Healthy Minds Study

Modesto Junior College Health Services has partnered with researchers at the University of Michigan to conduct the Healthy Minds Study (HMS) for MJC students 18+. The HMS is a voluntary survey, designed to provide data on the most effective means to invest in the mental health of college and university students. MJC participated in the HMS in Spring 2023 and is launching again in Spring 2025 to identify the needs and priorities of our student population, evaluate benchmarks against peer institutions, assess current programs and policies, plan for services and programs, and advocate for resources.

The HMS is sponsored by the University of Michigan. The main Institutional Review Board (IRB) for the HMS is maintained under Advarra, a provider of IRB services in North America.

Spring 2025 Healthy Minds Study

Dates: March 24 to April 18, 2025

You’ll receive an email from MJC Health Services at healthyminds-MJC@umich.edu in your student inbox on March 24, 2025, with a personalized link to the survey. The survey takes approximately 25-30 minutes to complete. Don’t worry if you can’t finish in one sitting—you can return to the survey at any time and pick up where you left off using your personalized link.

Prize giveaways for participating: $20, $100 and $250 gift cards, Airpods, iPads (128GB)

Topics Include:

Mood and emotions
Mental health and emotional issues you may have experienced
Physical health and lifestyle
Use of alcohol and other drugs
Support you may or may not have received
Academic life

Spring 2023 - Study Findings
The Healthy Minds Study (HMS) is designed to provide data on the most effective means to invest in the mental health of college and university students. MJC participated in the HMS in Spring 2023 to identify the needs and priorities of our student population; evaluate benchmarks against peer institutions; assess current programs and policies; plan for services and programs; and advocate for resources.

The study focuses on five main areas:

Mental health (depression, anxiety, self-injury, suicidality)

Lifestyle/health behaviors (substance use, exercise, sleep)

Attitudes/awareness of mental health

Service utilization

Academic/social environmental factors
Modesto Junior College participated in the Healthy Mind Study in March 2023. We had over 1600 students participate; approximately 10% of the student population.
Spring 2023 - What We Learned

In the past 4 weeks, how many days have you felt that emotional or mental difficulties have hurt your academic performance?

In the past year, did you ever seriously think about attempting suicide?

If you had a mental health problem that you believed was affecting your academic performance, which people at your school would you talk to?

An estimated 64% of students at Modesto Junior College are experiencing symptoms of at least one significant mental health problem, such as depression, anxiety disorders, suicidal thoughts, self-injury, or eating disorders. From the current population this translates to almost 11,000 total MJC students with a mental health problem.

MJC's Healthy Minds data showed satisfaction rates are near 87% among students who used campus mental health services, suggesting that our services are effective.