Today, during Mental Health Awareness Month, Lieutenant Governor Tahesha Way and Secretary of Higher Education Brian K. Bridges, Ph.D., announced New Jersey college students will have free, 24/7/365 access to teletherapy, crisis connection and wellness programming through the remainder of the Murphy Administration.
Launched one year ago, the state’s first-in-the-nation partnership with mental health and wellness platform, Uwill, currently serves students at 45 eligible institutions of higher education in New Jersey who opted into the partnership.
As of April, over 10,000 students have registered on Uwill’s digital platform and have scheduled nearly 32,000 sessions with the diverse network of licensed and qualified mental health providers available. The impact data OSHE collected through student and institution staff feedback surveys, in addition to utilization data, reflect the positive impact and success of the partnership in strengthening well-being among New Jersey college students and filling previously unmet mental health needs:
- We are reaching college students who had not previously accessed support: 61% of students registered on the platform indicated that they had not previously made an appointment with a therapist or mental health counselor at their institution.
- We are reaching students when on-campus services cannot: 79% of institution staff agreed the partnership has enabled them to provide or enhance mental health support to students after hours, when they would otherwise be unavailable. Utilization data further illustrates this with roughly 33% of the appointments made through the Uwill platform occurring during ‘off-peak’ hours—on the weekends and before 9:00 am and after 5:00 pm on weekdays.
- We are seeing early indications of improving outcomes: 59% of institution staff agreed this increased access to mental health services is likely to further retention and graduation rates (only 3.4% disagreed).
The announcement today means currently enrolled students, students enrolling to start college in New Jersey this fall, and those who plan to enroll with the Class of 2028 will all benefit from this free support until April 2026.
Will there be an emphasis on removing anti Semitic ideologies? How about helping students figure out their genders? And finally, can they please help students learn to use their brains?
Thank you to all the Askonim involved.