking mental health treatment, all while attending one of the most prestigious universities in the world.
As a student receiving almost full financial aid from the university, she was dependent on the school’s support for her health, well-being, and safety. Yet, as she told me, staying afloat as a low-income student with mental health difficulties — navigating an Ivy League education with insufficient mental health resources — felt like a losing battle.
Unfortunately, this isn’t a unique situation. In late 2018, the American College Health Association presented data that showed 40% of undergraduate students reported depression so severe that it became difficult for them to function. The group's statistics also indicated that, as of 2018, more than 10% of undergraduate students had seriously considered suicide.
These numbers come from a pool that considers all colleges, yet a 2019 report published by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine added young people in “high-achieving schools” to its list of “at-risk” groups. Ivy League communities include some of the most high-achieving students from around the globe, and research suggests that these students can be two or three times more anxious and depressed than the average college student.
But responses from institutions have been lacking for these students and, in some cases, possibly discriminatory. In the past year, Princeton and Yale have both experienced significant backlash to their mental health support and leave of absence policies.
A 2022 lawsuit filed against Yale alleged that the school had violated the Americans With Disabilities Act, the Fair Housing Act, and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in its management of students with mental health struggles. The suit notably alleged that Yale’s policies were “harshest on students with mental health disabilities from less-privileged backgrounds, including students of color, students from poor families or rural areas, and international students.” Yale agreed to settle the lawsuit and to change certain policies to make it easier for students to return after medical leave.
Before changes in policy, though, some Yale students experiencing mental health crises were pressured to withdraw from the university, according to The Washington Post. The lawsuit alleged that students were prohibited from visiting the campus, barred from enrolling in summer classes, booted from the school’s health insurance, and denied a tuition rebate while taking a reduced course load to allot time for treatment. Now, the university has implemented a formal medical leave of absence process. It’s a step in the right direction, albeit a small one.
In 2022, Harvard was also served a suit claiming it had been negligent in its mental health care for a student who died by suicide. So was the University of Pennsylvania. In 2021, a Department of Justice investigation claimed that Rhode Island's Brown University discriminated against students who took a leave of absence for mental health. And years before that, Princeton also faced a mental health-related lawsuit and DOJ investigation. (A judge dismissed the claims against Harvard; Penn settled its suit; and the Princeton lawsuit, which was eventually settled, and the investigation resulted in the school reforming its policies.)
As the Yale lawsuit asserted, a lack of mental health support at prestigious universities can impact less privileged students the most. When students seek help at these universities before taking a leave of absence, they often feel stonewalled. And like many educational institutions, Ivy League universities are struggling to keep up with the growing mental health demands of their students.
A 2018 report gave Brown a D in mental health care, which is unfortunately one of the higher scores among the Ivies. For students who seek care outside of the university, they might find even more barriers to access such as cost, scheduling difficulties amid a demanding semester, and lack of available providers. As in most places, Rhode Island’s mental health providers are overloaded. For low- and middle-income students seeking treatment, these barriers may be enough to prevent them from seeking care at all, especially if it means seeing an out-of-network provider or one who doesn’t accept insurance.
Often the low-income students I have talked with who have accepted admission to Ivy League institutions are very aware of the health resources schools offer, and many, myself included, factored in these resources when making a college decision. But an abundance of these resources remain out of reach for students like me. The reality is: We need more.
In times of deep community loss, like after a student dies by suicide, universities have a responsibility to be transparent with their students, who rely upon them for support, governance, information, and safety. A student’s death by suicide on campus shouldn’t be a quiet matter; it should be a call to action.
After the immeasurable loss of so many young lives, it’s time for every Ivy League to follow Yale’s lead. Princeton rectified its leave of absence policies around the same time as Yale did, and a Harvard task force on the management of student mental health made recommendations that the university is now implementing.
It’s time for these universities to start envisioning the logistical application of resources rather than holding onto an idyllic vision of what students should need when they come to campus. Resources aren’t resources if they can’t be accessed. Non-wealthy students shouldn’t be left to reckon with making an impossible decision between their mental health and financial security.
Every time a student is lost, policies must be questioned. Committees must be assembled. Action demands a catalyst, yet just the thought of losing another child should be incentivizing enough. We go to the Ivies to learn and live, not pay and die. We are children who should never have to demand that our lives be worth fighting for.
If you or someone you know is going through a crisis, you can contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or +1 (800) 273-TALK (8255).
