Five RADical Hope partners named to Princeton Review’s 2026 Mental Health Services Honor Roll
Five of the 30 colleges and universities named to The Princeton Review’s 2026 Mental Health Services Honor Roll are partners of RADical Hope, including Arizona State University, Mercer University, New York University, Pace University and the University of North Dakota.
The Princeton Review specifically acknowledged RADical Health as a contributing element of Mercer, NYU and Pace’s mental health services and placement on the honor roll.
The Princeton Review Mental Health Services Honor Roll was developed for the benefit of students looking for, heading to, or currently enrolled in colleges; that they might see the types of services provided.
This distinction provides a look at 30 institutions who have shown a strong commitment to their student’s mental health and wellbeing. Broadly, these schools display:
- Overall administrative support for campus mental health and wellbeing through its policies including commitments to staffing and student support.
- Students have a campus quality of life that is both healthy and attentive to overall wellbeing.
- How well a school is empowering its students to address their own mental health through education programs and peer-to-peer offerings.
Read more about each university’s mental health initiatives:
Mercer University
There’s a broad framework of support at Mercer University, ranging from clinical services at the Counseling & Psychological Services (CAPS) office to holistic wellness tools for use in residences and classes and a fully trained cohort of Peer Advisors to help “advocate for healthy behavior.” In recent years, the school has even developed mental health projects in conjunction with students for those outside the school, such as a telehealth initiative designed to support farmers, which won a 2023 American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC) grant. “We are committed to serving our students’ physical, mental, and emotional health and wellness.”
Mental Health Services
Should the need arise, all students at Mercer University are encouraged to call Counseling and Psychological Services to make a free appointment. (Crisis resources are available outside of business hours.) The initial session, with a fully licensed counselor, will help to determine an appropriate action plan, whether that’s for one-on-one counseling (usually weekly), group services, or a referral. There are also a limited number of daily Same Day Solution Sessions, available in-person and online, for those who need urgent attention. The therapists are trained to cover a wide range of concerns, from sports performance issues and socialization problems to abuse/assaut and depressive disorders.
The Counseling Center also proactively reaches out to both students and parents during orientation to destigmatize services and provides, per the school, “a variety of trainings, presentations, and opportunities” for students and faculty to learn more about mental health. It additionally offers training to organizations, such as the Peer Advisors and Minority Mentors, in the interests of connecting with specific student needs.
Their overall goal is to provide “opportunities for healthy emotional and social development,” and in fact, one of the earliest interactions all students will have with CAPS is through a four-week program that, in conjunction with the national program RADical Health, is “built into the class curriculum to empower and equip students with tools to stay well and stay resilient.”
Wellness Quality of Life
Mercer students will also encounter CAPS on the campus, through outdoor events like Fresh Check Day, which educates about mental health and suicide prevention in an interactive and engaging way; stress-relieving activities like “coloring on the lawn”; and awareness-raising giveaways, like the Safe Spring Break bags. Other initiatives include weekly Wellness Wednesday activities, and CAPS has sought to find students in novel ways, as with one “experiential engagement event” that involved improv.
Other campus facilities also help to raise awareness. For one, Resident Assistants provide in-person health and safety checks in each dorm, along with providing bulletin board postings and programs on wellness topics throughout the year. In addition, a relatively new “outdoor functional fitness area” that’s part of the Recreational Sports and Wellness department yields new fitness programs and resources for those who relax and reduce stress through physical activities. The overall goals are to foster community connection as a foundation for wellness.
Peer-to-Peer Resources
Students “who wish to advocate for health behavior” can intern for the AWARE Peer Health Educator program, learning peer-counseling techniques directly from CAPS, helping to reach those with “problems that may not rise to the level of requiring professional counseling.”
Mercer University and RADical Hope’s partnership dates back to Fall 2023. The RADical Health program is offered to first-year university students.
New York University
As well as offering academic excellence, New York University provides students with high-quality wellness and mental-health services at all stages of a student’s potential need.
Mental Health and Wellness Services
NYU’s Counseling Services and Wellness Exchange serves as the hub for NYU students seeking mental health help and support. CWS offers free and immediate counseling in both individual and group settings, both in-person and online. This is further bolstered by a Wellness Exchange app that ensures there’s always a person on the other end to talk to, whether that’s by phone hotline, chat, scheduled same-day Urgent Counseling sessions, or email. Access is also available to psychiatric care and recovery programs, with referrals available as needed for off-campus services. The school states that students are able to see a mental health counselor within 24 hours.
NYU doesn’t just support students in the midst of or after stressful events; it also provides services designed to pre-empt them by improving general mental well-being and addressing stressors from dating to eating to identity.
Here are just some of the services offered:
- MindfulNYU is a setting for those who want to practice yoga and/or meditation in groups. Calming Corner is a repository of MP3s, stress relief tips, and poses for students who prefer to work privately and at their own pace.
