Gone are the days when state-of-the-art dining and fitness facilities alone could sweep prospective college students off their feet. When it comes to campus life, Gen Z has a new priority: mental health care. 

The Princeton Review is taking note. For the last two years, the company best known for its college admissions services, including test preparation books and tutoring, has been evaluating schools based on support for student wellbeing. 

On Wednesday, The Review, in partnership with the Ruderman Family Foundation, published the results of its second Campus Mental Health Survey, along with a Mental Health Services Honor Roll, which highlights colleges and universities with model commitment to student mental health and wellbeing.

This year’s survey found broad gains in mental health services compared to last year, indicating a shift towards more comprehensive, preventative models of care. The 2026 Honor Roll also lists 30 institutions, up from the previous 16.

“I'm really pleased with the results of the survey,” said Mark Reed, the director of the health service at Dartmouth College, a new addition to the Honor Roll. “It reflects the investment that people are making nationally to support the mental health and wellness of our college students.” 

Between fall 2024 and spring 2025, two separately polled groups participated in the survey: administrators who reported on the state of mental health policies and programs on their campuses, and students who reported on their sense of the availability of services and awareness of how and where to find them.

The administrators represented 540 different colleges and universities, more than twice as many as in the 2024 survey. Their responses reveal growth since the previous year in the portion of schools with a variety of mental health services.

This year’s survey found broad gains in mental health services compared to last year, indicating a shift towards more comprehensive, preventative models of care.

The percentage of schools with return-from-leave support programs increased by 18 points, for example; and the percentage of those with counseling centers with accreditation or following accrediting guidelines increased by 15 points.

Other notable areas of growth include the incorporation of wellness in residential life (now at 93 percent of schools), the adoption of for-credit or non-credit wellness education (70 percent), and the existence of a website consolidating information about campus mental health offerings (96 percent).

More than 31,000 students also responded to questions about their perceptions of mental health programming on campus. The percentage of students who agreed mental health services are readily available on their campus went up by five points; the percentage that agreed their institutions prioritize student mental health went up by another five.

79 percent of students said they know where to access resources on campus, although that figure reflects only a one-point increase from last year. 

Eric Wood, the director of counseling and mental health at Texas Christian University, another school named to the Honor Roll this year, believes the growing investment in mental health services reflects an understanding that these concerns impact not only where students choose to go to school but whether they persist to graduation.

“Protecting student retention is also one of the hallmarks of college mental health, so these findings are consistent with the notion that one way to address enrollment concerns is to invest in campus mental health services,” Wood wrote in an email. 

At Dartmouth, Mark Reed said the broad implications for student success are one reason the president, Sian Beilock, has made campus wellbeing her “number one priority.” 

“She's made that sort of a key component to the academic success of Dartmouth — that if we don't have the health and wellness of our community, then we really can't be at our best,” Reed said. 

The Honor Roll schools, like Dartmouth and T.C.U., stood apart for their compliance with three main criteria: an administration that supports mental health through policies and programs; students who enjoy a quality of life that is healthy and “attentive to wellbeing;” and initiatives that empower students to address their own mental health (e.g. peer-to-peer offerings).

College ranking systems — most famously that of U.S. News & World Report — have been subject to controversy in recent years due to suspicions that narrow guidelines can end up neglecting otherwise quality schools deserving of recognition.

Wood views the Honor Roll as breaking the mold. He wrote it was “refreshing to see information based on details provided by schools as opposed to arbitrary national rankings that position schools against each other and don’t provide information about the survey samples.”

Wood hopes that schools — both named to the Honor Roll and not — will use the resource to connect and collaborate.

“College mental health is not a competitive world, and counseling center directors often share and borrow programs and ideas,” he wrote.

You can reach LearningWell Reporter Mollie Ames at mames@learningwellmag.org with comments, ideas, or tips.