Health & Well-Being

Goals

As a leading public institution with a long history of advancing education, research, patient care, and public service, the University of Michigan is uniquely positioned to be a premier health-promoting campus, fostering holistic well-being on both individual and community levels.

Overview

U-M has launched a number of high-level health-promoting efforts in recent years. In 2021, the university joined the U.S. Health Promoting Campuses Network and adopted the Okanagan Charter, which calls on post-secondary schools to embed health into all aspects of campus culture and to lead health promotion action and collaboration locally and globally. The following year, U-M founded the Well-being Collective, a system-wide approach to supporting holistic, comprehensive, and equity-focused well-being across the university.

U-M mobilized recommendations from student mental health work teams, including extending the break between fall and winter terms by an additional week to better support student and faculty well-being and public-health safety. New leadership positions have been created to support community-wide mental health, including a chief mental health officer in Student Life and a chief behavioral strategist in University Human Resources.

Expanding mental health services for students continues to be a focus for the university, including access to free virtual care, wellness coaching programs, and a new addiction medicine clinic through University Health & Counseling. UHC itself is a recent integration of the long-standing medical services and counseling services units on campus, merged together to offer more accessible and streamlined care for students.

Health care and health science research are core aspects of the university’s mission. Michigan Medicine is the academic medical center of the university, consisting of the university’s Medical School as well as University of Michigan Health, the branch of Michigan Medicine focusing on patient care. Through these entities, the university conducts pioneering research and treats some of Michigan’s most complex and critically ill patients.

Human Health & Well-Being is one of five key pillars of the university’s 10-year strategic vision called Look to Michigan. U-M will focus on providing access to state-of-the-art facilities, technologies, and equipment that give community members opportunities to improve their health and support their well-being. In 2023, the university began construction of a new 200,000-square-foot Central Campus Recreation Building to open in 2026. Many other renovations are planned for spaces that support this goal over the coming years.

Clinic & Hospital Visits by County

In 2024, hospitals and clinics affiliated with U-M recorded more than 5 million patient visits across Michigan.

   SOURCE: Michigan Medicine

University of Michigan Health, the patient care arm of Michigan Medicine, provides patient-centered, collaborative medical care at a variety of hospitals, health centers, and outpatient clinics in Michigan. There are 6 hospitals on the Ann Arbor medical campus, and more than 185 community clinic locations across the state.

Hospital Honors & Awards

U-M’s academic medical center hospitals were ranked among the nation’s very best for 2025-26, including being ranked the #1 hospital in Michigan, and among the top 10 hospitals in the nation in three specialties.

13.2 U-M Clinic & Hospital Rankings – USNWR and Newsweek/Statista, 2025

   SOURCE: U.S. News & World Report

   SOURCE: Newsweek.com

U.S. News and World Report evaluates hospitals for its annual Best Hospitals list by analyzing data from over 4,400 hospitals on a range of criteria, including patient experience, outcomes, care-related factors and expert opinions from physician surveys.  *Children’s hospitals are not ranked overall, but rather in 11 specialties for which University of Michigan Health C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital ranks among the nation’s best.

Newsweek and Statista also release World’s Best Hospitals rankings annually. The ranking is based on an extensive evaluation process, including an online survey of thousands of medical experts (doctors, hospital managers and health care professionals), patient experience data, hospital quality metrics, and a PROMs Implementation Survey. Patient-Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) are defined as standardized, validated questionnaires completed by patients to measure their perception of their functional well-being and quality of life.

Health Science R&D, U-M and Peers

The University dedicates substantial resources to advancing the development of life-saving medical treatments.

   SOURCE: National Science Foundation, Higher Education Research and Development Survey

U-M spent about $740 million on research & development in the Health Sciences in FY23, according to the National Science Foundation’s Higher Education Research & Development (HERD) survey.

University research is making breakthroughs in preventing and treating illnesses such as cancer, diabetes, and heart disease. The Rogel Cancer Center earned the National Cancer Institute’s “Comprehensive” designation with strict guidelines for clinical and laboratory research, testing of new therapies, and cancer prevention and control research. The nationally recognized Frankel Cardiovascular Center continually strives to advance discoveries in the field and provide patient care. Recently, a non-invasive technique for destroying tumors called histotripsy was developed at U-M, and as a result of a recent acquisition, the technology will be able to reach patients around the world.

In addition, U-M is conducting clinical studies in the fields of neuroscience, pediatric care, and women’s health. The Michigan Neuroscience Institute drives the development of innovative treatments for conditions such as Alzheimer’s Disease, ALS, depression, and epilepsy. Discoveries to support better maternal outcomes and lower complications for newborns are put into practice at the Von Voigtlander Women’s Hospital.