- Podcasts on healthy relationships and social media feeds that offer “practice health and wellbeing resources through vibrant, award-winning designs.”
- Virtual Wellness Workshops on everything from “ADHD Coaching: Intro to Executive Functioning Skills” to the self-image of “The EVERYbody Project.”
Peer-to-Peer Resources
Students can opt into SMS-driven “Texts to Inspire” for the “resilience and connection” that comes from their peers, or they can step into Listening Labs, in which they can formally work on their sharing and listening skills, seeking connection as opposed to judgment. There is also RADical Health, a four-session, peer-facilitated in-person program that focuses on “Strengthening Emotional Intelligence,” “Principles and Priorities,” “Building Resilience,” and “Creating Positive Outcomes for Yourself & Others.” One student notes that the RADical Health program was “so helpful I took it twice.”
Though students generally need to take the initiative in requesting help, mental-health programming (which is in some cases required) is hard to miss and is baked into all aspects of student life, from the residential to the social to the academic. As NYU puts it, their communication is “holistic and dynamic,” and their network encourages peers to constantly support one another.
New York University was RADical Hope’s first partner and host of RADical Health’s pilot program in Fall 2020. Since then, the integration of RADical Health into NYU student life has grown to include multiple academic courses, career services and the wellness center. In Spring 2026, NYU will continue to expand the RADical Health impact with the launch of the program within its athletics department.
Pace University
Pace University is proud to be one of the first fifteen schools to adopt the Okanagan Charter, which the Center for Wellbeing has done to symbolize their “prioritization of health and wellness” and indicate a need to “embed health into all aspects of campus culture.” The school reports new programming to help curb loneliness, and also points to the Lubin School of Business’s new Center for Leadership and Emotional Intelligence, which offers a free six-session program that helps students learn how “to manage emotions so they no longer control your outlook and behavior.”
Mental Health Services
The Pace University Counseling Center provides students with free in-person and virtual services across several major areas:
- Alcohol and Drugs: In accordance with the school’s commitment to maintaining a healthy and safe environment, the school helps to assess, assist, and ultimately support recovering students, providing both outreach services to raise awareness (like an interactive board game that demonstrates the harm-reduction approach) and consultation for interventions and other assistance.
- Individual Counseling: Pace’s licensed counselors can “discuss any personal or emotional difficulties in complete confidentiality” and note that some of the most common topics they discuss involve family/relationships, anxiety, and depression.
- Group Counseling: As the school puts it, a group setting allows you to “try out new behaviors” in a safe space, and notes four active groups already established to (1) build social strength, (2) reduce emotional suffering, (3) manage stress, and (4) understand oneself and others.
The school’s goals are to help students “more fully direct their energies toward fulfillment of their academic, professional, and personal goals,” and for those who need longer-term care, medical monitoring, psychological assessments, and other documentation, there’s an “extensive” referral list for “high quality and affordable” care. (The school’s health plan covers mental health care, but notes that co-pays depend on whether students select in-network coverage.)
Students are also invited to spend time in the “Zen Den,” an on-site relaxation room in which students can “take a break from the demands of their busy day and calm their mind by engaging in one of many different rejuvenating activities.”
Wellness Quality of Life
The Counseling Center is always ready to collaborate with anyone on campus who is working to “promote the personal, social, and intellectual development of students.” This sort of outreach program includes trainings such as “Dealing with a Student in Crisis,” and all students receive an “Introduction to Counseling Center Services” and training in their introductory coursework. This has also led to a series of social media campaigns on mental health topics, with some of the most frequently requested topics including “Building Self-Esteem” and “Assertiveness.”
Those at Pace University are also asked to take certain trainings, like MindWise’s SOS for Higher Ed, which teaches students the ACT (Acknowledge, Care, Tell) framework in the hopes of recognizing and compassionately acting on the signs of suicide risk: this course is notably available to both students and faculty. There’s also a health program offered through the RADical Hope Foundation that covers “stress management, self-care, resilience, active listening, and engagement.”
Peer-to-Peer Resources
One particularly engaging initiative at Pace is the awarding of badges for the completion of various forms of personal development or education. In this fashion, students can become Wellness Ambassadors, moving from modules and volunteer hours to a point where they are able to independently help their peers “live healthier, happier, more successful lives through the eight dimensions of wellness.” Students can also find more specific peer support groups for those against sexual assault, or seeking interpersonal wellness.
Since its partnership began in Fall 2021, Pace University has integrated RADical Health into multiple facets of university life. Students are introduced to RADical Health as first-years and stay connected to the program’s teachings through Pace’s integration of RADical Health at multiple touchpoints including through wellness, athletics and honors and international communities.
Arizona State University
Arizona State University seeks to remove any obstacles in its students’ way by providing free, round-the-clock mental health support.
