Yale University recently announced changes to its mental health policies in an effort to better support students in crisis.
The Ivy-League institution will now allow students struggling with mental health problems to take a leave of absence and return to the university when they are ready, The Washington Post reports.
Students will not lose access to their health insurance during their time off and will be allowed to remain on campus.
The move comes in response to a November story by the Post that featured interviews with several current and former students who said they were pressured by officials to withdraw while they were experiencing mental health crises.
The article led to students and alumni filing a class-action lawsuit in December that alleged the university discriminated against students with mental illness. Instead of monetary damages, the lawsuit sought mental health policy changes at Yale.
The new policies were introduced a day before the university was scheduled to enter settlement talks with the plaintiffs.
Pericles Lewis, dean of the College of Yale, told the Post the institution intended “to make clear to students their first priority in dealing with mental health problems should be mental health. And obviously we want people to be able to continue their education.”
