Here are some of the best questions for a community college student survey about mental health and counseling services, plus tips to create them. You can build or generate a survey instantly with Specific’s AI—just create yours here and start collecting insights in seconds.
The best open-ended questions for community college student surveys about mental health and counseling services
Open-ended questions help us unlock real stories and emotions behind the stats—they invite nuance, making it easier for students to share what really matters. These questions are best when we want depth, new ideas, or feedback in students’ own words. Considering that more than 50% of community college students meet criteria for mental health issues but fewer than 5% use on-campus counseling services, we need to dig deeper to understand the why behind the numbers [1] [2].
What is the biggest challenge you face regarding your mental health in college?
Can you share your experience accessing mental health resources at our college?
What would make you feel more comfortable seeking counseling or support?
Describe your ideal mental health support system on campus.
If you’ve used counseling services, how did they meet or fall short of your needs?
What stops you or your peers from using mental health resources on campus?
Are there specific types of support or programs you wish were offered?
How has your financial situation impacted your mental well-being or ability to seek help?
Can you suggest ways our college could better support students’ mental health?
Share any other thoughts or experiences about mental health at our college.
The best single-select multiple-choice questions for community college student surveys about mental health and counseling services
We use single-select multiple-choice questions when we want clear, quantifiable data or to get the conversation started—sometimes it’s easier for students to select an option before following up for details. These formats help us spot patterns or direct deeper questions. For community college students, where 41% report unmet mental health needs and financial stress is a top barrier, structured questions quickly highlight what’s happening at scale [3] [1].
Question: Have you ever used the college’s counseling or mental health support services?
Yes, regularly
Yes, a few times
No, never
Question: What is the main reason you have not used counseling services?
I don’t know about them
Cost concerns
Stigma or embarrassment
Scheduling conflicts
Other
Question: How would you rate your current level of stress related to finances?
Severe
Moderate
Mild
None
When to follow up with "why?" It’s smart to use a follow-up “why?” when you want richer insight—like if a student selects “I don’t know about them,” ask, “What would help you become more aware of these services?” Follow-ups help us understand context that’s missing from a simple choice, turning shallow answers into actionable feedback.
When and why to add the "Other" choice? The “Other” option is crucial when it’s possible you haven’t imagined every scenario—sometimes students have unique reasons or barriers you never considered. Adding a follow-up when “Other” is chosen helps uncover new themes you can address.
NPS-style question for mental health and counseling services surveys
NPS (Net Promoter Score) is powerful here, too. It asks community college students how likely they are to recommend on-campus mental health or counseling services to a friend. Even if usage is low, NPS can reveal if those who do try support feel confident to share that resource. For schools, this helps monitor trust and satisfaction in ways that can drive meaningful improvements in support programs. Want to use an NPS question? Generate a NPS survey for community college students automatically—no effort needed.
The power of follow-up questions
Great survey design isn’t just about the first question—it’s about follow-ups that clarify and expand. If you’re curious about how to add smart follow-up questions automatically, check out our feature breakdown: automatic AI follow-up questions.
Student: “I didn’t go to counseling because I was too busy.”
AI follow-up: “Can you share what kind of appointment times would work better for your schedule?”
If we skip the follow-up, we only know the student is “busy." With one deeper question, we learn how to tailor services, communicate, or schedule better.
How many followups to ask? Generally, two or three follow-up questions are enough to get depth without tiring respondents. With Specific, you can set limits—letting the AI move to the next topic when you’ve collected actionable information. This means progress is smooth, but quality stays high.
This makes it a conversational survey: Instead of a static form, every question is a conversation—students feel heard, and the feedback flows naturally. That conversational energy boosts completion rates and the honesty of answers.
AI survey response analysis is easy: Even if you collect lots of open answers, modern tools like our AI survey response analysis make the results digestible. Just chat with the AI about your results, spot patterns instantly, and never feel buried by unstructured data.
Automated followups are a fresh concept in survey design. Give it a try—generate a survey for your campus now and see the difference conversation makes.
Prompts for ChatGPT: composing great community college student survey questions about mental health and counseling
You can always “hack” great questions by starting with a simple prompt to ChatGPT or any AI assistant. Here’s a foundation:
Start broad and let the AI iterate. Example prompt:
Suggest 10 open-ended questions for community college student survey about mental health and counseling services.
But for best results, give the AI as much context as possible (about you, your college, your goal, known challenges, etc.). For example:
Suggest 10 open-ended questions for a community college student mental health survey. Our campus serves mostly working adults, with lots of commuters, and many students face financial stress. Goal: Identify unmet needs and find ways to boost service awareness.
Once you get initial questions, ask ChatGPT to help organize them:
Look at the questions and categorize them. Output categories with the questions under them.
If you identify specific themes, pick those you want to explore further and ask for more:
Generate 10 questions for categories “barriers to use” and “service awareness.”
This is how you can quickly move from generic lists to questions tailored for your actual community.
What is a conversational survey?
A conversational survey is an interactive, chat-like interview—not a cold online form. Powered by AI, these surveys feel natural, asking follow-ups and adapting to responses. That’s how you get more genuine feedback, higher completion rates, and deeper insight into complex topics like mental health. At Specific, we guide you through this with smart defaults and a user-friendly experience (explore this in our guide to creating a survey).
Here’s a quick comparison:
Manual Survey Creation | AI Survey Generator (Specific) |
|---|---|
Write each question by hand, edit and review repeatedly | Describe your goal, AI generates tailored questions instantly |
Respondent answers static forms, little opportunity for nuance | AI asks conversational follow-ups, capturing richer context |
Manual analysis—sifting through unstructured answers is slow | Results are summarized automatically, and analysis can be chat-driven |
Why use AI for community college student surveys? AI-powered survey generators like Specific make it easy for anyone—educators, researchers, student organizations—to design surveys focused on real problems, adapt to responses, and synthesize feedback quickly. You get powerful follow-ups, smart categorization, and clear analysis—all in one workflow, all designed for busy real-world environments.
Terms like “AI survey example,” “conversational survey,” and “AI survey generator” aren’t just buzzwords—they define a new, richer feedback experience. And we’re committed to delivering the best-in-class user experience for both creators and respondents, ensuring every answer (and every insight) really counts.
See this mental health and counseling services survey example now
Your feedback process could start within minutes and feel engaging for everyone involved. Create your AI-powered conversational survey and turn every student’s experience into actionable insight.