Young people between the ages of 10 and 34 are at a heightened risk for suicide, making adolescence and early adulthood a critical time for prevention, early intervention and connection to support. For many students, the college years fall within the late stages of adolescence, a period marked by rapid change, identity development, and increasing independence as young people navigate their transition into the world beyond high school.
While college is often viewed as a time of opportunity and growth, it can also bring feelings of stress, isolation, and emotional strain. Mental health challenges can affect any student, but some young people face increased risk due to life transitions, stress exposure, and barriers to accessing timely support.
At Connecticut Children’s, suicide prevention and mental health promotion efforts prioritize reaching adolescents and young adults early, before challenges escalate, by ensuring prevention programming is accessible, relevant, and effective for students across a wide range of backgrounds and experiences.
Understanding Higher Risk Student Populations
Not all students experience campus life in the same way. Academic pressure, financial strain, social isolation, family responsibilities, trauma exposure, and difficulty navigating campus systems can significantly increase mental health risk during the late adolescent years.
College-aged women, many of whom are in their late teens and early twenties, consistently report higher rates of anxiety and depression. Stress related to academic performance, social expectations, safety concerns, and balancing multiple responsibilities can compound during this developmental stage. Emotional distress is often minimized or normalized, which may delay help seeking and allow symptoms to worsen over time.
Other students may face elevated risk due to limited social support, unfamiliarity with available resources, or major life changes such as grief or trauma. Recognizing these differences is essential to effective suicide prevention.
Prevention Begins Before Crisis
Suicide prevention does not begin in moments of crisis. It begins with connection, education, and early support, particularly during the ages of 18-24, when habits around help seeking and self-care are still forming.
Prevention focused mental health programming reduces stigma, increases awareness of warning signs, and encourages students to seek help for themselves or others. When mental health education is visible and embedded in shared campus spaces, students are more likely to recognize distress and know where to turn for support.
How Fresh Check Day Supports Students
Fresh Check Day is a nationally recognized mental health promotion and suicide prevention program managed by Connecticut Children’s Youth Suicide Prevention Center. Designed specifically for adolescents and young adults, the program brings prevention focused mental health education directly to students through interactive booths, peer to peer conversations, and supportive messaging.
Through the Office for Community Child Health, Connecticut Children’s supports the integration of programs like Fresh Check Day into broader, community-based prevention efforts that reach young people where they are.
By creating a welcoming, non clinical environment, Fresh Check Day reduces stigma and reinforces the message that support is available and that seeking help is a sign of strength. Evaluation data consistently show increased willingness among participants to seek help and greater confidence in supporting a friend.
Supporting Women and Expanding Access to Prevention
Institutions that serve large populations of women, including women’s colleges, play an important role in supporting mental health during a time of significant transition and growth. Prevention efforts that emphasize connection, early intervention, and peer support help foster campus environments where students feel supported rather than expected to manage distress alone.
Fresh Check Day also recognizes that access to prevention programming can vary widely. Expanding access for students from underserved communities and for those facing additional barriers is a key component of comprehensive suicide prevention.
To help remove financial barriers, Fresh Check Day is currently being offered at no cost to eligible women’s colleges thanks to generous grant support from the Petit Family Foundation. Institutions interested in learning more about this opportunity can visit freshcheckday.com.
A Shared Commitment to Student Well-being
Suicide prevention is most effective when it is woven into the everyday fabric of campus life. Creating environments where adolescents and young adults feel seen, supported, and encouraged to seek help requires intentional, campus-wide commitment. Through prevention-focused initiatives like Fresh Check Day, colleges and universities can play a vital role in fostering connection, reducing risk, and strengthening student well-being.