Project Proposal

College Anxiety: How Changing College Environment has Morphed the Way College Students Experience Stress

2. The topic of my project will be the strong prevalence of anxiety in college students. I will talk about other mental illnesses, but mostly to support anxiety which is the most prevalent. I will talk about how society has changed for millennial aged students and how college environments have also changed as a result. I will evaluate how privatization is something that has effected general life, but mostly has heavily affected college campuses. From there, I will talk about how this has changed the way college kids experience stress and how their stressers are very different to today as compared to previous years as a result of lifestyle change and privatization change. Lastly, I will also evaluate the status of mental health resources in colleges, and how their poor state plays in a role in worsening the situation.

3. Why is anxiety so recently high among college students and how did it get this way? This is a question i cannot answer. I can only base off of my experience, but I do not actually know what plays into this occurring. This question can be challenged with many reasons why this is happening, some even not pertaining to college itself.

4. I will begin my project by stating that the state of mental health prevalence is extremely high as of current. I will use the statistics I have obtained from the APA to back up my point. This is a reliable source that is extremely academic. I will point out that this is a very recent change, happening within the last ten years. The way that we think has changed within the past ten years and something did it. I will begin the journey from there stating that the way we approach stress has transformed. Dana Becker’s One Nation Under Stress will be very valuable here. I think that this is an important note, we are currently predisposed to stress about our stress and struggle with handling a lot of things at once. Anxiety is almost inevitable with the way we are taught to think. BUT this issue is a college issue, so why is it happening? Further,  I was referred a great article by Alicia Flatt that breaks down what has changed in the worlds of young adults today and how these things can play into mental issues (technology, lifestyle, academic changes, etc). The article lends to my point that the environment of college is in no way what it used to be. it is extremely competitive and lends a lot more pressure to students. Further competition and divisions can be supported with the argument of privatization. I will use Collinge and Newfield to explain what privatization is and then explain that it has left behind a majority of young adults- those less affluent. Those we are affluent enough for college get all of the opportunities while the others have to watch and struggle financially and opportunity wise. Armstrong and Hamilton drive home the point of separation and explain the cream of the crop/chosen on scenarios. Because of this, anxiety is extremely common among students because they are set up for failure. To conclude my point about this epidemic, I have found many sources about the current state of mental health resources in colleges and how poor they are. Many schools are not full prepared for the high numbers of students looking for help. Once again, those who can afford their own healthcare can seek outside help, but those without the means will have to use the resources that are sparse and currently not extremely effective. Finkel and the Chronicle capture this overwhelm very well. This plays into the overall picture because the solution here is to get more resources which means more funding is needed, which dives deeper into privatization. I will conclude that this is a vicious cycle.

5. Cases: For mental health prevalence: The APA article I have found. This is pulled from a large survey that covers many universities across the country. While it is not a specific case, it does accurately cover and speak for a the issue. Flatt's piece on changes in student's life is a great, specific article with many specific statistics on how life has changed for millennials. This also explains with much research that this has transformed the way students experience stress. On the topic of Privatization: Taylor and Emma. Emma is severely sad and anxious about her situation and had issues throughout college. Taylor was privileged and did not experience those mental issues. Also, Armstrong and Hamilton break down the different kind of tracks students can take while in college, who normally follows these tracks, and ow privatization has an effect on them and the students within. For resource flaws: Finkel’s article on the state of community college is great example of case(s). It analyzes surveys from community colleges across the US. The isolation to just community colleges can help me create a case that is has something to do with all kinds of college life. Many times stress can be thought to come from the fact that some students have more money to be involved in extra circulars (i.e. Greek life), but this article shows that it is not isolated to situations like that. The article from the Chronicle is a great supplement to this topic, it is not academic but it can help me hit home with my final point.

       Additional questions that emerge from my essay are is it the actual students who are causing the rise in anxiety, or is it just the environment? What other factors are changing the college environment besides privatization? How can we fix this issue?

     My research plan is to break it down like I did with my academic sources blog post. I will take it chunk by chunk and find articles for each section, and at the end, find how they all connect. I will start with numbers and statistics to point out the change, and more works on how this change has only taken place in the last ten years. From there, I will jump into how the minds of students have changed. Becker’s book is a great point to back that up from a historical, overall psychological perspective but from there I will obtain current evidence that the way we think has been changed through society and other norms. I was referred to Alicia Kruiddrlbrink Flatt’s piece that jumps in to modern ideas that back up how young people’s mind’s today have changed a lot. That is good grounds for exploring modern minds. From there I will begin my dive into the change of environment on college campus in the last ten years, relating back to topics that apply to minds of my age. I will then start to speak of privatization has lent a huge hand to the change in environment. I will use the readings given to us in class to explain how privatization has made college about high class or lower class. I will talk about what this does to student emotionally, what happens if they can’t afford, and what happens if they can and how that once again effects the lower class. Armstrong and Hamilton will be huge defenders of this topic, I plan to use every exceprt from them we were given to back my argument up. Once I have laid out the change, possibilities of catalyst, i will use that platform to explain that mental health outlets on campus are not equipped to handle the increase of anxiety on campus. I have found countless articles on this topic, it is my strongest point I have right now mostly because there is the most academic work on it right now. Campuses do not have the resources to handle all of the students coming in for mental counseling. To bring it all together I will point out that fixing the problem meaning hiring more people, which means more funding, which means further privatization.

6. Bibliography:

The State of Mental Health on Growing Campuses: A Growing Crisis." Www.apa.org. Education Government Relations Office, n.d. Web. 14 Feb. 2017. <http://www.apa.org/about/gr/education/news/2011/college-campuses.aspx>.

Becker, Dana. "Chapter Two: Getting and Spending: The Wear and Tear of Modern Life."One Nation under Stress: The Trouble with Stress as an Idea. New York: Oxford UP, 2013. 19-48. Print

            Newfield, Christopher.  “The Price of Privatization.”  The Great Mistake: How We Wrecked Public Universities and How We Can Fix Them.  Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 2016. 18-34.  Print.

            Collinge, Alan Michael. “The Rise of Sallie Mae and the Fall of Consumer Protections.” The Student Loan Scam.  Boston: Beacon Press, 2009. 1-19. Print.

Finkel, E. (2016). TANGLED UP in blue. Community College Journal, 86(5), 38-42. Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/1788738123?accountid=13626

Field, Kelly. "Stretched to Capacity: What Campus Counseling Centers Are Doing to Meet Rising Demand." The Chronicle of Higher Education. N.p., 6 Nov. 2016. Web. <http://www.chronicle.com/>.

Alicia Kruiddrlbrink Flatt, the author of, A Suffering Generation: Six Factors Contributing to the Mental Health Crisis in North American Higher Education

Armstrong, Elizabeth, and Laura Hamilton.  Paying for the Party: How College Maintains Inequality.  Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 2013. Print.