The number of AACC students who see on-campus counselors rose by 10% over the last year after a 71% bump the year before,  according to one of the college’s counselors.

Melissa Boling, one of AACC’s three personal counselors, said the rise in students who use on-campus counseling has steadily increased since the beginning of the pandemic.

“I mean, I think that [the pandemic] certainly contributes, but I also think that it’s just kind of a general trend,” Boling said. “I think just with all of the different stressors and stuff and pressures on college students. I think, like, at AACC, I know a lot of students are balancing many different things.”

Between 2021 and 2022 at the height of the pandemic, demand for campus counseling rose by 22%, according to Diane Hallila, one of AACC’s personal counselors. From 2022 to 2023, the counselors saw 71% more students. And since March 2023, counseling services has grown by another 10%.

Nationally, the number of students who sought counseling grew from 30% to 37% between 2020 and 2023, according to the Healthy Minds Study, an annual survey of college students.

 Boling said with students back on campus, they are able to access resources easier. Boling added that AACC students face stressors that contribute to the rise of students in therapy.

“So whether [they’re] trying to take all their classes, some students might be working,” Boling said. “There’s just a lot going on. But then I think too … it’s becoming less and less stigmatized, I think, to reach out for support.”

Mason Hood, a media production student who uses AACC’s counseling services, said more students are becoming aware of the resources on campus.

“I found out about it …  through a professor of mine a year or two ago when I was taking classes, and then only decided to utilize it last spring,” Hood said. “I think people are maybe becoming more aware of them. … Our culture has become a lot more mental health sensitive.” 

Christopher Robinson, a second-year transfer studies student, said he has friends who have used the counseling services on campus.

“I’ve heard more of my friends be using the resources on campus,” Robinson said. “And I think it’s a great way of, like, giving students who don’t traditionally get therapy on their own … at least some type of, like,  therapy or counseling.”