UCLA

Colleges and universities are confronting a growing student wellbeing crisis, marked by rising mental health concerns alongside financial stress, sedentary lifestyles, and uncertainty about the future. Although many students report experiencing these challenges, even fewer seek the support they may need. In response, institutions have expanded counseling and related services; however, these resources remain underutilized among first-generation, low-income, and students of color, signaling persistent inequities in access. This gap between student need and support points to deeper challenges in how wellbeing is defined, measured, and cultivated on college campuses. This study employs a convergent mixed-methods design to address this gap. The quantitative strand focuses on advancing a multidimensional, student-centered measure of holistic wellbeing through the development and validation of the How Are You (HAY) Survey, assessing 40 items across eight interrelated dimensions: physical, psychological, spiritual, intellectual, financial, occupational, sociocultural, and environmental wellbeing. Survey data from 251 undergraduate students were analyzed using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses with ordinal indicators. Results supported a robust eight-factor structure with strong reliability, good model fit, and measurement invariance across gender, race/ethnicity, and first-generation status. Group difference analyses revealed significant disparities in wellbeing across first-generation status, household income, sexual orientation, and disability/health condition status, while regression analyses demonstrated that several dimensions of wellbeing predicted academic performance, belonging, persistence, and campus satisfaction. The qualitative strand examines curriculum-based approaches to cultivating wellbeing through analyses of reflection journals and semi-structured interviews from a yoga-based, credit-bearing seminar, which attracted a diverse student population, particularly low-income and students of color. Students described wellbeing as dynamic, relational, and shaped by academic demands, with yoga, breathwork, meditation, and journaling providing practical, contemplative tools they applied beyond the classroom to manage stress, relationships, and uncertainty. The course also fostered awareness and personal transformation, with students engaging more intentionally with their thoughts, emotions, and broader college experiences. Overall, this study provides empirical support for a valid, multidimensional measure of holistic wellbeing, alongside qualitative insights into how students navigate wellbeing in college. These findings underscore the urgency of addressing student wellbeing more proactively and suggest that curricular approaches hold promise as scalable and equitable strategies for narrowing the gap between student need and support.