SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Calm.com, one of the world’s leading companies in the meditation space, announced today that it has launched the first platform in the US geared towards improving the mental health of college students through mindfulness. Calm College will kick-off this semester in seven pilot schools, gradually expanding across the country, and eventually internationally, as well.
In recent years, mental health has become a growing concern, especially for students at the collegiate level. Approximately 95% of college counseling centers say that student psychological problems are on the rise, while half of college freshman today rate their own mental half as poor. And for the first time ever, depression and anxiety are now recognized as the top impediments to student academic performance.
Sadly, while the mental health of the country’s student population is at an all-time low, there is also a severe lack of resources available to combat this rising issue. In fact, the average student to counseling staff ratio is 1600:1, with most counselors working overtime — usually without compensation. And even if there are counseling resources for them, many do not seek them out due to time, cost, stigma, or other factors.
However, mindfulness & meditation have been scientifically proven to improve anxiety and depression in people of all ages, and with Calm being easily accessible to users via an app and web-platform, students will be able to avoid reasons that have previously kept them from seeking other methods of mental help.
So far, over 100 colleges are currently involved in the onboarding process to participate in Calm College, with seven schools leading the initial launch this Fall semester. (Harvard, Princeton, Northwestern, Cornell, Johns Hopkins, University of Pennsylvania, NYU). Students, faculty, and staff at Calm College partner schools will have free access to all features of the app, as well as the new “College Collection,” a brand new series of mindfulness programs focusing on how to practically apply mindfulness into the college lifestyle. This new series will include 8 original guided meditation programs, which will help students learn to manage test anxiety, stay focused in class, and find more peaceful night’s sleep, among others.
Co-CEO/co-founder Alex Tew said, “As someone who personally used meditation to cope with stress in college, I’m particularly excited to enable a new generation of college students with the power to find calm during a difficult life period through mindfulness.” Calm College is also collaborating with national collegiate mental health organizations such as Active Minds and The JED Foundation to make Calm affordable and accessible to students around the country. For those not affiliated with our partners, a Calm Student Discount is available.
ABOUT CALM.COM
Calm.com, Inc. is a leader in the meditation space with over 12 million downloads to date and an average of 25,000 new users daily. Founded in 2012 by British entrepreneurs Michael Acton Smith OBE and Alex Tew, Calm has a mission to make the world healthier and happier through the superpower of calm, and eventually become the “Nike for the mind”. In December 2016, Calm launched “Sleep Stories”, the first bedtime tales for adults, that have since been listened to over 22 million times. In March 2015, Calm launched a book with Penguin by the same name, which quickly became a best-seller in the UK and received rave reviews in the US the following year. It has since been translated and sold in over a dozen countries, including China, Taiwan, Germany, France, and Spain. In July, 2017, Calm released “Sleep Mist”, an all-natural aromatherapy sleep spray that pairs with the Sleep Stories to mix scent and storytelling for a totally unique sleep solution.
