Title: 
Headings: 
Suicidal
 
Thoughts
 
and
 
Attempts
 

Suicide
 
Deaths
 

Risk
 
Factors
 

Behavioral
 
Health
 
Issues/Disorders
 

Individual
 
Characteristics
  

Adverse/Stressful
 
Life
 
Circumstances
  

Family
 
Characteristics
  

School
 
and
 
Community
 
Factors
  

Protective
 
Factors
 

Individual
 
Characteristics
 
and
 
Behaviors
  

Social
 
Support
  

School
 
and
 
Community
 
Factors
 

For
 
More
 
Information
 

Endnotes
 

May
 
2014

www.sprc.org
 
*
 
info@sprc.org*
 
877-GET-SPRC
 
(438-7772)
 


Content: Suicide
 
is
 
a
 
leading
 
cause
 
of
 
death
 
among
 
college
 
and
 
university
 
students
 
in
 
the
 
United
 
States.1,2
 
In
 
addition,
 
many
 
other
 
college
 
and
 
university
 
students
 
have
 
suicidal
 
thoughts
 
and
 
attempt
 
suicide. Suicide
 
and
 
suicidal
 
behaviors
 
are
 
a
 
major
 
concern
 
for
 
colleges
 
and
 
universities,
 
and
 
efforts
 
are
 
underway
 
to
 
introduce
 
suicide
 
prevention
 
programming
 
on
 
many
 
college
 
and
 
university
 
campuses. This
 
information
 
sheet
 
summarizes
 
the
 
data
 
available
 
on
 
suicidal
 
thoughts,
 
attempts,
 
and
 
deaths,
 
and
 
describes
 
risk
 
and
 
protective
 
factors
 
that
 
are
 
common
 
among
 
college
 
and
 
university
 
students. Since
 
there
 
are
 
no
 
national
 
databases
 
or
 
registries,
 
and
 
no
 
single
 
study
 
compiling
 
and
 
analyzing
 
suicide
 
deaths,
 
attempts,
 
and/or
 
thoughts
 
among
 
college
 
and
 
university
 
students,
 
the
 
data
 
presented
 
here
 
are
 
from
 
sources
 
that
 
have
 
been
 
selected
 
as
 
the
 
most
 
comprehensive
 
and
 
up
 
to
 
date. Suicidal
 
Thoughts
 
and
 
Attempts
 
The
 
following
 
chart
 
shows
 
rates
 
of
 
suicidal
 
thoughts
 
and
 
attempts
 
among
 
young
 
adults
 
in
 
the
 
past
 
12
 
months
 
for
 
the
 
year
 
2012.* Undergrads
 
only3,
 
4,
 
5
 

Undergrads
 
+
 
grads
 
combined6,
 
7,
 
8
 

Not
 
enrolled
 
in
 
college
 
full-time,
 
ages
 
18–229**
 

Seriously
 
considered
 
suicide
 

6.6%–7.5%
 

7.1%–7.7%
 

9.0%
 

Made
 
a
plan
 

2.2%–2.3%

2.3%
 

3.1%
 

Attempted
 
suicide
 

1.1%–1.2%
 

0.6%–1.2%
 

2.2%
 

*A
 
range
 
of
 
rates
 
means
 
two
 
sources
 
were
 
included. A
 
single
 
rate
 
means
 
only
 
one
 
of
 
the
 
sources
 
had
 
that
 
data. **
 
Matched
 
by
 
age,
 
sex,
 
and
 
race
 
Suicide
 
Deaths
 
The
 
following
 
chart
 
draws
 
on
 
three
 
studies
 
of
 
college
 
and
 
university
 
students
 
and
 
compares
 
their
 
suicide
 
rates
 
to
 
those
 
of
 
the
 
general
 
population,
 
matched
 
by
 
age,
 
sex,
 
and
 
race. All
 
numbers
 
are
 
per
 
100,000
 
people. Study
 

Dates
 
studied
 

Students
 
(undergrads
 
and
 
grads)
 

Students
 
(undergrads
 
and
 
grads)
 

Students
 
(undergrads
 
and
 
grads)
 

General
 
population
 

General
 
population
 

General
 
population
 

Study
 

Dates
 
studied
 

Total
 

Males
 

Females
 

Total
 

Males
 

Females
 

Big
 
Ten
 
Student
 
Suicide
 
Study10
  

1980–1990
 

7.5
 

10.0
 

4.5
 

15.0
 

23.7
 

6.4
 

Schwartz11
 

1991–2004
 

6.6
 

N/A
 

N/A
 

12.6
 

N/A
 

N/A
 

Schwartz12
  

2004–2009
 

7.0
 

10.9
 

3.1
 

12.1
 

20.5
 

3.7
 

In
 
all
 
three
 
studies,
 
college
 
and
 
university
 
students
 
had
 
about
 
half
 
the
 
rate
 
of
 
suicide
 
per
 
100,000
 
people
 
compared
 
to
 
a
 
matched
 
sample
 
in
 
the
 
general
 
population.