In order to help young people combat the growing mental health crisis, Yale University is now offering a variation of its most popular online course to more than 500 low-income high school students across the US at no cost.
Yale psychology professor Laurie Santos created the online course — called “The Science of Well Being” — in 2018.
It was introduced the same year as her in-person version of the course, “Psychology and the Good Life,” which attracted more than 1,200 undergraduates, or about one in four students on campus, in its first semester, according to a statement released by Yale.
Santos, who lived among students as the head of Yale’s Silliman College, said the idea for the course came to her after she saw firsthand the growing levels of depression and anxiety her students were experiencing.
Blank Foundation — will “present students with scientifically validated strategies for living a more satisfying life and examine what psychological science shows about how to be happier, how to feel less stressed, and how to flourish more,” according to the university.
The first half of the course offers students insights from psychology and neuroscience about what drives happiness.
The online course being offered to high school students — which Yale did not release a name for — will be slightly modified from the original.
In addition to receiving access to the full course, students will also be supported by both a local teacher at their high school and a Yale Teaching Fellow.
