Jacob Mayer

College students are under immense stress with one study finding that 87% of college students experience either moderate or high stress (Pierceall & Keim, 2007). In a meta analysis of 40 qualitative college student stress studies, the themes of relationship stressors and academics were among the most common stressors. As shown by Deng (2022), academic and family stress not only negatively impacted students’ mental health, but also had harmful effects on academic performance. In all, these data show the importance of investigating the most prevalent stressors experienced by college students to provide institutions up to date information on student stressors to provide more effective resources and promote student wellbeing. Thus, the aim of this study is to further explore which stressor themes are most prevalent among college students. To do this, a questionnaire was released to students (N = 297) at a large Midwestern university. Participants were primarily Women (74%), White (51.3%), and Heterosxual (62.5%). Participants were asked to reflect on the past two weeks and describe which stressors they experienced and what coping strategies they used in response. Following data collection, researchers coded these responses inductively using content analysis as outlined by Neuendorf (2018), into 11 discrete categories. We found that academic stress, occupational stress, finances, interpersonal conflict, loneliness, mental health, physical health, parenting responsibilities, weather, politics, and unforeseen events were amongst the most common themes. These results help to inform institutions of needed areas of student support and where resources should be allocated to aid in student success. Investing in greater academic support resources, increased availability for free therapy sessions, and community engagement events are all potential systems by which institutions can help reduce student stressors and promote student success.