If none of these gets you anywhere, 988 is free and answered around the clock, and your county line reaches a team near you whatever college you are at.

Triage is free to every registered student; after that it depends on your insurance. With UC SHIP the sessions that follow are pre-paid; without UC SHIP it is $30 a session, so say which plan you are on when you ring and ask what the rest will cost. Cancel more than 24 hours ahead — a missed or late-cancelled appointment is $20. On how much you get, UCLA publishes two answers: “four sessions for all registered and eligible UCLA students… and four additional sessions (eight sessions total) for those with UCSHIP”, and an FAQ saying the number “will be determined by clinical necessity”. Ask at the first appointment which applies to you. Alumni and Extension students are not eligible, and summer cover follows your spring status. See section 06.

Ring 310-825-0768 at any hour, and there is nothing to press. The number is 310-825-0768, published as “Main line, available 24 hours/day”, and the FAQ confirms “counselors available to UCLA students 24 hours per day”. One number, day or night, and no menu to navigate while you are upset. Who answers is described only as “counselors” and “a CAPS clinician”, so it is worth asking in the first minute whether you are speaking to a counsellor. If the line does not get you what you need, 988 is free and answered around the clock. If you need a hospital, UCLA names the emergency department at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, 310-825-2111.

Outside California, UCLA will refer you rather than see you. The rule is published on two pages: students out of state or out of the country “are eligible only for clinical coordination and referral to a provider in their local area based on student insurance plans”. No teletherapy service is named, so there is nothing to book from another state. Ring 310-825-0768 before you travel and ask what that referral will look like where you are going, rather than finding out in the week you need an appointment. Section 02 lists help that is open to you wherever you are sitting, and 988 works from any phone.

UCLA has a Collegiate Recovery Program, with a recovery lounge in SAC B44B. You would be far from the only one using it — the Bruin Resource Center publishes that 670 students are currently in recovery. The one thing the website will not give you is a timetable: no meeting day or time is published on any ucla.edu page, because the programme posts them to its Instagram and its Linktree instead. So message the programme there, or walk into the lounge in SAC B44B and ask what meets this week. Asking is a small thing, and it is all that stands between you and the room. CAPS does not list alcohol or drug treatment among its services, so the lounge is the door. Section 02 has meetings off campus.

If you get someone emergency help, you are not disciplined for what was used. The Student Conduct Code says a student who receives emergency medical assistance for alcohol or a controlled substance “shall not be subject to disciplinary action… for personal use violations”. It covers drink and drugs. The conditions are published: once per academic term, personal-use violations only, and completing “an appropriate rehabilitation or intervention program” afterwards. Housing rules add a parallel once-a-term amnesty. The encouragement covers seeking help “for themselves or others”, while the protective sentence is written for the person who receives the help, so a caller’s cover is implied rather than spelled out. Call anyway — a conduct policy is not the criminal law, and California’s Good Samaritan statute protects the caller.

You can get Narcan free at any hour, without speaking to anybody. UCLA publishes it plainly: “Narcan is now available for free, 24/7, in outdoor vending machines” at five locations — the Ashe Center entrance, Pauley Pavilion entrance, Ackerman Union, Haines Hall and the Neuroscience Building. It is “Free to both students and faculty/staff with an active BruinCard, and all vending transactions are completely anonymous”. A short training video comes with the transaction rather than standing in your way, and there are thirty distribution sites in all, with fentanyl test strips. Work out which machine is nearest to you now, so you are not searching for one on the night. Section 05 has the routes off campus too.

Getting started: 310-825-0768 is one number for a crisis at 2am and for a daytime appointment, so it is the one to save. Everybody starts with triage, which is free whatever your insurance, and that first conversation is where to ask how many sessions you will get and what they will cost. For recovery you do not need to book anything — the lounge is SAC B44B, and the vending machines take a BruinCard.

• The recovery lounge is SAC B44B. Meeting times go to the programme’s Instagram and Linktree rather than its website, so message either or ask in the lounge.
• Free Narcan, anonymously and at any hour, from outdoor vending machines at the Ashe Center entrance, Pauley Pavilion entrance, Ackerman Union, Haines Hall and the Neuroscience Building, with an active BruinCard.
• Money to plan for: $30 a session without UC SHIP and $20 for a missed or late-cancelled appointment on a 24-hour window.
• Amnesty is once per academic term and conditional on completing a rehabilitation or intervention programme afterwards.

If none of these gets you anywhere, 988 is free and answered around the clock, and your county line reaches a team near you whatever college you are at.

Free, whatever insurance you have or do not have. Berkeley states it without qualification — “no charge”, “regardless of insurance plan” — for all students, with no threshold to meet and nothing to check before you ring. No charge for a missed or late-cancelled appointment is published either, though it is worth ringing to cancel so somebody else can have the slot. How much you get is described rather than counted, “short-term” and “as needed”, so ask at the first appointment what that means for you. On cost this is the simplest offer of the six UC campuses. If you are referred to a therapist off campus, section 06 covers paying for that.

Type 855-817-5667 into your phone rather than tapping it on the page. It is the 24/7 counselling number and it works — but the link behind that text on two Berkeley crisis pages dials 510-642-9494, the Monday-to-Friday 8-to-5 appointment line, so tapping it at 2am reaches a closed office. Save 855-817-5667 now, while things are calm. The same pages print a second after-hours number one digit different, (855) 817-8667, with no explanation of which is which, so use the one above. Who answers is not published, so ask in the first minute whether you are speaking to a counsellor. If neither line gets you what you need, 988 is free and answered day and night.

Outside California you can still be seen, through Uwill, free, anywhere in the world. Berkeley publishes both halves of this, which almost nobody does. The rule: “students need to be physically located in California to access virtual counseling services”, because “California clinicians are limited to practicing telemental health with clients who are physically in California”. The replacement is Uwill, free, and available “no matter where you are located in the world”. One thing to know before you rely on it: Uwill is scheduled teletherapy and not a crisis line, so in a crisis use the number above, or 988. Section 02 has more that is open to you wherever you are.

There is a recovery meeting you can turn up to — ring first to check which schedule is running. Substance use sits with University Health Services Social Services, and Berkeley publishes two timetables for the same thing: one gives Tuesdays 4:30–5:30pm, Thursdays 7–8pm and Saturdays 10–11am at 2610 Channing Way, the other Mondays and Fridays at 102 Sproul Hall. Both are live, so ring 510-642-9494 and ask which meets this week. A first meeting is a hard enough door without arriving at an empty room. There is an online alcohol module if you would rather start on your own, and Crisis Support Services of Alameda County is named — section 02 explains which county number to use.

Call for help: Berkeley protects both of you, and it tells you the law does too. The Responsible Bystander Policy, effective August 2016, covers alcohol and drugs and protects both the caller and the person helped, with repeat use triggering a conduct review. Berkeley is one of only two institutions here to name California’s Good Samaritan statute by section: “California has a 911 Good Samaritan Law (California Health and Safety Code Section 11376.5)”. That citation sits on a fentanyl page rather than on the policy itself, so you would not meet it while reading the policy — but it is there, and it protects the person who rings whatever the conduct process decides afterwards. Section 03 sets out what it covers.

Free naloxone from Sproul Hall 102, the University Health Services pharmacy and a harm-reduction table — a kit is two doses. All three are staffed counters with a form and a confirmation, so plan it into a weekday: the wellness vending machine in Eshleman Hall lists naloxone as “coming soon”, which means there is no route to a kit on campus at 3am. Training is published two ways — an undated PDF asks for a “15-minute training and a quiz”, the web page does not mention training at all — so allow for being asked to do it. If you would rather have a kit of your own without any of that, section 05 sets out the routes off campus.

Getting started: daytime appointments and questions go through University Health Services on 510-642-9494, weekdays 8am to 5pm. The number to keep for nights is 855-817-5667, typed in by hand rather than tapped. Counselling is free with no insurance test and the model is short-term, so ask at the first appointment what that means for you. Naloxone is collected from Sproul Hall 102 in office hours.

• Save the night number by typing it: the printed 855-817-5667 is right, and the link behind it on Berkeley’s crisis pages dials 510-642-9494, the weekday appointment line.
• If you land on the CAPS page, ignore the national number on it — it prints “National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (800) 273- 8255 (TALK)”, which is retired. Dial 988; Berkeley’s suicide-prevention page publishes it correctly.
• Recovery meetings are published two ways — Tuesdays 4:30–5:30pm, Thursdays 7–8pm and Saturdays 10–11am at 2610 Channing Way, or Mondays and Fridays at 102 Sproul Hall. Ring before you go.
• Naloxone is a two-dose kit from Sproul Hall 102, the UHS pharmacy or a harm-reduction table, in office hours. The Eshleman Hall machine does not stock it yet.

If none of these gets you anywhere, 988 is free and answered around the clock, and your county line reaches a team near you whatever college you are at.

