Healthy Minds Study

Healthy Minds Study

CU Boulder, in partnership with the Healthy Minds Network, will administer the Healthy Minds Study to 24,000 randomly selected students from Sept. 25 to Oct. 15, with students being asked to watch for an email inviting them to take the survey.

Why the Healthy Minds Study matters

Chancellor Justin Schwartz launched the Student Flourishing Initiative earlier this year to enhance student success by strengthening CU Boulder’s ongoing commitment to student mental health and wellness. The initiative is a four-year strategic planning and implementation effort conducted in partnership with The Jed Foundation, and the Healthy Minds Study is a cornerstone piece of this work.

The Healthy Minds Study is a student survey that will provide information about student mental health, service utilization, knowledge and attitudes about mental health, upstander/bystander behavior, mental health climate, resilience and coping, campus culture, and academic persistence, retention and competition. The results of the survey, which will include peer-institution comparisons, will be critical to informing the Student Flourishing Initiative’s strategic planning efforts during the spring 2026 semester.

“Broad student participation in the survey is vital to ensuring a robust data set that represents our entire student body and provides meaningful insights that impact how we address mental health issues on campus, improve support systems, and create a healthier environment for everyone,” said Vice Chancellor for Student Life D’Andra Mull, who is one of the co-chairs of the Student Flourishing Initiative. “We care deeply about the mental health and wellness of our students and ensuring that we are creating a campus where all students have the support and resources they need to be well and flourish.”

How students can participate

  • All CU Boulder degree-seeking students – both graduates and undergraduates – on the main campus were eligible for random selection to participate.
  • The 24,000 students randomly selected for participation received an email from Mull on Tuesday, Sept. 23 noting their selection.
  • Students selected to participate will receive an email from Dr. Mull sent via the the Qualtrics account for the University of Michigan, which is the host institution for the Healthy Minds Network, on Thursday, Sept. 25 that includes a personal link to the survey. This link is one-time use and should not be shared with others.
  • Completion of the survey is voluntary, and responses are confidential.
  • The survey should take about 30 minutes on average to complete.
  • Deadline for completion is 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 15.

Take the survey, earn incentives

  • As a thank you for completing the survey, all students who complete it can choose to receive a $10 Campus Cash deposit on their Buff OneCards or donate the funds to the Basic Needs Center, which supports students facing food and housing insecurity.
    • To claim the incentive at the end of the survey, students will be prompted to follow a link on the survey ending page (that is separate from the confidential survey results) and enter in their email address. Students can expect to see the Campus Cash added to their accounts approximately two weeks after the survey closes.
    • Those wishing to donate the incentive can simply not follow the incentive link at the end of the survey or enter their email address.
  • As part of the Healthy Minds Network’s national administration of the survey, all recruited students from all campuses conducting the survey will be eligible to win one of four $250 prizes and one of ten $100 prizes in the form of gift cards. Winners will be selected and contacted during the summer of 2026.

How faculty can help

Faculty and instructors can help increase survey participation by encouraging students to check their inboxes and take the survey if they’ve received the invitation. Note that no class credit of any type may be given for completing the survey.

FAQ's

  • Due to licensing restrictions, the Healthy Minds Network is limited in the number of students it can survey on any one campus.
  • All CU Boulder degree-seeking students – both graduates and undergraduates – on the main campus were eligible for random selection to participate.
  • Due to licensing restrictions, the Healthy Minds Network is limited in the number of students it can survey on any one campus.
  • All CU Boulder degree-seeking students – both graduates and undergraduates – on the main campus were eligible for random selection to participate.
  • We are grateful for student input, and will continue to engage our student body through other outreach efforts as part of the Student Flourishing Initiative.
  • This survey was designed to protect your privacy and ensure confidentiality, using a confidential protocol.
    • Your answers to the survey will be stored in a file that is separate from your first name and email address.
    • The data from this study, without any identifiable information, is stored in a secure digital location by the research team for future research purposes.
    • Any reports or articles written about this survey will describe people’s answers all together (in the aggregate or as a whole), and will contain no information that could allow someone to identify you.
    • As a participating institution, CU Boulder will receive a de-identified data set and will not be given access to individually identifiable survey data. We will also leave out any sports team affiliation or country of origin that you may have indicated. This helps make sure that no one at your school can look at the de-identified data set and guess who you are by “connecting-the-dots” with indirect-identifying information.