MENTAL HEALTH

XPERIENCE

Build a solution that improves student mental health on college campuses.

15

MONTHS

7

APPROACHES

North America

UNIVERSITY WIDE

Up to $250K

IN INVESTMENT

The silent struggle

The transition to college marks a period of significant personal and academic growth, yet for many students, it also brings unprecedented mental health challenges. The pressures of demanding coursework, new social environments, and financial burdens can create a perfect storm for the onset or exacerbation of mental health conditions.

77

%

77% of college students report that mental or emotional difficulties negatively impacted their academic performance.

11.9

M

11.9 million college students in the U.S. meet the criteria for at least one mental health condition.

<

15

%

Fewer than 15% of college students with mental health conditions seek help from campus resources.

Choose an approach

Build a scalable solution to improve student mental health and engagement, centered around one of these seven high-impact entry approaches.

Music

Use audio guide experiences and soundscapes, music based resources, or short audio or video content.

Food & nutrition

Use beverages/snacks to boost melatonin, nutrition trackers, vitamin supplements, etc.

Circadian rhythm

Use Oura rings to track body metrics and engineer a sleep solution.

Peer support

Utilize platforms for moderated group discussions, or buddy systems.

Clinical resources

Create an app linking students to telehealth therapy, crisis hotlines, or campus counseling.

Community building

Create a service which promotes social connection (e.g., virtual clubs, laughter, yoga, art therapy)

Preventative wellness

Create mindfulness apps, gamified stress-reduction tools, or AI chatbots for self-care.

Success metrics

Solutions will be evaluated on the following success metrics to ensure investment-grade scalability and market viability.

SUSTAINED STUDENT ENGAGEMENT
STRONG ADOPTION AMONG PEER PLATFORMS
Seamless connection to campus care
PROVEN IMPACT ON MENTAL HEALTH
Register your team

Build a solution that improves student mental health on college campuses.

Eligibility for
mental health xperience
  • Sophomore standing or above (graduating by Spring 2028) or graduate student
  • Recent alumni (graduated from eligible institution before May 2024)
  • Team size of 3-6 members
  • Teams must collectively represent at least 3 disciplines by Finals
The institution, across our leadership, faculty, and students, wants to move forward with a healthier, more thriving environment. There are so many people here that want to help and contribute. I think we're moving in a great direction. This program is just one example of the willingness to move forward as a campus community and work toward a healthier place.
Warren Kelley
Senior Associate Vice President for Well-Being
University of Maryland, College Park
Mental health of students is not just one issue, you have to think about it at all levels. Micro, macro, culture, politics, and the individual experience. Access alone isn’t enough. Engagement matters, students need to feel connected, supported, and understood.
Chetan Joshi, Ph.D.
Director Of Counseling Center
University of Maryland

Our partners

Powered by precision: ÅŒURA

ÅŒURA has partnered with xFoundry to provide Mental Health Xperience teams the opportunity to earn free Oura Rings for collecting clinical-grade sleep and circadian rhythm data, enabling solutions grounded in real biological feedback.

Partner with us

Join us in driving real change and shaping the future of mental health care.

Powered by Intel

Intel has partnered with xFoundry to equip our Mental Health Xperience teams with the compute they need to build custom AI models. Top performing teams will gain access to this cutting-edge physical hardware and cloud computing for prototyping, training, and deployment.

Partner with us

Join us in driving real change and shaping the future of mental health care.

Experts and innovators at NASA

NASA, one of xFoundry's key partners, has committed to support our Mental Health Xperience teams with mentorship, guidance, and even future collaboration opportunities with winning teams to adapt solutions to long-term space missions to support the mental wellness of astronauts.

Partner with us

Join us in driving real change and shaping the future of mental health care.
The mental health landscape has changed since the pandemic in ways that we don't fully understand yet. That's why we have to bring the students together to think about the solutions in real time.
Susan Rivera, Ph.D.
Dean, College of Behavioral and Social Sciences at University of Maryland
University students are going to be able to create companies that potentially save thousands of lives and save billions of health care dollars through the Xperience Competition.
Martha Wang, Ph.D.
Assistant Director at Robert E. Fischell Institute for Biomedical Devices
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