Free, once your registration fees are paid. UCSD puts it that way: services are “FREE of charge to currently enrolled students who have paid their registration fees”. So if you are on a payment plan or your fees are held up, ring and ask where you stand before the first appointment rather than assuming either way. A missed appointment is $20, on a 24-hour window, so cancel as soon as you know. No session cap is published at all — not a number, not even a description — which makes it worth asking at the first appointment how many sessions you are being offered. Psychiatry needs an existing primary care relationship first. Section 06 covers paying for care off campus.

Save both numbers, and try 858-249-0030 first — press option 2. 858-249-0030 is the CAPS crisis line on most UCSD pages. If it does not get you a counsellor, 858-534-3755 is the number the CAPS services index and the Graduate Division publish for the same thing, also option 2, though the Graduate Division page gives no press step at all. Two numbers is one more than anybody wants at 2am, which is exactly why both belong in your phone now rather than later. Who answers is not published, so ask in the first minute whether you are speaking to a counsellor. 988 is free and answered around the clock if neither line works.

Outside California, UCSD cannot give you ongoing clinical care. The rule is published plainly: “CAPS and Student Health Services are able to provide ongoing CLINICAL services to individuals located in California only”. What stays open to you is explicitly non-clinical — Let’s Talk consultations, workshops, a wellbeing app, community connections and external directories. Those are worth having and none of them is therapy, so if you are studying from another state, line something up where you are sitting before you need it. Section 02 lists help open to you wherever you are, and 988 is free from any phone.

UCSD runs three named programmes for drink and drugs, and you can ask for them by name. Health Promotion Services publishes BASICS, CASICS and SBIRT — brief, one to one, and more than most campuses offer. No price is published for any of the three, so ask what it costs when you book. For meetings, the page titled “Recovery Meetings & Calendar” lists no meeting in its text, so ask Health Promotion Services, on the third floor of the Triton Health and Wellness Building, what is running this term rather than turning up and hoping. The San Diego Access & Crisis Line is named for help beyond campus, and section 02 has more.

Call for help and neither of you is disciplined for it. UCSD publishes a Medical Amnesty Program, last updated March 2021, covering alcohol and drugs and protecting both the person who calls and the person who needed help. The one limit is clear and worth knowing in advance: it may not be used twice in a calendar year. The statute is not named in it, which changes nothing about what protects you — the conduct process and the criminal law are separate things, and California’s Good Samaritan statute covers the person who rings regardless of what a campus has written. If you are deciding right now, dial, and stay with your friend.

Free naloxone from Health Promotion Services, third floor of the Triton Health and Wellness Building. Two things stand between you and a kit: it is a staffed desk in office hours, and there is training first — an informational video and a knowledge check before pick-up. Over the summer it moves to appointment only. There is no vending machine, so there is no route at 3am; pick a kit up in the daytime and keep it where you will be at night. Note that UCSD’s page is titled “Naloxone Distribution Project” but is not the California programme of that name. For a kit without the training or the desk hours, section 05 sets out what is available off campus.

Getting started: counselling is free once your fees are paid, and no session cap is published, so ask at the first appointment how many sessions you are being offered. Psychiatry needs an existing primary care relationship, so raise that early if you want it. For BASICS, CASICS, SBIRT or naloxone, the door is Health Promotion Services on the third floor of the Triton Health and Wellness Building, and one visit covers both errands. Do not use the page called “Contact CAPS” to find a number — it carries only the university switchboard.

• Both crisis numbers in one place: 858-249-0030 and 858-534-3755, option 2 on each. Most pages give the first; the CAPS services index and the Graduate Division give the second.
• Amnesty may not be used twice in a calendar year, and covers the caller as well as the person who needed help.
• Money to plan for: fees paid is the eligibility test, and a missed appointment is $20 on a 24-hour window.
• Health Promotion Services, third floor, Triton Health and Wellness Building is the door for BASICS, CASICS, SBIRT and naloxone. It moves to appointment only over the summer.

If none of these gets you anywhere, 988 is free and answered around the clock, and your county line reaches a team near you whatever college you are at.

Free to every registered student — “No Charge”, in UC Davis’s own words. There is no insurance test and no further threshold, so being registered is enough. The charge to plan around is a missed appointment, which is $27.99, and the cancellation window is not published, so cancel as early as you can rather than guessing how late is too late. How much you get is described rather than counted — “brief” and “short-term” — so ask at the first appointment what that means for you and what happens if you need more than that. If you are referred off campus, section 06 covers paying for it.

Ring 530-752-0871 at any hour, and listen through the prompts. UC Davis publishes 530-752-0871 and tells you to “follow the after hours prompts” to reach “a trained counselor” — but it does not publish which option to press, so do not hang up on the menu. Listen to the end and take the counselling option. If the menu defeats you, 988 is free and answered around the clock, and Yolo County’s crisis line and Suicide Prevention Yolo County are both named on UC Davis pages. Daytime appointments are a different number, 530-752-3299. Ask in the first minute whether you are speaking to a counsellor.

Nothing is published about being seen from outside California, so ring and ask before you travel. No rule, no exception and no teletherapy service is named anywhere on the counselling pages, which means the website will not settle the question for you. Ring 530-752-3299 and ask whether they can see you where you will be sitting, before you count on an appointment rather than after. The only online tool published is a referral directory, which finds you a therapist rather than providing one. Section 02 lists help that is open to you wherever you are, and 988 works from any phone.

This is the fullest offer for drink and drugs on this page, and the price is published: free. ATOD Intervention Services runs BASICS as 90-minute sessions at “No charge”, and a “50 minute Alcohol and other drug (AOD) assessment”, also “No charge”. If you would rather sit with other people than talk one to one, three meetings are published with a day, a time and a room: Mondays 12–1pm in South Hall Room 26, Wednesdays 6–7pm and Sundays 7–8pm in the Cowell Building lobby. You can simply turn up to any of them, and knowing the room number in advance makes the first one easier.

Call for help: the Aggies Act protects you and the person you called about. It covers alcohol and drugs explicitly, and it names the caller as well as the person who receives the help, which is clearer than most policies here. The limit is once in a two-year timeframe — and the policy adds, in the same sentence, “(this is currently being amended)” without saying what it is being amended to. If you want to know where it stands, ask the Dean of Students in a calm week. None of it should slow down a call: a conduct policy is not the criminal law, and California’s Good Samaritan statute protects the person who rings regardless.

Free naloxone at four places with genuinely long hours. The Activities and Recreation Center, a library study room, the Memorial Union and the Student Community Center — buildings open from 5am to midnight or around the clock — plus resource-centre desks and pantries. Training is encouraged here, not required, which is rare: an 11-minute CDPH video and a 3-minute evaluation if you want them, and no need to explain why you want a kit. One thing not to rely on: the wellness vending machine in the ARC study lounge does not stock naloxone, so use one of the four desks. Section 05 has the routes off campus.

Getting started: daytime appointments go through Student Health and Counseling Services on 530-752-3299, and the after-hours number is 530-752-0871. For anything to do with drink or drugs, ask for ATOD Intervention Services — BASICS and the 50-minute assessment are both free and neither needs a referral. Cancel as early as you can if you cannot attend, because the no-show charge is $27.99 and the window is not published.

• Three meetings you can turn up to: Mondays 12–1pm, South Hall Room 26, Wednesdays 6–7pm and Sundays 7–8pm, both in the Cowell Building lobby.
• BASICS runs as 90-minute sessions and the alcohol and other drug assessment takes 50 minutes. Both are published at “No charge”.
• Naloxone desks with long opening hours: the Activities and Recreation Center, a library study room, the Memorial Union and the Student Community Center. The ARC vending machine does not stock it.
• The after-hours line has a menu and UC Davis does not publish which option is counselling, so listen to the whole menu rather than pressing early.

If none of these gets you anywhere, 988 is free and answered around the clock, and your county line reaches a team near you whatever college you are at.

Free to enrolled students who have paid registration fees. UCI funds counselling from Student Services Fees, so nothing is billed to you and no insurance is needed. No no-show charge is published for counselling, though the health centre says a fee exists without publishing the amount — so ask what it is when you book, and cancel early either way. How much you get is described rather than counted, “short term, time limited”, with one useful exception: health-centre psychiatry publishes “no time limit to treatment”. Over the summer, eligibility depends on “enrollment status and service demands”, so check before term ends. Section 06 covers paying for care off campus.

Two ways in, and one of them skips the menu altogether. Ring 949-824-6457 and press option 2, or ring 866-817-9842, the direct after-hours line, which needs no menu at all. Both are published as “Available 24 Hours a Day, 7 Days a Week”, so save the second if you would rather not navigate anything at 2am. Who answers is not published, so ask in the first minute whether you are speaking to a counsellor. One name on the same page is not for you: TELUS Health is the staff assistance programme, not the student service. If neither line helps, 988 is free day and night.

Out of state, UCI gives you lists rather than appointments. The rule is published: “the Counseling Center is only able to provide services to individuals located in California”. What is offered in its place is directories — a therapist search, an international list and an overseas befriending service — plus insurance cover outside California, which is worth checking with your plan before you go. No funded teletherapy service is named. So if you are studying from another state, use that cover and section 02 to arrange something where you are sitting, and keep 988, which works from any phone.

