Schools with Sober Living/Recovery Programs OR General Support for Mental Health Issues

Parents Forum
1

Hello -

I’m looking for schools that have sober living options and/or recovery programs. I know this isn’t unheard of, so does anyone have any ideas for me?

I’ve found a few while Googling (Augsburg College in Minnesota for example), but since schools call their programs by different names, it’s hard to pinpoint exact colleges/universities that have this specific option for students. Does anyone know about any of these programs from experience?

To give a little background on me, I’ve struggled with bipolar depression, addiction, and an eating disorder for 10 years. My depression was untreated for about 7 of those years, but I managed to graduate high school with honors anyway. I’ve been in and out of college/universities since my high school graduation. I’ve had long periods of breaks in between semesters AND I’ve medically withdrawn from colleges before, as well as flunked out of my first college altogether. That’s when and why I decided community college would probably be the best bet for me.

Well now community college is ending. I have a great GPA at this school and volunteer experience, but I’m fresh in recovery for my eating disorder as of this summer. Like I literally just got out of 2 months of rehab about a month and 1/2 ago, before I jumped back into school. I’m doing good, but I’m living at home. I’m nervous about going straight into a college environment because I’ve been there before and know how it goes, although I’m more level-headed now. Still a safety net to fall back on, such as a recovery focused program, would probably benefit me. Plus I heard some schools offer Anon meetings on campus? Which schools? Where can I find them???

Info please!!

2

Try looking for “substance free” floors - a lot of colleges call it that. Some have entire substance-free residence halls. However, the main problem is going to be that even if your floor or residence hall is substance-free - the culture at the university might be very much partying with alcohol and perhaps other drugs, and it may be difficult to avoid that.

You may want to poke around and look for colleges where the atmosphere/campus culture is not centered around drinking. A lot of religious universities (like Brigham Young) have that reputation, as well as some smaller liberal arts colleges and commuter campuses.

Where are you located? And what can you afford? That plays a role too.

3

Thanks for the help! I’m from New York, but I’m willing to travel wherever. I’m paying for everything myself, so the cheaper the better, but I’m not opposed to some private school with a big price tag - if they’re as good as they boast.

4

How will you pay for a school with a big price tag? There are federal loan limits.

5

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I’m paying for everything myself, so the cheaper the better, but I’m not opposed to some private school with a big price tag


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Do you have a college fund or huge savings? How would you pay? You can’t borrow much.

6

You may want to look somewhat closer to home. While a supportive environment is good, being far from home can be an additional stress. How old are you and would you go in as a junior after getting an associate’s degree? If so, you might want to look at schools that offer good support for transfer students. Would you live in a dorm? If you are under 25, my understanding is that your parent’s income would still be taken into account for financial aid.

The nationaleastingdisorders dot org has a collegiate survey with a table on the website showing which schools (only those that responded) have resources such as daily meetings. May be a good place to start. Good luck and congratulations on getting to a good place in your life.

7

Are you going to be an older student, meaning over 22-23? Have you considered adult learner programs, either online, on campus, or hybrid? That way you can live at home, off campus, near a school if some classes are on campus or anywhere if entirely online.

The schools that offer adult learner or degree completion programs are numerous and diverse. What area are you studying? In my area, Harvard Extension, Lesley adult learner/degree completion (great for psychology), BU degree completion (diverse classes w/out a focus), UMass Lowell or UMass online/UMass w/out Walls etc. Also schools like Goddard or Union Institute in Vermont, where you can go to class every few months.

You have had a lot of life experience and are probably more mature than many college students who are residential. I would consider alternatives to the on campus residential experience, but you may want to experience it for some reason. If you do, all the colleges I have had contact with, even the small ones (Bennington for instance) have some sort of substance free housing which is often populated by students in recovery. And AA and other self-help groups are available almost everywhere on campus or off.

8

Congratulations on all the progress you have made so far in your education. You are not alone. I would not necessarily stick with small/religious schools, as people in recovery are everywhere, and sometimes bigger communities have more resources. It’s a tricky thing to gather information about, since many recovery programs are based at least a bit on anonymity. At many schools there is a student-run organization that holds meetings. Try searching “student recovery” and “student substance free”. Here are some ideas:

http://www.tennessean.com/story/news/education/2015/04/23/vanderbilt-gives-recovering-addicts-separate-dorm/26207051/

This article spotlights a student who goes to student-led meetings and lives in a dorm that minimizes triggers along with other kids in recovery. (A substance free dorm, while definitely helpful, is not as specific to your needs). Vanderbilt is a research school, and you might contact one of the lead professors of the research (he’s mentioned in the newspaper article) directly for nation-wide information.

