Colleges step up battle against student suicide.

Publication: South Florida Sun-Sentinel (via Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service)

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COPYRIGHT 2005 South Florida Sun-Sentinal

Byline: Jennifer Peltz

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. _ In the minds of many Americans, college students are having the time of their lives. So how come Congress is starting to channel money to psychological counseling on college campuses?

Colleges across the state and country say more students _ and more troubled ones _ are seeking help. Student surveys show rising reports of depression and other psychological problems. And some high-profile campus suicides, and related lawsuits, have caught academia's attention.

In Tallahassee, Florida State University is straining to keep up with a demand for counseling that rose more than 22 percent between the 2003 and 2004 academic years. At Lynn University, a small private school in Boca Raton, Fla., counselors' appointment logs spiked at least 35 percent during the 2003 academic year alone.

And the heat isn't on only at colleges with large numbers of students in their teens and early 20s living on campus. Nova Southeastern University, an institution known for far-flung and online classes, opened a full-time, $600,000-a-year counseling center last year at its home base in Davie, Fla.

Melissa Noya has seen firsthand the tensions that can build to a breaking point on college campuses, and not only because...

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