There is a meeting you can simply turn up to: Anteater Recovery, Fridays 1–2pm, G319 Student Center. No email first and no referral — the room number is published, which makes a first visit easier. If a group is more than you want to start with, UCI runs a “30–60 minute one-on-one educational appointment” and publishes online self-assessments you can do on your own; no price is published, so ask when you book. There is no formal assessment service and no county behavioural health agency is named on UCI’s pages, so section 02 is where to look for treatment beyond campus.

UCI publishes no medical amnesty policy — and the law still protects you, so make the call. What its housing pages say instead is that there should be “no impediments to reporting incidents”, which is a sentiment rather than a promise, so there is nothing you can read in advance about what happens afterwards. What does not depend on that: college discipline is a separate thing from the criminal law, and California’s Good Samaritan statute protects the person who calls for help whatever their campus has or has not published. Ring 911, stay with your friend, and read section 03 when things are calm.

Free naloxone from G319 Student Center, once you have done the training. The training is either a 15-minute online module or a 30-minute in-person session; you then get a confirmation email and collect the kit from a staffed counter, so plan it into office hours. There is no vending machine, so there is no route at 3am. Worth knowing if all you have seen is UCI’s annual message to students: it says the campus “provides Naloxone training and has Fentanyl Test Strips” without mentioning that free kits exist — they do. If you would rather skip the training, section 05 has the routes off campus.

Getting started: counselling is free to enrolled students who have paid registration fees, and day or night it is the same number, 949-824-6457, with option 2 out of hours. G319 Student Center is the room to know: the Friday recovery meeting is there and so is naloxone collection. Ask about the health centre no-show fee when you book, because the amount is not published anywhere.

• G319 Student Center does two jobs: Anteater Recovery meets there Fridays 1–2pm, and it is where naloxone is collected after training.
• Two after-hours routes, so you always have a second one: 949-824-6457, option 2, or the direct line 866-817-9842, which has no menu.
• Health-centre psychiatry publishes “no time limit to treatment”, which is unusual and worth asking about if short-term counselling is not enough.
• TELUS Health, named on the same page as your own services, is the staff assistance programme rather than one you can use.

If none of these gets you anywhere, 988 is free and answered around the clock, and your county line reaches a team near you whatever college you are at.

Free to every registered student, with no payment and no insurance involved. UCR says it plainly: “FREE to ALL registered students; no payment or insurance required”, graduate and undergraduate alike, with no further test to meet. The one charge is $20 for a missed appointment, billed to your student account on a 24-hour window, so cancel as soon as you know and somebody else gets the slot. How much you get is described rather than counted, a “short-term therapy model”, so ask at the first appointment what that means and what happens after it. For care beyond campus, section 06 covers paying for it.

Ring 951-827-5531 and press option 1 — not option 2. Option 1 is the 24-hour therapist; option 2 is the front desk, which is shut at night. Under pressure, “2 for counselling” is the natural guess and it is the wrong one, so put the number and the digit into your phone together: 951-827-5531, option 1, published as available “24 hours daily”. UCR is the only UC campus here that publishes who answers — “mental health therapists” — and the only one with a campus mobile crisis team, SWIFT, on 951-827-4357. If neither gets you what you need, 988 is free and answered around the clock.

Nothing is published about being seen from outside California, so ring before you travel. There is no rule on UCR’s pages about where you may be sitting, and the only remote option offered is a telehealth product whose page quotes “As of Fall 2019” pricing and was last updated in December 2020, so check what it actually costs now before you rely on it. Ring 951-827-5531 in office hours and ask what they can offer you where you will be. Section 02 lists help that is open to you wherever you are, and 988 works from any phone in any state.

Three meetings a week, each with a day, a time and a room. Mondays 11am–12pm in 3117 Hinderaker Hall, Wednesdays 11am–12pm in 245 Costo Hall, Thursdays 12–1pm in 3117 Hinderaker Hall — you can turn up to any of them, and knowing the room in advance makes the first one easier. If you would rather start on your own, there is an online self-assessment. UCR also names more county services than any other campus here: the Riverside County Drug Program, a helpline and a 24-hour detox referral line, so there is somewhere to ring outside term as well.

UCR publishes no medical amnesty policy — call anyway, because the law is what protects you. The only substance policy on its pages is dated 2006 and describes California marijuana law as it stood before Proposition 64, so it will not tell you where you stand now. That is a reason to ask the Dean of Students in a calm week, not a reason to hesitate at 2am. College discipline and the criminal law are separate things, and California’s Good Samaritan statute protects the person who rings for help whether or not their campus has written anything down. Stay with your friend, and make the call.

Free naloxone from The Well, HUB 248 — by appointment, after training, one kit a quarter. It is the most gated route on this page, so book it in a quiet week rather than the night you need it. If you are on the UC health plan there is a quicker alternative: $5 at the campus pharmacy. There is no vending machine, so nothing is available out of hours. Training uses a CDPH video. If an appointment and a quarterly limit do not suit you, section 05 sets out the routes off campus, which ask less of you.

Getting started: counselling is free to all registered students, and the same number covers day and night — 951-827-5531, option 1 after hours, option 2 for the front desk in the day. Cancel more than 24 hours ahead to avoid the $20 charge on your student account. For naloxone, book ahead with The Well in HUB 248; for a recovery meeting you can simply turn up.

• Three recovery meetings: Mondays 11am–12pm, 3117 Hinderaker Hall; Wednesdays 11am–12pm, 245 Costo Hall; Thursdays 12–1pm, 3117 Hinderaker Hall.
• Option 1 reaches the 24-hour therapist on 951-827-5531; option 2 is the daytime front desk. UCR also runs SWIFT, a campus mobile crisis team, on 951-827-4357.
• If you land on the Dean of Students crisis page, ignore the national number on it — it prints “(800) 273- TALK” twice and no 988. Dial 988 instead.
• Naloxone is one kit per quarter by appointment from The Well, HUB 248, or $5 at the campus pharmacy if you are on the UC health plan.

If none of these gets you anywhere, 988 is free and answered around the clock, and your county line reaches a team near you whatever college you are at.

Free — your student health fee has already paid for it. SDSU publishes no further eligibility test, so if you are enrolled and paying the fee, counselling is open to you. No charge for a missed appointment is published, and the fee schedule page does not load, so you cannot check that in advance — ask when you book if it matters to you, and cancel early either way so somebody else can have the slot. How much you get is described rather than counted, “short-term therapy”, so ask at the first appointment what that means for you. If you are referred to someone off campus, section 06 covers paying for it.

SDSU publishes two after-hours numbers, so save both. The counselling site gives 619-594-5220; the health services after-hours page gives 619-594-4325. Try either, and if one does not reach a crisis counsellor, ring the other. No press step is published for either, so listen to whatever greeting you get rather than hanging up on it. Who answers is described only as “after-hours crisis counselors”, so ask in the first minute whether you are speaking to a counsellor. The county crisis line is published two ways as well, 888-724-7240 and 800-479-3339. 988 is free and answered around the clock if none of them does it.

Nothing is published about being seen from outside California, so ring and ask first. SDSU never says whether you can have teletherapy from another state, and names no service for students who are away, which means the website will not settle it for you. Ring 619-594-5220 in office hours and ask whether they can see you where you will be sitting, before you count on an appointment rather than after. If the answer is no, section 02 lists help that is open to you wherever you are, and 988 works from any phone, in any state.

Aztecs for Recovery publishes a meeting you can turn up to — Thursdays 10–11am, the State Suite, third floor of the Student Union. SDSU’s own pages disagree about how often it runs: one says “biweekly on Thursday from 10:00–11:00 am. In the State Suite, located on the third floor of Student Union”, and the recovery FAQ says weekly. So ask Aztecs for Recovery which Thursdays before you set out, because a first meeting is a hard enough door without a wasted journey. There is also a named public health specialist for alcohol and other drugs, and self-assessment tools you can use on your own. Section 02 has treatment beyond campus.

If you need help for a friend, call before anyone else arrives — that is what SDSU’s policy turns on. It covers alcohol and drugs and protects both the caller and the person helped, but it says: “Students who request amnesty only after being met by police or staff will not be eligible”. So dial early rather than waiting to see how bad things get. “Egregious” violations are excluded without being defined, and the incident is documented either way. And if you are already past that point, still call: a conduct policy is not the criminal law, and California’s Good Samaritan statute protects the person who rings regardless.

Free naloxone from the Student Health Services pharmacy, once you have done SDSU’s training. The rule is published: “To receive Narcan at no cost from SDSU, students need to complete the SDSU Opioid Awareness Training”, and the training itself is easy to find and well explained, so do it on a quiet afternoon. Plan for pharmacy opening hours: the 24/7 vending machine in the Calpulli Center Breezeway does not stock naloxone — its contents are over-the-counter medicines and emergency contraception — so there is no route to a kit on campus at 2am. For one without the training or the wait, section 05 has the routes off campus.

Getting started: counselling is paid for by your health fee, and the same service covers days and nights — 619-594-5220 is the number on the counselling site, 619-594-4325 the one on health services. Ask about cancellation when you book, because the fee schedule page does not load. Narcan comes from the Student Health Services pharmacy after the SDSU Opioid Awareness Training, so do the training before you need the kit.

