Abstract
The purpose of this Dissertation in Practice (DIP) is to explore the counseling needs of students at three Nigerian colleges and universities while understanding the factors that contribute to those needs. Arguably, the study is significant because mental health problems have been recognized as factors that interfere with student academic engagement and success. Moreover, it is imperative for Nigerian college and university leaders to understand these factors in order to develop proper strategies to address the counseling needs of students. To achieve the above objectives, three Nigerian public colleges and universities were selected for this multiple case studies. Three focus groups of students, six faculty members, and three administrators participated in semi-structured interviews which help answer the research questions. Other sources of data included documents and interview notes that were used to achieve a full description. The recorded interviews were transcribed and analyzed using Nvivo. Several key themes emerged describing the common mental health challenges experienced by Nigerian college and university students and factors contributing to them. These themes and findings led to the development of a model for Nigerian college and university leaders for the training of competent mental health counselors in Nigeria.|Keywords: Mental health, counseling, Nigerian colleges, and universities.