Hopefully you have located the Association for Collegiate Recovery Organization. One of its goals is to share research and provide resources for students to successfully start a Collegiate Recovery Program or CRC at their own school. According to the NY Times, there are at least 135 colleges that have a CRP or CRC.

Penn State has Lions in Recovery (student run), and also Alumni Lions in Recovery. For students, staff, etc, there are meetings and substance-free social events.

CU Boulder is a leader in this field. Check out their Collegiate Recovery Center webpage, which also lists several outside organizations (such as one for women who are post-college and working in health fields while in recovery).

Schools that are at the forefront include: UNLV, UT Austin, CU Boulder, Oregon State, Earlham College, Kennesaw State, Augsburg, U of Minn, Rutgers, Texas Tech, U of Michigan. Yup, some of them have a rep as “party schools”.

Make a list of schools you are interested in attending for your major, and then research the recovery programs one by one. Ask yourself whether you are willing to start/run a student organization yourself. You are uniquely qualified and sound like you have a lot to contribute. It’s a bummer what you’ve been through, but I send you my best wishes for a better college experience this time around!

9

I’ve gone to a private college before with a hefty price and had no problem getting grants and loans. I claim myself t too, so I think that plays into it. But thank you everyone that has helped! I do appreciate it :slight_smile: If anyone has anything to add, please do!

10

Zoombi- how much are you paying on the loans you’ve already taken? Posters here don’t want to saddle you with a bunch of options only for you to find out that you can’t borrow enough to go there.

so a realistic picture of:

How much you can pay out of pocket per year (i.e. savings, family help)
How much you are already paying on the loans you have taken- per month, and the loan balance.

Then we can help you focus on some affordable options. You may have taken a medical withdrawal, but the loans you’ve already taken need to get paid back even if you haven’t completed your degree yet…

11

Would you consider the lowish-cost, online Thomas Edison State College?

12

What’s your current federal loan balance?

Claiming yourself has nothing to do with being independent for FAFSA.

Are you under 24?

Have you reached the Pell grant 600% yet? How close are you?

13

Hey sorry, just saw these replies.

I’m almost 26, so I’m an independent on FAFSA. I didn’t word it right up there, but I know I’m an independent because I’m the one with all these loans now. Good times - being an adult - woohoo! Haha.

I didn’t really want to get into this too much, but I guess I will. The loans I took out originally were actually in my dad’s name because I was too young to take them on at the time. They got discharged because he passed away in 2013. Although it’s for a horrible reason, it kind of worked out for me because I withdrew so much, had shaky grades (back in the day), messy loans, etc… and so the silver lining in this story is that at least I don’t have to deal with those loans anymore??? But I mean it doesn’t make up for the fact that I lost my dad. It sucks actually, but I digress.

So when I medically withdrew from some places, the loans got forgiven??? I don’t have to pay them back from what I’ve been told??? I guess financial aid really liked my doctor’s notes or something and I withdrew close enough to the beginning of the semesters that they got forgiven. I owed a little bit out of pocket, but my loans went back to $0. I don’t know, all I know is that I don’t have those loans anymore, I have the paperwork to prove it. With all that said…

I have not reached my Pell Grant 600% yet. I’m not even close to it, thankfully. If I can finish my schooling in 3.5 years, which I’m hoping is possible (I’ve been in school forever, me-oh-my), then I’ll probably reach it.

By the way, I can probably pay about $20,000-$25,000 a year out of pocket. More if I actually worked more hahaha. Like taking off this summer to go to rehab was kind of a bummer, even though it helped me - since I could have been making a lot more money then, especially since rehab is flippin’ expensive and insurances don’t want to pay for crap! However, I got my life together, so that’s what’s important, and I digress again.

I would love it if I could get away with spending like $10,000 a year on college or less (more money for me yay), but if the institution is worth the price… you know what I mean? I don’t want to take on ridiculous loans, but if I were to go to a school like USC, I think the sticker would be worth it because of all the connections, etc. I dunno. I’m not getting into USC though, so no worries there. Haha.

Oh and I’m currently a Human Services major looking to continue to study Human Services or move into a Psychology program of some sort. The irony… No, but actually it isn’t very ironic at all. I switched majors because of all my issues with hopes that I can help others with the same types of issues one day.

TL;DR: I don’t actually have a lot of loans… yet, but if the school is worth a sizable loan, I might consider.

14

Sounds like you really have it together. And, at 26 and independent, should be eligible for sizable financial aid if you income is low enough. I would caution you to not to take on a large loan, even for USC or an equivalent school. Especially in your major. The payments on a large loan will severely limit the job you can take and your ability to support yourself, as well as increase your stress. Obviously, a personal decision, but run the numbers on how much you will need to pay back each month and then look at average salaries in your field. What about grad school? Pretty common for a psych major.

Good luck! I hope you find a great and affordable program.

15

Thanks! @mom2and