• Both after-hours numbers in one place: 619-594-5220 and 619-594-4325. The county crisis line is also published two ways, 888-724-7240 and 800-479-3339.
• Aztecs for Recovery meets Thursdays 10–11am in the State Suite, third floor of the Student Union — check whether it is weekly or biweekly before you go.
• Amnesty is lost if you ask for it “only after being met by police or staff”, which is a reason to dial first rather than wait and see.
• If you land on the Psychology Clinic crisis page, the Veterans Crisis Line printed there is the retired number — dial 988 and press 1 instead.

If none of these gets you anywhere, 988 is free and answered around the clock, and your county line reaches a team near you whatever college you are at.

Free to every currently enrolled student. CSULB says it in one line — “Counseling services are free for currently enrolled CSULB students” — with no insurance test and no threshold to meet. No amount is published for a missed appointment, though you are asked to give 24 hours’ notice, so ring to cancel as soon as you know. On how much care you get, CSULB publishes both “There are no session limits on student appointments with CAPS” and a page titled “Short-Term Counseling”, so ask at the first appointment which applies to you. Section 06 covers paying for anything off campus.

Ring 562-985-4001 and stay on the line — a recording answers before a person does. CSULB warns you about that and tells you to “follow the instructions provided”, though it does not publish which option to choose, so listen through the whole message rather than hanging up. You should reach “a live mental health professional”; ask in the first minute that you have. One thing to know before you dial: 562-985-4101 is published both as University Police and as the CAST mobile crisis team, so choosing the crisis team reaches police dispatch. For a counsellor use 562-985-4001, or 988, which is free and answered around the clock.

Nothing is published about being seen from outside California. No rule, no exception and no teletherapy service is named, so the website will not tell you whether an appointment can follow you home for the semester. Ring 562-985-4001 in office hours and ask before you travel rather than after. If they cannot see you where you will be, section 02 lists crisis lines and services open to everybody wherever they are sitting, and 988 works from any phone in any state.

You can see a Certified Alcohol and Drug Abuse Counselor one to one, by telehealth. That is more than most campuses publish, and it means you can talk about drink or drugs without joining anything or explaining yourself to a group. CSULB also names BEACH Recovery as its recovery community — with no day, time or room published anywhere — so if you want a meeting, ring CAPS on 562-985-4001 and ask what BEACH Recovery is running this term rather than hunting for a timetable that is not there. Section 02 has meetings and treatment you can reach off campus.

Call for help — and at CSULB the protection reaches your student organisation as well. Campus Regulation XIII covers alcohol and drugs and protects the individual, the person helping, and student organisations, which almost no other policy here does. It is honest about its own limits: it is confined to student conduct sanctions and offers no criminal protection. That is what the statute is for, and it works separately from anything the university decides. CSULB cites California law generally — the Business and Professions Code and Health and Safety Code Division 10 — rather than § 11376.5 itself, so read section 03 for what actually covers you, then make the call.

Free naloxone through Student Health Services — ring ahead and ask where to collect it. That is the whole of what CSULB publishes: no room, no counter and no opening hours, and no training requirement either, so there is nothing to complete first. There is no vending machine, which makes this a weekday errand rather than a 3am one — pick a kit up in the daytime and keep it where you will be at night. The campus link labelled “NARCAN Information” does not load, so do not spend time on it. For a kit of your own without asking anybody, section 05 sets out the routes off campus.

Getting started: counselling is free, and 562-985-4001 is the number for both appointments and crises — a recording answers, so wait through it. Ask at the first appointment whether the no-limit rule or the short-term page applies to you, and give 24 hours’ notice if you cannot come. For drink or drugs, ask for the Certified Alcohol and Drug Abuse Counselor, who works by telehealth, and for naloxone ring Student Health Services and ask where to collect it.

• 562-985-4101 is published as University Police and as the CAST mobile crisis team, so if you want a counsellor rather than a police response, ring 562-985-4001 or 988.
• For drink or drugs there is a Certified Alcohol and Drug Abuse Counselor offering individual telehealth sessions, and a recovery community, BEACH Recovery, which publishes no timetable — ask CAPS what is running.
• The Crisis Text Line code is right wherever it appears on CSULB pages: text to 741741, even though one page prints it as 74-17-41.
• Naloxone comes through Student Health Services with no training required; the link labelled “NARCAN Information” does not load, so ring instead.

If none of these gets you anywhere, 988 is free and answered around the clock, and your county line reaches a team near you whatever college you are at.

Your health fee covers it — and if you are not a subscriber it is $25 a visit. Insurance is not accepted, so that $25 comes from you. A missed or late-cancelled appointment is $25 on a 24-hour window, plus $10 if it is still unpaid after 30 days, so cancel as early as you can. How much you get is described rather than counted, “within a few sessions”. One thing to check before you book if you study online or in a special session: those students “may face direct billing”, and they are the same students the location rule below applies to. Section 06 covers paying for care.

Ring 408-924-5678, and save 988 next to it, because SJSU never says the line is answered overnight. 408-924-5678 is the counselling number published everywhere, with business hours of 8:30 to 5, and the crisis page sends you to the emergency page, which hands back the same number. Nobody publishes who answers it at night or whether to press anything. So try it and stay on the line, and if it does not reach a person, ring 988, which is free and answered around the clock. If you need somewhere to go in person, SJSU publishes five named facilities with addresses and a warning about costs.

You have to be physically in California at the time of the appointment. SJSU is the only one of the six CSU campuses to publish the rule, and it is worth knowing before you plan anything: “To receive telehealth (Zoom-based) care, you must be physically located in the State of California at the time of the service due to telehealth laws.” What is offered instead is a provider directory — a way to find a therapist rather than a service that will see you. So if you are studying from another state, use that list and your insurance to arrange something where you are, and see section 02. 988 works from any phone.

SJSU’s route for drink and drugs is peer recovery and harm reduction — ask what is meeting this term. There is a named Collegiate Recovery Community, and its published timetable still reads “Fall 2026 Recovery Schedule — Details for Fall 2026 coming soon!”, so message the community directly rather than waiting for the page to change. Beyond campus, SJSU names more county services than any other CSU here: Santa Clara County Behavioral Health Services and its harm reduction programme, both of which you can contact yourself. Section 02 has meetings and treatment near San José as well.

SJSU publishes no campus amnesty policy — and the state statute protects you, so make the call. The campus falls back on the CSU system-wide conduct code, which is a disciplinary document rather than a promise of protection, so there is nothing to read in advance that tells you what happens afterwards. Do not let that decide anything at 2am. College discipline and the criminal law are separate, and California’s Good Samaritan statute protects the person who calls for help regardless of what a campus has published. Ring 911, stay with your friend, and read section 03 when things are calm.

Free naloxone from the Wellness Lounge, and no training is required first. SJSU treats training as something offered rather than something you must complete, which makes this the lightest route of the six CSU campuses — you can walk in and ask. The limit is opening hours: Monday to Thursday 10am–4pm and Friday 1–4pm, and there is no vending machine, so there is no route at 2am. Pick a kit up in the daytime and keep it where you will be at night. If those hours do not work for you, section 05 has the routes off campus.

Getting started: 408-924-5678 is the counselling number for appointments, and it is the only campus number published for a crisis too — so keep 988 saved with it for the night. Ask when you book whether you are a health-fee subscriber, because if you are not it is $25 a visit and insurance is not accepted. The Wellness Lounge is where naloxone is, Monday to Thursday 10am–4pm and Friday 1–4pm, with no training needed.

• Naloxone from the Wellness Lounge, no training required, Monday to Thursday 10am–4pm and Friday 1–4pm.
• Money to plan for: $25 a visit for non-subscribers, $25 for a missed or late-cancelled appointment on a 24-hour window, and $10 more if it goes unpaid for 30 days.
• The telehealth rule is explicit — you must be “physically located in the State of California at the time of the service”.
• If you need somewhere to go in person, SJSU publishes five named facilities with addresses and a cost warning, and names Santa Clara County Behavioral Health Services and its harm reduction programme.

If none of these gets you anywhere, 988 is free and answered around the clock, and your county line reaches a team near you whatever college you are at.

Free, including if you study through Tseng College. CSUN says counselling is “free of charge for currently enrolled undergraduate and graduate students, as well as those enrolled through Tseng College”, which is its distance and self-support college — so studying at a distance does not put you outside it. No charge for a missed appointment is published, though it is worth ringing to cancel so somebody else can use the slot. How much you get is described rather than counted, a “short-term treatment model”, so ask at the first appointment what that means for you. Section 06 covers paying for care off campus.

Ring 818-677-2366 and press option 3, at any hour. CSUN publishes it as “24/7/365” identically on three separate pages, which makes it the clearest instruction of the six CSU campuses — so put the number and the digit into your phone together: 818-677-2366, option 3. Who answers is not published, so ask in the first minute whether you are speaking to a counsellor. One thing worth knowing before anybody comes out to you: CSUN’s Mobile Campus Response Team includes “a non-uniformed specially trained law enforcement professional”. For a hospital, CSUN names only “your nearest hospital emergency room”. 988 is free day and night.

