The Healthy Minds Survey provides important data on the intersection of mental health and student success to better understand students’ mental health needs and the issues that impact them.
The 2025 Healthy Minds Survey marks nearly 10 years of UW–Madison surveying student mental health. By regularly surveying students on mental health topics, the university can track trends in student mental health, which allows both leaders and our campus community set priorities around policies, programs, and systems on campus. Previous iterations of the Healthy Minds Survey have contributed to programs and service offerings on campus, such as the UHS embedded mental health provider program, which places mental health providers in academic and student services areas on campus.
In winter 2025, nearly 2,000 UW–Madison students shared their feedback in the fourth iteration of the Healthy Minds Survey. Over the last several months, UHS has reviewed students’ responses and is ready to share the survey results with campus.
The 2025 survey highlighted several key findings:
- There are improvements in student mental health: For the first time since UW–Madison began surveying students on their mental health, findings indicated decreases in rates of anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation.
- However, some students experience worse mental health: Students who report feeling always financially stressed; lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer students; and gender diverse students report higher rates of mental health conditions.
- Loneliness is a critical issue on campus: Nearly half of students report feeling lonely. Rates of loneliness are worse among students who do not use alcohol, indicating that alcohol and social connection remain important issues.
- Students are seeking help, and mental health stigma is decreasing: More students report seeking professional mental health care, and students say that they would not think less of someone who received mental health help. Students also report high rates of seeking help from their peers, but they do not always feel prepared to help.
A full summary of results from the 2025 Healthy Minds Survey is available on the UHS website.