Case Study: Boston University shifts campus culture and boosts student well-being with Headspace

Headspace helps Boston University shift campus culture and prioritize well-being among its academically driven student body

Boston University, a large private research university of over 37,000 students, faced rising mental-health demand and needed to shift campus culture to prioritize well-being across a diverse, academically driven student body. To meet that challenge, the university made Headspace available to the entire student population (free through a donor gift), giving students access to Headspace’s library of 3,000+ meditations, mindfulness exercises, sleep content, and focus tools.

The Student Wellbeing team partnered with Headspace to integrate the app into orientation, workshops, syllabi, sleep kits, pop-up events and semester courses, and worked with Headspace’s Member Growth Team to create student-focused messaging and a back-to-school campaign. Those efforts have driven steady enrollment growth, sparked broader campus dialogue about well-being, and delivered strong engagement — 91% of BU students who join Headspace return for more content after their first use — with the campaign now reusable for other higher-education partners.

Boston University

Carrie Landa

Executive Director