Nothing is published about where you can be sitting, so ring and ask before you rely on it. This matters more at CSUN than at most places, because counselling is expressly open to its distance-education college and yet no rule is published about students who are outside California. Ring 818-677-2366 in office hours and ask whether they can see you where you are, before you book rather than after. If the answer is no, section 02 lists help open to everybody wherever they are, and 988 is free from any phone in any state.

For drink or drugs at CSUN, the route is an evaluation with a named psychologist — ask for it when you ring. That is the service. There is no recovery community on campus and no meeting to turn up to, and the therapy groups page lists nineteen groups, none of them about substance use, each reading “Start date to be determined” — so do not spend an evening looking for a timetable. Los Angeles County’s substance abuse prevention body is named on CSUN’s pages and you can approach it yourself, and section 02 lists meetings and treatment you can reach from Northridge.

CSUN publishes no campus amnesty policy — call anyway, because the statute behind it protects you. The campus falls back on the CSU system-wide conduct code, which is a disciplinary instrument rather than a protection, so there is nothing to read that promises what happens afterwards. One curiosity worth knowing: CSUN’s drug and alcohol prevention document does cite § 11376.5, California’s Good Samaritan section, in a compliance list — without reproducing what it says. What it says is that the person who calls for help is protected. Section 03 sets it out, and it applies to you whatever your campus has published.

Free naloxone from the Klotz Student Health Center pharmacy — do the training first, then collect it. It is a three-step route: a roughly fifteen-minute online training module, an email back, then a walk to the pharmacy in opening hours. So start it on a quiet afternoon rather than on the night you need a kit. The vending machine in the Sol Center of the University Student Union does not stock naloxone — its published contents are condoms, emergency contraception, pregnancy tests, menstrual products and painkillers — and fentanyl test strips have been listed as “temporarily unavailable” since August 2026. Section 05 has the routes off campus.

Getting started: 818-677-2366 covers both appointments and crises, with option 3 out of hours. Counselling is free, including through Tseng College, and the model is short-term, so ask at the first appointment what that means for you. For naloxone, do the online training before you need a kit, because it is collected from the Klotz Student Health Center pharmacy in opening hours. For drink or drugs, ask for an evaluation with the named psychologist who coordinates them.

• Option 3 is the digit to remember on 818-677-2366, published identically on three CSUN pages as 24/7/365.
• If a mobile team is called out to you, CSUN publishes what it is made of: it includes “a non-uniformed specially trained law enforcement professional”.
• Naloxone is a three-step errand — online training, confirmation email, then the Klotz Student Health Center pharmacy in opening hours. The Sol Center vending machine does not stock it.
• CSUN’s prevention document cites § 11376.5, the Good Samaritan section, without saying what it protects — section 03 does.

If none of these gets you anywhere, 988 is free and answered around the clock, and your county line reaches a team near you whatever college you are at.

Sacramento State never states what counselling costs, so ask before your first appointment. The nearest thing published is that “additional fees may apply to specialty services, procedures, pharmaceuticals, and vaccines”, and eligibility is “currently enrolled students who pay health fees” — so the health fee is the test, and the price of a session is written down nowhere. Ring 916-278-6461 and ask what an appointment costs and what gets billed, before you go rather than after. Nobody will mind the question. No missed-appointment charge is published either. Section 06 covers paying for care.

Ring 916-278-6461 at any hour, and ask straight away whether you have reached a counsellor. 916-278-6461 is published as 24 hours, and what it is called depends which page you read: one calls it a “nurse advice line”, another a “Nurse and Counseling Advice Line”. No press step is published, so listen to the greeting rather than hanging up, and say plainly that you want to speak to a counsellor. If you need somewhere to go, Sacramento State publishes the best physical destination of the six CSU campuses: a named Mental Health Urgent Care Clinic with an address, plus three hospitals. 988 is free and answered around the clock.

Nothing is published about being seen from outside California, so ring before you travel. No rule, no exception and no teletherapy service is named, which means nothing on the website tells you whether an appointment can follow you out of state. Ring 916-278-6461 and ask whether they can see you where you will be sitting. If they cannot, section 02 lists help that is open to everybody wherever they are, and 988 works from any phone in any state.

For drink or drugs here, counselling is the door and a referral is what follows. “Alcohol Abuse” and “Addiction” are both listed among the concerns the service will see you about, so you can raise it at an ordinary appointment and do not need a separate programme to qualify. What Sacramento State does not have is a substance-use programme, a recovery community or a meeting on campus, so there is no timetable to look for. The Sacramento County Mental Health Access Team is named with a number on its own pages, and section 02 lists meetings and treatment near Sacramento you can reach yourself.

Call for help: this is the clearest protection published by any of the six CSU campuses. The “Medical Amnesty & Good Samaritan Protocol” covers “both the person and/or group making a call for help in good faith as well as the person experiencing a medical emergency”, and it reaches housing policy, the system-wide conduct code and the student organisation code, so it does not stop at one office. Two things to expect: it “generally removes punitive sanctions”, and educational outcomes may still be assigned afterwards. Neither is a reason to hesitate, and California’s Good Samaritan law protects the caller separately. Dial.

You can get free Narcan here without speaking to anybody — from the wellness vending machine in The WELL. The instructions are: “Enter your student ID, Create a PIN. You will not be charged at the machine”, and it stocks free fentanyl test kits too. Naloxone is separately free in the university residence halls. Training is offered in person and asynchronously, and is not required, so nothing stands between you and a kit. The one gap: the vending machine page never says where in The WELL the machine is, so allow a minute to find it or ask at the desk. Section 05 has the routes off campus.

If you are reading the number on the back of your One Card, dial 988 instead — the card carries “National Suicide Prevention Hotline (1-800-273-8255)”, which is retired, and 988 is the line that answers now. The text line printed beside it is right: text HOME to 741741. For everything else, the number to save is 916-278-6461, answered 24 hours — ask whether you have reached the nurse line or a counsellor. Ask what an appointment costs when you book, because no price is published anywhere.

• The One Card prints the retired national number, so dial 988. The Crisis Text Line code on the card is correct: text HOME to 741741.
• The crisis resources page prints the retired digits twice more, once under the “National Suicide Prevention Deaf and Hard of Hearing Lifeline” heading. 988 is the number to use.
• Free Narcan from the wellness vending machine in The WELL — student ID and a PIN, no charge, no training required — and free in the residence halls. The machine holds free fentanyl test kits as well.
• If you need somewhere to go in person, Sacramento State names a Mental Health Urgent Care Clinic with an address, plus three hospitals.

If none of these gets you anywhere, 988 is free and answered around the clock, and your county line reaches a team near you whatever college you are at.

Counselling is not stated to be free, so ask what it costs when you ring. What is published is the eligibility test: you “must be currently enrolled and have paid the Health Fee”. Both fee-schedule pages do not load, so charges cannot be checked in advance, and no missed-appointment charge is published either. The other thing to ask about early is how much care you get, because Fresno State refers students needing “weekly or long-term counseling” out to providers off campus — the tightest limit of the six CSU campuses. Section 06 covers paying for that outside care.

Ring 559-278-2734 and press 2 when prompted. Fresno State publishes it plainly — “press 2 when prompted to speak with a mental health counselor” — and then tells you something no other campus here does: “the after-hours counselor is not a University employee”. That is honest, and worth knowing before you start talking, though it does not make the counsellor any less real or the call any less worth making. The number is 559-278-2734. A named crisis stabilisation centre with an address is published if you need somewhere to go, and 988 is free around the clock.

Nothing is published about being seen from outside California, so ring and ask before you count on it. Fresno State offers Zoom triage without saying where you have to be sitting when you use it, and names no service for students who are out of state. Ring 559-278-2734 in office hours and ask, before you travel rather than after. If the answer is no, section 02 lists help open to everybody wherever they are, and 988 works from any phone in any state.

There is a meeting with a day, a time and a room: “Every Wednesday at 3:30 p.m.”, Fresno State Library, Room 2108. There is a Tuesday Zoom meeting too, and the page carries two conflicting date ranges, so ring the alcohol and drug prevention and recovery specialist on 559-278-5234 and ask whether the term’s meetings have started before you set out. Two recovery communities are named, along with a community behavioural health centre and a crisis stabilisation centre for help beyond campus. A first meeting is a hard door; knowing the room number in advance helps.

Fresno State publishes no campus amnesty policy — call anyway, and here is what protects you. The campus falls back on the CSU system-wide conduct code and executive order, both disciplinary documents rather than promises, so there is nothing to read in advance about what happens afterwards. That absence does not change the law. College discipline and the criminal law are separate things, and California’s Good Samaritan statute protects the person who calls for help regardless of what a campus has published. Ring 911, stay with your friend, and read section 03 when things are calm.

