Introduction: Mental health remains a critical subject affecting students\u27 academic performance among college students (Wyatt et al., 2017). The incidence and severity of mental health issues are increasing among college students, and such issues pose a threat to health and academic performance. Previous research focused on college students\u27 specific status, for instance, freshman year, and how mental health influences their academic performance (Chemers et al., 2001). There is scanty research that explains how certain variables provide understanding regarding outcomes that impact mental health among college students. These outcomes remain underexplored regarding influencing students\u27 educational performances and experience (Pachucki et al., 2015). Purpose: The primary purpose of the study is to examine determinants of mental health and their related academic impact on East Tennessee State University Students (ETSU) college students as a whole with emphasis on gender, domestic, and international students. Subjects and Methods: The subject of the study is mainly ETSU college students comprising both full-time and online students. Secondary data is the main data source for this study and unit of analysis. Responses from 2,354 ETSU college students about mental health and academics from the State of the University Survey 2022 were examined on questions related to self-reported depression symptoms. These include how often the person has experienced anxiety, troubled sleeping, feeling hopeless, dejected, and loneliness using a chi-square test. Results: A chi-square test of significance was run to determine differences in 5 different dimensions of self-reported mental health. Variations in mental health outcomes were found by classification of college students by gender status. There was a significant difference between males and females regarding mental health outcomes as reported by gender status, X^2 (3, N = 2354) = 25.51, p \u3c 0.05. Results indicate that generally speaking, women report poorer mental health outcomes more frequently than their male counterparts. Conclusions and Recommendations: Findings indicate one\u27s mental health status is very critical to promoting academic performance and strategies to prevent mental health issues or negative academic effects, which have implications on students\u27 academic experience and programs. The findings are essential to inform policies and recommend suggestions to improve students\u27 mental health outcomes and academic excellence among college students
