A study conducted by Preply reveals the most and least stressed-out college towns in the country, along with other revealing statistics about college student stress-levels.
The methodology for the study involved analyzing thousands of tweets from the latter half of 2022.
“To get a sense of how college students are feeling, we looked at the place they express themselves most: social media, specifically Twitter. We reviewed tweets from students in 150 cities that were posted during the first three months of the fall semester (Aug. 1 to Oct. 1), analyzing them with a machine learning stress measurement tool, TensiStrength,” the study said. “Then, we narrowed down the list of cities to the ones with one or more prominent universities and where the total student body, both graduate and undergraduate, makes up 30% or more of the total city population.”
The study revealed that Berkeley (No. 1, home to the University of California – Berkeley) was the most stressed-out college town in the country.
“Berkeley, California, home to University of California at Berkeley, is the #1 most stressed-out college town with more than 42% of tweets containing language with signs of stress,” the study states.
The researchers hypothesized that this may be partially due to the cost of living in Berkeley.
“According to the Real College Survey of 2021, 3 in 5 students experienced basic needs insecurity, feeling stress over food and housing, making the towns they live in an added stressor to their college experience,” the study said. “This may partly explain why Berkeley, California is our #1 most stressed-out college town. Berkeley’s cost of living is 82% higher than the national average, and accessing basic needs certainly can put a strain on students.”
However, not every college town in their top 10 had a high cost of living. For example, Iowa City, Iowa (No. 3, home to the University of Iowa) was ranked No. 3 despite only being 7% higher than the national average in terms of cost of living.
Cambridge, Massachusetts (No. 2, home to Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology), College Park, Maryland (No. 4, home to the University of Maryland – College Park) and East Lansing, Michigan (No. 5, home to Michigan State University) were also included in the top 5. For the top 5, the percentage of stress related tweets collected were between 30.4% and 34.5%.
West Lafayette, Indiana (No. 1, home to Purdue University) was the least stressed-out town in the country, with only 15% of stressed-out related tweets collected.
“The top challenges students faced were academics (52%) and finances (41%)… 75% of college students expressed moderate to serious psychological distress, [and] 80% reported moderate to high-stress levels in the past 30 days,” Melissa Stephenson, A Media Relations Associate, said in an email.
“Most of the more relaxed college towns are located in the Midwest. Purdue University in West Lafayette, IN is the #1 least stressed college town, with only 14.95% of stressed-out tweets coming from that area,” the study said.
Lawrence, Kansas (No, 2, home to the University of Kansas), Normal, Illinois (No. 3, home to Illinois State University), Starkville, Mississippi (No. 4, home to Mississippi State University) and Bozeman, Montana (No. 5, home to Montana State University) were also included in the top 5. For the top 5, the percentage of stress related tweets collected were between 18.3% and 21.4%.
Amherst, Massachusetts (No. 8, home to the University of Massachusetts – Amherst, Amherst College and Hampshire College) was ranked at No. 8 of least stressed-out college towns with 22.3% of stress related tweets collected.
Finally, there were some other key takeaways from the study according to Melissa Stephenson of North Star Inbound.
“The top challenges students faced were academics (52%) and finances (41%)… 75% of college students expressed moderate to serious psychological distress, [and] 80% reported moderate to high-stress levels in the past 30 days,” Stephenson said in an email.
Stephenson also pointed out that according to one study, more than 25% of college students identified as being at risk of stress-related suicidal incidents or mental health conditions. Racial/ethnic, sexual and gender minorities were at an even higher risk.
The University of Connecticut offers free stress management services for all students and faculty. For more information, you can visit http://bewelluconn.com.
UConn also offers free and confidential mental health support 24/7, every day of the year. You may call 833-308-3040 at any time. Student Health and Wellness is also available for free mental health screenings and counseling, which can be scheduled over the phone or via the appointment portal online.
If you are experiencing a serious and immediate life-threatening crisis, such as thoughts of suicide do not wait to reach out. You can call or text 911 or the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988.