Four places to get free naloxone, and no training required. The Student Health and Counseling Center, the Student Recreation Center, Student Housing, and a Wellness To-Go vending machine in the Resnick Student Union. Fresno State says why there is no gate: “Anyone can use it without medical training or authorization.” It is also the only campus here to name the law behind it, “California Senate Bill (SB) 367, also known as the Campus Opioid Safety Act”. The page’s verb is “request”, and no hours or price are published for the machine, so if the machine is not working, ask at one of the three desks. Section 05 has more.

Getting started: 559-278-2734 is the number for appointments and for a crisis, with press 2 out of hours. Ask what counselling costs and whether your health fee covers you, because no price is published and the fee-schedule pages do not load. If you need weekly or longer-term therapy, expect a referral off campus, so raise that early. For drink or drugs, ring the named prevention and recovery specialist on 559-278-5234.

• The recovery meeting is “Every Wednesday at 3:30 p.m.” in Fresno State Library, Room 2108, with a Tuesday Zoom meeting as well — ring 559-278-5234 to check the term’s dates.
• Fresno State publishes what almost nobody else does: “the after-hours counselor is not a University employee”, and the digit to press is 2.
• Naloxone is free with no training at four points, including the Wellness To-Go vending machine in the Resnick Student Union.
• Two of its pages disagree about whether the health centre closes at 4:45 or 5:00, so work to the earlier one if you want to be seen the same day.

If none of these gets you anywhere, 988 is free and answered around the clock, and your county line reaches a team near you whatever college you are at.

Stanford does not publish what counselling costs, so ask when you book. There is no price, no missed-appointment charge, no cancellation window, no session cap and no eligibility test written down anywhere, which means the website will not answer the question and the front desk will. Two things are published as free and are worth knowing about: the recovery programme, and the brief intervention and assessment for drink and drugs. For an ordinary counselling appointment, ring 650-723-3785 and ask what it costs and what your insurance is expected to cover, before the first session rather than after it. Section 06 covers paying for care.

Ring 650-723-3785 at any hour and you reach a crisis specialist. There is no menu and nothing to press, and the line is published as round the clock, so it is one number to save and one thing to do: 650-723-3785. Who employs the specialist is not published, so ask in the first minute who you are speaking to. Do not use the text route Stanford prints beside it — the short code it gives has five digits and does not exist, so a message sent there never arrives. The Crisis Text Line code is 741741, six digits, and 988 is free and answered day and night from any phone.

Outside California, Stanford will refer you rather than see you. The rule is published: “CAPS clinicians are licensed only to provide ongoing care within California”, and what is offered instead is care management and referral — help finding somebody, rather than somebody. No teletherapy service is named, so if you are studying from another state, ring 650-723-3785 before you go and ask what that referral looks like where you are heading. Section 02 lists help that is open to you wherever you are sitting, and 988 works from any phone in any state.

Three standing meetings, each with a day, a time and an address — the best provision on this page. An all-recovery meeting on Fridays 5–6pm at Well House, 562 Mayfield Avenue; AA on Tuesdays 5:30–6:30pm at Rogers House, 581 Capistrano Way; and AA on Sundays 9–10am, hybrid, so you can join that one without walking into a room the first time. If you would rather talk one to one first, Stanford publishes a brief intervention and an assessment, both free. None of it needs a referral, and knowing the address in advance makes a first visit easier.

Call for help — the policy protects both the caller and the person helped. It covers alcohol and drugs, and what it asks of you afterwards is that you engage with “support and/or educational resources determined by the university”. Sexual violence is excluded from it. The policy refers to California law in general terms without naming the statute, which is worth knowing only so you do not go looking for a citation: the protection exists either way. A conduct policy and the criminal law are separate things, and California’s Good Samaritan statute protects the person who rings whatever the university decides afterwards. Stay with your friend, and dial.

Naloxone from the ChemX shelves in the residences, “no questions asked”. That is one of the few genuinely staff-free routes here: nobody to explain yourself to and no counter to catch before it closes. It is also available from Rogers House. Training is published online and at Well House and is framed as “we ask” rather than as a condition, so it does not stand between you and a kit. The cost is not published, so ask, and there is no vending machine. If neither route suits you, section 05 sets out where to get naloxone in California without going through your university.

Getting started: 650-723-3785 is one number for a crisis at 2am and for booking in the day, with no menu either way. Ask what an appointment costs when you ring, because nothing is published about price, insurance or session limits, and nobody will mind the question. For drink or drugs you can go straight to a meeting — Well House, 562 Mayfield Avenue, or Rogers House, 581 Capistrano Way — and the brief intervention and assessment are both free.

• The three meetings: all-recovery Fridays 5–6pm, Well House, 562 Mayfield Avenue; AA Tuesdays 5:30–6:30pm, Rogers House, 581 Capistrano Way; AA Sundays 9–10am, hybrid.
• If you want to text rather than talk, use 741741. Stanford prints a five-digit code on two pages and a message sent to it cannot arrive.
• Stanford’s pages also present the retired national number, 1.800.273.8255, as current. Dial 988, which is published on the same pages.
• Naloxone sits on the ChemX shelves in the residences, “no questions asked”, and at Rogers House.

If none of these gets you anywhere, 988 is free and answered around the clock, and your county line reaches a team near you whatever college you are at.

Your health fee covers the way in, not a course of therapy. USC publishes it plainly: “Long term, ongoing individual counseling is not covered through your student health fee”. So ask at the first appointment what is covered, what a referral would cost and what your insurance pays, because there is no session number to plan around — the limit is a coverage boundary instead. Two charges to know about: $20 for a late cancellation on a 12-hour window, the tightest here, and a $50 urgent-care copay. Cancel as soon as you know you cannot come. Section 06 covers paying for ongoing care.

Ring 213-740-9355 at any hour. USC is unusually specific about who answers — “a medical advice nurse, mental health counselor, or confidential advocate” — so say at the start which of the three you need. No press step is published and no menu is described. The number is 213-740-9355. If you need somewhere to go in the night, USC names the destination as well as the number: PIH Good Samaritan Hospital, 1230 W 6th Street, 213-977-2420. 988 is free and answered around the clock if the campus line does not get you what you need.

Out of state you can still be seen — if you are on the student health insurance plan. USC publishes the rule, “students must be currently residing in California at the time of service”, and then a real alternative: a named behavioural health vendor covering all fifty states. The catch is worth checking before you travel, because that alternative runs through the student health insurance plan, so a student who waived the plan is outside it. Ring 213-740-9355 and ask which side of that line you are on. Section 02 lists help that is open to you either way.

BASICS and CASICS, both free, and you can ask for them by name. They are delivered through a named external provider with its own number, and a free assessment is available through the campus workwell centre, so there are two ways in that cost nothing and neither needs you to join a group. What USC does not publish is a standing recovery programme or a meeting with a day, a time and a room, so if a group is what you want, section 02 has meetings near campus. USC does name California’s own mental health platform and its low-cost naloxone programme, both of which you can use directly.

USC’s conduct documents cannot be opened, so you cannot check this in advance — and you should still call. The student handbook and the conduct code are the two documents that would say whether calling for help protects you, and neither will open, so this is recorded as unverified rather than guessed at. What does not depend on them: college discipline is a separate thing from the criminal law, and California’s Good Samaritan statute protects the person who rings for help whatever a campus document says. If you want the answer beforehand, ask for a copy of the conduct code rather than relying on the website.

Free naloxone from two named front desks and a weekly campus market stall, and $0 at the campus pharmacies on the student plan. That is the daytime route and it costs you nothing. At night the route is the machines: three vending machines — USC Village, Seaver Hall and a parking structure — open 24 hours, payable by card or phone. Check the price when you are there, because USC’s own pages give it as “$45 for a twin-pack” on one and “standard retail price” on the other. So it is free when the desks are open and paid for when they are not — which is a reason to collect one in the daytime. Section 05 has cheaper routes off campus.

Getting started: 213-740-9355 is the 24-hour number, and it is worth saying in your first sentence whether you want a nurse, a counsellor or a confidential advocate, because all three answer it. Ask early what your health fee covers, since ongoing individual counselling is not included. Cancel at least 12 hours ahead to avoid the $20 charge. For drink or drugs, ask for BASICS or CASICS by name — both are free.

• Money to plan for: $20 for a late cancellation on a 12-hour window, a $50 urgent-care copay, and ongoing individual counselling not covered by the health fee.
• Naloxone is free at two front desks and a weekly market stall in the day. The three vending machines — USC Village, Seaver Hall and a parking structure — are open 24 hours and charge, with the price published as both “$45 for a twin-pack” and “standard retail price”.
• USC names the hospital as well as the number: PIH Good Samaritan Hospital, 1230 W 6th Street, 213-977-2420.
• BASICS and CASICS are free through a named external provider, and the campus workwell centre offers a free assessment.

If none of these gets you anywhere, 988 is free and answered around the clock, and your county line reaches a team near you whatever college you are at.

Free. Pepperdine publishes no session cap, no cancellation window and no charge for a missed appointment, so there is nothing to work out before you ring. The one threshold worth checking is on TimelyCare, the app-based service that runs alongside counselling: it requires the Wellness Fee to have been paid, which is a different test from insurance and easy to miss if you assume your health plan is what matters. If you are not sure whether your fee is paid, ask when you ring 310-506-4210. Section 06 covers paying for care beyond campus.

