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Thanks for this story. Every campus I am aware of throughout the country has a shortage of mental health counselors. Even so, the wait to see a counselor is usually shorter on campus than in the "outside world." I have a child at another campus that allows double the amount of sessions that DePaul allows, but the school's base tuition is $20,000 more than DePaul's. Loyola's base tuition is a about $9,000 more than DePaul's and Northwestern's is a whopping $22.000 more than DePaul's. It is hard for administrators to balance tuition costs with demand for services.

Short term treatment is standard on campuses. Administrators don't feel they have the expertise to take on longer term care, even ignoring the high cost of providing these services. But it sounds like there is a lot DePaul could do to improve that wouldn't cost much money, especially eliminating the need for returning patients to fill out the paperwork again.

I tell anyone and everyone who may be interested to consider going into mental health care as a social worker, psychologist, or psychiatrist. There is an extreme shortage of providers, and this situation will not markedly improve until there are more providers, whether they be on campus or in private practice.

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