Background: College student well-being is an urgent public health concern. In addition to navigating academic and social pressures, today’s students have experienced a global pandemic, political unrest, geopolitical conflicts, and economic uncertainty. Many universities have enhanced their student support services. However, there is no clear consensus on defining “well-being.”

Objective: To examine definitions of well-being used by institutions with undergraduate public health programs accredited by the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH).

Methods: We identified accredited programs from the CEPH website. We searched those institutions’ websites to determine which schools offer courses on personal well-being and performed a content analysis of any well-being definitions present.

Results: Of the 36 schools offering well-being related courses, 29 (80.6%) have a definition of well-being on their website. All 29 definitions include at least three of these dimensions: physical (29), emotional (29), social (27), spiritual (26), intellectual or academic (25), occupational (25), financial (24), and environmental (23). However, schools describe these dimensions using different terminology. For example, while 20 of the 29 schools that include an “emotional” dimension use the descriptors “coping skills” or “self-awareness,” 15 other terms are used in various definitions.

Conclusions: Using a common definition can facilitate collaboration among schools working to address student well-being, but variability in the terminology used to describe individual dimensions of well-being presents challenges for researchers and practitioners. How institutions delegate responsibility for a well-being model needs more attention. Key informant interviews may reveal the relevant institutional decision-making structures involved in implementing well-being models.