Ring 310-506-4210 at any hour for the on-call counsellor. 310-506-4210 is the cleanest 2am route on this page: one number, published as a “24/7 on-call counselor”, with no menu to navigate, and TimelyCare as an app-based route beside it. Who staffs the phone line is not named, so ask in the first minute whether you are speaking to a counsellor. Two things to sort out in advance: Pepperdine’s crisis page publishes no 988, so save it yourself, free and answered around the clock; and the most obvious Counseling Center web address does not load, so rely on the number rather than the page.

If you live outside California you can still be seen — TimelyCare covers all fifty states. Pepperdine publishes it plainly: “if students live outside of California, students can utilize TimelyCare”. It stops at the United States border, so it will not follow you abroad, and it is gated on the Wellness Fee rather than on insurance, which puts it within reach of more students than most equivalents. Check the fee is paid before you rely on it, and keep 988 for a crisis wherever you are. Section 02 lists more that is open to you anywhere.

There is a Pepperdine Recovery Peer Support Group — ring and ask when it meets. No day, time or room is published for it, so there is nothing to simply turn up to, and 310-506-4210 is the number to ask on. Pepperdine also publishes a free, confidential assessment for drink and drugs, which you can ask for without joining anything and without a referral. Beyond campus only a federal helpline is named, so section 02 is where to look for meetings and treatment near Malibu. Asking what time a group meets is a small thing, and it is the whole of what stands between you and the room.

Call for help: the policy covers the person who calls, the person helped and a third group besides. Three categories are named explicitly, across alcohol and drugs, with a published exclusion list — dishonesty, hazing, harm, theft, damage and intent to distribute. The condition that matters: amnesty is lost if “a University or other official responds… before a student calls”, so dial early rather than waiting to see how bad it gets. It matters more here than elsewhere, because alcohol is prohibited “regardless of the student’s age”, empty containers included. Even past that point, call — California’s Good Samaritan statute protects the caller whatever the campus decides.

Pepperdine says naloxone “is available on the Malibu campus” and does not say where, so use the routes off campus. Its page on the subject publishes no location, no cost and no way to ask, and no training either, which means there is nothing on it you can act on at 2am. Section 05 sets out where to get naloxone in California without going through your university, and what it costs. If you would rather ask on campus anyway, 310-506-4210 is the number, and it is worth asking, because the supply is said to exist.

Getting started: 310-506-4210 is one number for a crisis at any hour and for booking in the day, and TimelyCare is the app-based route alongside it — check the Wellness Fee is paid before you rely on that. Counselling is free, with no session cap published. Save 988 yourself, because the crisis page does not carry it, and do not rely on the obvious Counseling Center web address, which does not load.

• TimelyCare is gated on the Wellness Fee rather than on insurance, and covers all fifty states but not countries outside the United States.
• Amnesty is lost if “a University or other official responds… before a student calls”, which is a reason to ring first rather than wait.
• Alcohol is prohibited on campus “regardless of the student’s age”, empty containers included, and intoxication is punishable on or off campus — which is exactly why the amnesty policy and the statute behind it are worth knowing here.
• Naloxone is said to be available on the Malibu campus with no location published — ask on 310-506-4210, and use section 05 meanwhile.

If none of these gets you anywhere, 988 is free and answered around the clock, and your county line reaches a team near you whatever college you are at.

Free, with no session limit — Santa Clara puts both in one sentence. Services come “at no costs or predetermined session limits”, while the work is “designed to be short-term”, so ask at the first appointment what that means in practice. No charge for a missed appointment is published. Eligibility is being enrolled and being in California at the time of the appointment, which is the one thing to check if you are going to be away. Section 06 covers paying for care off campus if you are referred on.

Ring 408-554-5220 at any hour — and check the last four digits before you dial. That is the crisis line: 24/7, “no menu navigation”, and you reach “a Uwill licensed therapist”, so you know who is answering before you start. The appointments number, 408-554-4501, is four digits different and reaches an office in the day. If you saved a number during a daytime visit, check it is 408-554-5220 before the night you need it. 988 is free and answered around the clock as well.

The crisis line works wherever you are; ongoing appointments need you to be in California. Santa Clara publishes the rule — you must be “in the State of California at the time of services” — and asks students to “wait until returning to campus or the State of California” for ongoing care. The 24/7 crisis line stays open to you anywhere, which is more than most offer, so keep 408-554-5220 saved when you travel. For ongoing therapy out of state, section 02 lists what is open to you where you are sitting.

There is a Collegiate Recovery Program — ring CAPS and ask what it is running this term. No meeting day, time or room is published, and the page that invites you to get in touch reads “email us at” and then stops, with no address after it, so use the phone instead: 408-554-4501 in office hours. The wellness centre runs a service for drink and drugs as well. Beyond campus, Santa Clara names the county opioid overdose prevention programme and the state public health department, and section 02 has meetings you can reach yourself.

Call, as many times as you need to — this policy sets no limit on how often you can rely on it. It has two limbs covering alcohol and drugs, protecting the caller and the person helped separately, and it states in terms that “there is not a limit to the number of times these policies can be utilized”. Nobody else here says that. Violence, property damage, distribution and refusing to co-operate are excluded. Santa Clara is Jesuit and does not run an abstinence policy, so the affiliation narrows none of this. The statute is not named in the policy, and it protects the caller anyway.

Free naloxone from two vending machines, at any hour, with a tap of your card. They are in the basement of Benson Memorial Center, across from the bathrooms, and on the first floor of the Learning Commons — a two-dose box, free, up to twice daily, and nobody to ask. Training is available on request and uses the state health department’s video, but it is not a condition of getting a kit. Find your nearest machine now so you are not looking for it in the dark. Section 05 has the routes off campus if you would rather not use a campus machine.

Getting started: appointments go through 408-554-4501 in office hours, and 408-554-5220 is the 24-hour crisis line — save the second with the last four digits checked. Counselling is free and there is no predetermined session limit, though the work is designed to be short-term, so ask what that means at the first appointment. If you search for the Cowell Center online, some of those pages will not load, so use the numbers rather than the website.

• Two numbers, four digits apart: 408-554-5220 is the 24/7 crisis line, with a Uwill therapist and no menu; 408-554-4501 is daytime appointments.
• Free naloxone, a two-dose box, up to twice daily, from machines in the basement of Benson Memorial Center, across from the bathrooms and on the first floor of the Learning Commons.
• The amnesty policy states that “there is not a limit to the number of times these policies can be utilized”, and covers the caller and the person helped in separate limbs.
• The recovery page reads “email us at” and gives no address, so ring 408-554-4501 to ask what meets.

If none of these gets you anywhere, 988 is free and answered around the clock, and your county line reaches a team near you whatever college you are at.

Free, if you have paid the health fee. Santa Monica publishes the test in plain words, and it is wider than most: “all students who have paid their health fee, including non-credit and emeritus students”. What is not published is the amount of the fee or who pays it, so if you are part-time and not sure whether it applies to you, ring 310-434-4503 and ask before your first appointment rather than assuming either way. Nobody will mind the question. No missed-appointment charge is published, and how much care you get is described rather than counted. Section 06 covers paying for care beyond the college.

Ring 800-691-6003 — it is published as a 24-hour line. 800-691-6003 is the one to save for nights and weekends. No press step is published and neither is who answers, so ask in the first minute whether you are speaking to a counsellor, a nurse or an answering service, and say plainly what you need. In the day, the Center for Wellness and Wellbeing is 310-434-4503 — use that rather than the other number printed elsewhere on the college site. 988 is free and answered around the clock if the college line does not get you what you need.

Nothing is published about being seen from outside California, so ring and ask before you rely on it. Santa Monica offers phone and video counselling and runs remote-only Fridays, and still publishes no rule about where you have to be sitting and no alternative service for students who are away. Ring 310-434-4503 and ask whether they can see you where you will be, before you book rather than after. If they cannot, section 02 lists help open to everybody wherever they are, and 988 works from any phone in any state.

There is a named counsellor for drink and drugs, with a credential and a direct number — ask for them. That is more than several universities here publish, and it means you can talk this through one to one without joining anything. What Santa Monica does not have is a recovery community, a meeting, a brief intervention programme or an assessment, so there is no timetable to look for. For meetings and treatment near campus, Santa Monica names Los Angeles County’s public health and mental health departments with a number, and section 02 lists more you can reach yourself without a referral.

Santa Monica publishes no amnesty policy — call anyway, because state law protects the caller. Four places were checked. What the college does publish is a drug and alcohol policy citing California statute, and the sections it cites are the Education Code provisions that prohibit rather than the Health and Safety Code provision that protects; its most recent revision is from 2004. So nothing on the college’s pages tells you what happens to you afterwards. What does apply is California’s Good Samaritan statute, which protects the person who rings for help regardless of what a college has written down. Stay with your friend and make the call.