Mental Health Services
Per ASU, “Same day availability is our commitment to students; you will always have a clinician available to speak to when you need us.” Per the school, the campus clinical staff “includes psychologists, counselors, social workers, marriage and family therapists, and substance abuse professionals.” Counselors receive specialized training in suicide prevention, alcohol abuse prevention, domestic abuse prevention, and grief counseling.
Depending on the need, students have two different 24/7 responders:
Open Call and Open Chat, which provides text, call, video, or in-person options with counselors dedicated to ASU.
EMPACT Crisis Line, which, while intended for crisis support, has “highly qualified, helpful professionals” on call for general “guidance on how to handle a concern.”
All counselors are trained to assess and respond to any immediate health risks, arrange for follow-up or long-term support, and share resources with students in need. Students have access to “brief individual therapy,” where they work with a counselor toward a specific goal. Some opt for group therapy. “Groups are led by master and doctorate level clinicians and trainees who possess a vast range of skills, expertise, and experience.” Further, ASU’s online mental health resources are easily accessible, offering students a variety of ways to get started and organizing content by demographics as well as issues of concern.
Wellness Quality of Life
Wellness at ASU is centered around four pillars: physical health, mental health, educational development, and community engagement. In addition to formal counseling services, ASU students have access to mental health, physical health, fitness, and domestic violence prevention resources. The ASU wellness website houses instructional and informational videos as well as articles on topics including body image, grief, stress management, and depression. Students also have the option to enroll in credit-earning courses on stress management and critical incident stress management. Access to applications such as Headspace and Calm provide meditation instruction as well as relaxation and sleep tools.
The campus hosts a number of mental health-specific events throughout the year, including a fundraiser for additional support through the Out of the Darkness campus walk that partners with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
Peer-to-Peer Resources
The marquee peer-to-peer resource at ASU is Devils 4 Devils. Their meetings facilitate “open, supportive discussions about mental health,” and “[help students] gain valuable coping strategies and connect with a community that fosters understanding and resilience.” Students who participate as Devils-4-Devils ambassadors conduct outreach on campus through tabling and facilitating on-campus trainings. Committee members also host Community Circles, which provide students an environment where they can “come together to describe their experiences with learning, relationships, changes and challenges and receive suggestions and support from other students.” Students also produce a podcast, Inside ASU, that seeks to help students transition from having their parents taking care of them to taking responsibility for their own health.
University of North Dakota
After an initial assessment, the University of North Dakota works to find the right-fit treatment for students in need of adjusting, grieving, or dealing with any mental health and wellness needs.
Mental Health Services
As per UND, a typical student attends “one or more of our unlimited Group Counseling and Workshop programs, [utilizes] the Online Self-Help Programming,…and typically [meets] with an Individual Counselor every 3–4 weeks.” Where necessary, the University Counseling Center (UCC) is available to help connect students with convenient, local community resources. During office hours, the licensed, on-campus staff is at the ready to serve students, whether that’s for an emergency crisis or general counseling for individuals, groups, or couples. Campus clinicians are well-versed in treating mood disorders and experienced with communities that have specialized needs, like LGBTQIA+ and veterans.
The UND Health Portal makes it relatively simple to schedule weekday appointments, either in person or via tele-health in 43 states. Outside of office hours, students can access FirstLink, the confidential community resource that offers support, referrals, and crisis intervention 24 hours a day. The UCC also offers psychological evaluations for ADHD, learning concerns, and personality patterns.
Wellness Quality of Life
UND is constantly promoting its wellness offerings through its social media channels and encourages all students, especially those already in counseling, to try some of its workshops and programming. The Wellness Center hosts a variety of resources, many of which can be easily accessed and enrolled in via the UND Wellness app, like:
- Calm and Insight provide two different formats for meaningful meditation
- Daylio introduces easy-to-use self-assessment tools for emotional wellness
- Mindshift suggests therapeutic techniques for managing anxiety
- Across video and text, students can: watch live sessions and recordings of guided exercise workouts and mindfulness practices, listen to podcasts like “Workplace Stress,” find recipes and resources on cooking and nutrition
In addition, students can practice effective techniques to reduce stress and anxiety in “Managing Stress” workshops, find community in facilitated discussion groups on topics like ADHD or gender, and read the bi-monthly newsletter “The Toilet Talk,” published by The Wellness & Health Promotion department to “educate the UND community about important health-related topics.”
Peer-to-Peer Resources
Green Bandanas are students who have taken a four-hour suicide prevention training under licensed providers so that they can share information and resources with peers in need of help. Their green bandanas serve as a reminder to students that they can reach out for support when needed. Aerospace students and graduates help each other stay the course with Uplift, the university-endorsed peer support program that is administered through the Centre for Aviation Psychology. International students and members of the military can lean on each other with the Bridge program and MAPS (Military Affiliated Peer Support). Students, as well as faculty and staff, can also take Emotional First Aid training, which empowers trainees to recognize signs of mental health crises and implement effective responses that support their communities.