Student Immigration Status and Mental Health in College

Author(s)

Elizabeth CondonFollow

Major

Psychology

Advisor

Gary Stoner

Advisor Department

Psychology

Date

12-2021

Keywords

immigration status; social barriers; economic barriers; language barriers; Covid-19 pandemic; mental health

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 License.

Abstract

A large body of assessment literature suggests that college students who are immigrants face a variety of barriers that affect their academic performance and mental health. Such barriers consist of social, economic, language, mental health, and the Covid-19 pandemic. Each obstacle intersects with the student’s immigration status. This paper discusses how these barriers affect the mental health of students who are immigrants and how resources on college campuses can provide aid to these students. It is important for college counseling centers, academic advisors, professors, and staff on campus to be aware that students who are immigrants face specific barriers and obstacles to provide them with the best resources possible. The paper concludes with a resource guide organized by the specific barriers that each resource addresses, and a summary of the source. This information can be beneficial to college campuses to learn about the obstacles that immigrants face, how this affects their mental health, and suggestions that campuses can implement to best help these students.