The ratio of students to counselors at NYU is approximately 1:1000. Is this average, high, or low for a school?
Like mental health counselors? That's a good question and I can't find anything which covers the average ratio of mental health counselors available at a school to students. NYU is pretty big, I would imagine they have more counselors than other schools but in terms of a ratio I'm not sure.
Are you wondering because you're concerned how easy it will be to get access to one while at school? I would hope most schools are sufficiently prepared and ready to meet the needs of their students. You also have to remember that most students will probably not use a counselor and others may only use them very infrequently. So while a ratio of 1:1000 might seem bad at first, a large portion of those students probably aren't actively seeking out a counselor. You might want to consider looking up the types of counseling services available at the schools you are interested in rather than the ratio of counselors to students. Keeping with your NYU example they offer a variety of services (https://www.nyu.edu/students/health-and-wellness/services/counseling-services/counseling.html) including 24/7 counseling which doesn't require an appointment. So just knowing you can get help right away when needed and the other options available to you might be reassuring.
To keep this community safe and supportive:
@ShaquilleOatmeal I know that 9k students used mental health services at NYU this year, and that most schools are actually under-prepared to handle mental health, due to both covid and increasing mental health numbers in the last few years even before the pandemic.