Health Science Degrees Awarded

Hundreds of students graduate with professional degrees in health sciences each year, helping to address the critical need for health care professionals.

   SOURCE: U-M Student Data Set

445 students earned professional degrees in 2024 in one of the health sciences fields: Doctor of Medicine (MD), Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS), Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD), and Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP).

The DNP program offered by the School of Nursing enrolled its first students in Fall 2011 and the first DNP degrees were awarded at the end of Winter term 2013.

According to the United States Health Resources and Services Administration, Michigan has the sixth-highest count of “Health Professional Shortage Areas” of all US states/territories. HPSAs can be geographic areas, populations, or facilities. These areas have a shortage of primary, dental, or mental health care providers. Growing Michigan’s health professional workforce is essential to meeting the primary care needs of its residents.

Many students who graduate with undergraduate or graduate-level degrees in health science fields enter the workforce directly and fill critical roles in the healthcare system.

   SOURCE: U-M Student Data Set

While many students who earn undergraduate or graduate degrees in health sciences go on to pursue professional-level degrees, the majority go into the healthcare workforce directly. These students take on vital roles across the healthcare system, working as clinical laboratory scientists, public health professionals, healthcare administrators, nutritionists, health educators, epidemiologists, and in numerous other specialized positions that form the backbone of modern healthcare delivery. This direct pathway into the workforce addresses the growing demand for skilled healthcare professionals and allows graduates to make immediate contributions to patient care, health promotion, disease prevention, and healthcare management.

University Health & Counseling Patient Population

University Health & Counseling’s medical services patient population is about three-quarters students and one-quarter faculty, staff, alumni, and others with university affiliations. 34% of all U-M students used UHC medical services in FY2025.

   SOURCE: University Health & Counseling

UHC provides integrated, evidence-based clinical care that is comprehensive, accessible, and public-health informed. The social-ecological perspective informs their work: no single patient is the same and health concerns occur within a broader context that requires a nuanced approach to care. Patients present with a range of factors–where they grew up, what supports are available, their social identities–that can impact diagnosis, treatment planning and joint decision making.

Counseling & Psychological Services Patient Population

Mental health care and outreach is an increasing focus for the university. University Health & Counseling’s Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) has seen an increase in annual total client visits over the last five years.

   SOURCE: University Health & Counseling

CAPS provides quality counseling and psychological services to support the mental health and well-being of U-M students. Services include individual, group, and relationship counseling as well as a wide range of workshops and outreach programs.

Nationally, mental health service use has remained stable over recent years, according to the annual Healthy Minds Study, the nation’s largest student mental health study. The 2024-2025 study, based on responses from more than 84,000 students across 135 colleges and universities, shows that about 37% of students received therapy or counseling in the past year, and 30% took psychiatric medication—rates that have held consistent over the past four years. The study also found that severe depression symptoms dropped to 18%—down from 23% in 2022. Suicidal ideation fell to 11%, down from 15% in 2022.

Impediments to Academic Success

The Spring 2024 National College Health Assessment (NCHA) survey of students demonstrated that U-M students face health-related impediments to academic success at rates similar to the national average.

   SOURCE: National College Health Assessment, Spring 2024

The National College Health Assessment, administered by the American College Health Association in partnership with higher education institutions, assesses a wide range of student health and wellness issues and enhances campus-wide health promotion and prevention services.  The data from the survey administered at the University of Michigan in Spring 2024 demonstrates the importance of accessible health services on campus.  Stress, anxiety, sleep difficulties, and depression are the most common barriers to academic success.

Other notable NCHA findings for U-M students include:

• 73.3% visited a medical provider in the past 12 months
• 40.4% received mental health services in the past 12 months
• For those with any chronic health condition, 37.8% reported a negative impact on academics

Disability Services

The percent of undergraduate students registered with disability services has increased substantially over the past decade for U-M and other AAU institutions. The demand for accommodations for students with disabilities is greater than ever.

   SOURCE: Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS)

Disability service offices provide a way for universities to create an inclusive and equitable educational environment for disabled students. Increased awareness and diagnoses of mental health conditions and attention deficit disorder have driven an increased need to proactively identify and remove access barriers to allow all students an equal opportunity to succeed.

U-M’s Office of Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) offers a diverse range of academic accommodations, innovative resources, and technology to support students academically. While not all students registered with SSD receive individual accommodations, SSD engages in an interactive process to explore academic and housing accommodation needs for every student registered with their office.