Naloxone comes through Student Health Services — ring first and ask where and when. The college publishes that it is available, and offers a Narcan administration presentation as training, but no room, no price and no opening hours, and there is no vending machine — so this is a daytime counter request rather than something you can do at 3am. Ring 310-434-4503 and ask where to collect it, then keep the kit where you will be at night. For one of your own without asking anybody, section 05 sets out the routes off campus and what the law requires of community colleges.

Getting started: use 310-434-4503 for the Center for Wellness and Wellbeing in the day and 800-691-6003 for nights and weekends. Another number for the same centre, 310-434-4000, appears elsewhere on the college site and may not reach counselling, so use the first one. Counselling is free if your health fee is paid, including for non-credit and emeritus students, so ask about the fee when you ring.

• Two numbers circulate for the same centre, 310-434-4503 and 310-434-4000 — use the first one.
• Eligibility is published in plain words: all students who have paid their health fee, including non-credit and emeritus students.
• The college hotlines page is a good one to save — 988, the Crisis Text Line, county mental health, Trevor, a named crisis centre and a rape treatment centre are all correct on it. Its separate suicide-prevention page prints the retired 800-273-8255, so dial 988 instead.
• Naloxone is a daytime counter request through Student Health Services, with a Narcan administration presentation offered as training.

If none of these gets you anywhere, 988 is free and answered around the clock, and your county line reaches a team near you whatever college you are at.

Pasadena does not publish what counselling costs, so ask when you ring. Its own “Student Health Fee & Costs” page gives no fee amount, and no missed-appointment charge and no session limit are published either, numeric or descriptive. The eligibility test is published, and it is worth checking against your enrolment: “at least one unit of a credit class”, which appears to leave noncredit students out. If you are on a noncredit course, ring 626-585-7273 and ask where you stand before your first appointment. Section 06 covers paying for counselling if the answer is that you are not covered.

Dial 626-585-7273 and press 9 — the clearest instruction of any college on this page. Pasadena publishes it the same way across four pages, including the health fee page: “Dial 626-585-7273 and press 9 to be connected to a clinician”. Press 9 and stay on the line. The thing to do before you need it is save a second number, because press 9 is the only route the college publishes — its in-crisis page carries no 988, no text line and no alternative. So put 988 in your phone now: free, confidential and answered around the clock, from any phone, in any state.

Nothing is published about being seen from outside California, so ring and ask. There is no rule on the college’s pages about where you have to be sitting, and no service named for students who are away. Ring 626-585-7273, press 9, and ask what they can offer you where you are, before you count on an appointment. If the answer is nothing, section 02 lists crisis lines and services open to everybody wherever they are, and 988 works from any phone.

Pasadena publishes referral lists for drink and drugs, and nothing you can attend on campus. There is no dedicated service, no recovery community, no meeting, no brief intervention and no assessment, and no county or state agency is named on its pages, so the lists are a starting point rather than the answer. Two better ones: section 02 has meetings and treatment you can reach from Pasadena without a referral, and Student Health Services on 626-585-7273 will talk it through with you if you would rather start with a person than a list.

Pasadena publishes no amnesty policy — the state statute is the whole of your protection, and it is real. Six places were checked, and nothing on the college’s pages says what happens to you afterwards if you ring for a friend. So rely on the law: California’s Good Samaritan statute protects the person who calls for help with a drug overdose, regardless of what a college has or has not published. One thing to know as you read section 03: it does not cover alcohol. That is a reason to know your ground, not a reason to hesitate — nobody is helped by a call that is not made.

Pasadena does not publish a way to get naloxone on campus, so use the routes off it. Five relevant pages were checked: no supply, no location, no price, no training and no vending machine. Section 05 sets out where a student in California can get naloxone without going through their college, and what the Campus Opioid Safety Act requires of community colleges like this one. Stated carefully: nothing is published across those pages, which is not the same as nothing existing internally — so it is still worth asking Student Health Services on 626-585-7273.

Getting started: one number does everything here — 626-585-7273, press 9 for a clinician. Save 988 alongside it, because the college publishes no second route. Check your enrolment first if you are on a noncredit course, because eligibility is published as “at least one unit of a credit class”, and ask what an appointment costs, because no price is published anywhere.

• Press 9 on 626-585-7273 is the only published route to a clinician, and the college’s in-crisis page carries no national number — so save 988 yourself before you need it.
• Eligibility is “at least one unit of a credit class”, which appears to exclude noncredit students. Ring and ask if that is you.
• Nothing about naloxone is published on campus, so use section 05 for the routes off it.

One amnesty that comes from the statute, not the college

If naloxone is given, there is a statutory amnesty at the community colleges and the California State University: “disciplinary measures shall not be imposed for any violation of the institution’s student conduct policy regarding drug possession, use, or treatment that occurs at or near the time of the incident” where somebody administers a dose. It covers residents, not only staff, and the trigger is giving the naloxone.

If you are weighing it up in the moment, ring anyway. The worst realistic outcome of a conduct process is a conversation and an education session. The worst outcome of not calling is not recoverable — and if you would rather not involve your college at all, 911 and the numbers in Section 02 do not report to your dean.

Three more things worth knowing

“Severe” means something specific. It is a diagnosed substance-related disorder that meets the diagnostic criteria for severe in the current manual. It is not somebody’s opinion about how much you drink. The sections covering what happens after the first 72 hours were not rewritten to match, so what comes next may depend on your county and the facility — which is a fair thing to ask them directly.

CARE Court is a different door, and substance use alone will not open it. The newer court-ordered treatment route expressly excludes a person whose only diagnosis is a substance use disorder.

There is also an older route worth knowing about. A police officer can take somebody into civil protective custody for up to 72 hours where they are a danger to themselves or others, or gravely disabled, as a result of being drunk. Again, it is a civil detention and not an arrest.

And there is an amnesty attached to using it

Where naloxone is administered, student conduct discipline for drug possession, use or treatment at or near the incident is barred — Section 03 has the wording. The trigger is giving the dose, not calling 911. Ring 911 as well — Section 03 is there for exactly that call.

Three ways to apply, and you only need one

Through your county Medi-Cal office — in person, by post or by phone.

Through Covered California — the same application screens you for both, so you are not filling in two forms.

Through the state help centre, if you would rather have somebody walk you through it.

There is no enrolment window and no deadline. Unlike Covered California, Medi-Cal can be applied for on any day of the year, so there is no month in which it is too late to start.

From 1 March 2027, renewals go to every six months — keep your address current

Tell the county the day you move. Students move house more than almost anyone, and a missed renewal letter is the commonest way to lose Medi-Cal — not a change in your income, and not anything you did wrong. Two minutes with the county when you change address is the cheapest insurance on this page.

If you are in treatment or waiting for an appointment, it is worth putting the renewal in your calendar as well as on the county’s file.

Using Medi-Cal does not count against you for public charge

The state says it in terms: “As of June 2025, Medi-Cal is NOT considered in a public charge determination”, with a narrow exception for applicants for institutionalised long-term care. Its adult-expansion page says the same thing in different words.

So if that is what has been stopping you, it need not. Getting treated for your health is not a mark against you, and if you want to be certain about your own circumstances, an immigration lawyer or a legal aid clinic will tell you for free.

If a letter arrives about it

Open it and answer it. In most cases there will be nothing for you to do, because your enrolment can be confirmed from data the agency already holds. If it does ask, send proof of your enrolment or say which treatment programme you are in.

If you are not sure whether your course load counts, ring your county and ask before the deadline rather than after it. It is a short phone call and it is far easier than getting coverage back once it has lapsed.

How to reach somebody

Covered California: 800-300-1506 · TTY 888-889-4500.

Weekdays 8am to 6pm, closed Saturday and Sunday. It is not a 24-hour line, whatever you have read, so if you are working through this on a Sunday night, note the number and ring on Monday.

Which to ring, and what to do at night or at the weekend

In California, start with ANAD. It gives you until 7pm on your own clock rather than 4pm, which is the difference between ringing after class and not ringing at all. The Alliance is staffed by licensed clinicians, so if you want that and you can ring in the morning, it is a good choice too.

Neither line opens at weekends, and neither is 24 hours. If it is the middle of the night or a Saturday, 988 answers, and so does the Crisis Text Line — text HOME to 741741, or LA to the same number in Los Angeles County.

If you have the old NEDA number, 1-800-931-2237, use one of the two above instead. The largest US eating-disorder charity no longer publishes a phone helpline at all, so that number will not reach one.

Its policy against non-consensual active rescue, in its own words

“We do not call any emergency services or otherwise break your confidentiality without your explicit request” — “a policy against nonconsensual active rescue…even if you tell us you or someone else is in danger”.

If that is the thing that has been stopping you picking up a phone, that sentence is why this line exists. You can say what is actually going on without anyone turning up at your door.

If you are deciding who on campus to tell

A Title IX office starts a process. That can be exactly what you want — it is the route to accommodations, no-contact orders and an investigation — but it is a reporting office, not a confidential ear, and telling it is a step with its own momentum.

The hotlines above are confidential, and you can use one first. Talk it through, take your time, and go to Title IX afterwards if you decide to. You can also do both. Whoever you speak to on campus, ask in the first minute: are you a confidential resource or a reporting one? Section 08 covers who can be told what.