Georgetown University announced it is participating in one of the country’s premier collegiate mental health surveys Jan. 29.
The University of Michigan-based Healthy Minds Student Survey gathers information on student mental health and wellbeing through anonymous participation, according to an email from Eleanor J.B. Daugherty, Georgetown’s vice president of student affairs. University administrators will use the survey results to shape future health and wellbeing programs at Georgetown by incorporating student perspectives.
Georgetown university announced it will be taking part in one of the nation’s premier collegiate mental health surveys Jan. 29. (Georgetown University)
Daugherty said the survey will help the university develop future mental health programs.
“We’re excited to share that The Healthy Minds Network, in partnership with Georgetown University, will soon launch the confidential Healthy Minds Study (HMS) survey focused on student health and well-being,” Daugherty wrote in the email. “Participating in this survey is your chance to help us better understand the needs and experiences of Georgetown students, and to shape future mental health and wellness programs on our campuses!”
Kathryn Castle, Georgetown’s associate vice president for student health, said the survey will allow the university to change or create programs that make mental health care accessible to students.
“Data gathered from Georgetown’s Healthy Minds Survey will enable the university to gain a better understanding of what students are experiencing and what supports might feel most meaningful to them,” Castle wrote to The Hoya. “This could mean strengthening existing programs that students find helpful, and/or creating new services or programs that reflect what students say they want.”
The survey, which asks demographic and general mental health questions, as well as specific Georgetown community mental health and wellness questions, randomly sampled the student body and kept all respondents anonymous.
Caroline Keller (CAS ’26) — co-president of Georgetown’s chapter of Active Minds, a student group which aims to destigmatize mental health — said the survey is a positive means to address mental health issues on campus.
“It was a happy surprise that there’s seemingly more discussion around mental health on campus,” Keller told The Hoya. “Because really all we’re here to do as Active Minds is to destigmatize it through conversation. So having the university itself through admin thinking about that discussion is also helpful.”
The Healthy Minds 2025 survey found that 37% of college students experienced moderate to severe depression and 32% had moderate to severe anxiety.
Hudson Witte (CAS ’28), a respondent to the survey, said he appreciates research being done on the Georgetown environment.
“I value research getting done and value participation in that research,” Witte told The Hoya. “And so I’m glad our school is partaking in that. But it seems routine — I think a lot of the more interesting stuff is the questions where it’s Georgetown-specific, not nationwide-specific.”
Witte said changing policies that impact mental health in higher education must be emphasized beyond Georgetown.
“Georgetown is so much a product of its competition with other elite universities and so unless you see broader change across a whole spectrum of universities, I don’t know how Georgetown is going to be like, ‘Well, I think we need to really restructure our grading system so that students aren’t viciously fighting for and competing with each other to get an A,’” Witte said. “And so unless you see that broader change across all these universities, I don’t know what they’re going to do.”
Keller said the biggest issue facing students is the social pressure to constantly work.
“One mental wellness issue we had all on campus I would be talking about with our club, is the fact that the average Georgetown student at all times is stressed out, and they feel the need to be stressed otherwise they’re not ‘doing enough’ or ‘hustling enough,’” Keller said.
Castle said the university hopes to further help students’ mental health.
“I hope we are able to continue to develop more peer-to-peer programming to supplement Georgetown’s robust university resources and better meet the needs of Georgetown students,” Castle wrote.
Witte said that while additional research is positive, he doubts the university will be able to wholly address mental health concerns on campus.
“I don’t know how Georgetown itself can roll back the increasing stress and worries about professionalization on college campuses and so maybe with a broader system, keep participating in research, we’ll see something that can be done,” Witte said. “But do I have a ton of hope? No. Am I hopeful that I’ll maybe win a gift card? Yeah.”