When you are worried about your student at Texas A&M University
Verified August 2026 against tamu.edu. Every number below links the page it came from.
Texas A&M is one of the largest residential campuses in the country, and its support offices are spread across several departments with names that do not announce what they do. Two are worth knowing before you need them.
The first is Student Assistance Services, inside Student Life. Student welfare checks are something this office names openly as a service, which is unusual and useful: it means a worried parent asking someone to lay eyes on their student is a normal request here, not an imposition.
The second is that A&M does not run its own overnight counseling phone line. Crisis intervention at the counseling center happens during business hours, and after that the university points people to 988. What A&M does have around the clock is the Critical Incident Response Team, and the way to reach it at 2 a.m. is the campus police non-emergency number, which is not where most parents would think to look.
Who to call, and when
Most parents freeze at this step, because campuses publish these offices separately and none of them is labeled for a worried parent. The short version:
- Worried, but not urgent. Start with counseling. This is the call for a student who sounds flat, anxious, or overwhelmed, and it is the one most families put off longest.
- You have not heard from them and you are scared. Call the dean of students office. This is the office that will actually go check on a student, and almost no parent knows it exists.
- Right now, and they may not be safe. Call campus police, below. From out of town that is the emergency number, not 911, because they are the ones who can actually go.
Calling is not overreacting. These offices exist because students get into trouble away from home, and staff would far rather hear from you early than late.
Student Counseling & Mental Health Center
Your student is struggling, anxious, or sounding overwhelmed. Crisis intervention visits are weekdays during business hours. Texas A&M does not run its own overnight crisis phone line, so outside those hours use 988 above, which is staffed around the clock.
- University Health Services
- 979-458-4584
Crisis intervention visits 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday
Student Assistance Services, Student Life
You have not heard from your student and you are frightened. Student welfare checks are a service this office names explicitly, along with absence notifications and connecting a student to resources. Outside business hours, the Critical Incident Response Team is reachable year round through the police number below.
- Phone
- 979-845-3111
- Text
- 979-318-5086
8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday
Texas A&M University Police Department (UPD)
Your student may not be safe and it cannot wait. From out of town this is the number rather than 911, which would reach dispatch in your own city first. It is also how the university's Critical Incident Response Team gets activated outside office hours, and A&M states that team is reachable 24 hours a day, year round.
- UPD, staffed around the clock
- 979-845-2345
- If you are local, or with your student
- 911
Other numbers worth having
Not for a crisis. Worth saving now so you are not searching for them later.
University Health Services
An illness that is dragging on, or the late-night call where nobody is sure whether this needs an emergency room. Dial-A-Nurse takes non-emergency questions after hours.
- 24/7 Dial-A-Nurse
- 979-458-8379
- Appointments and information
- 979-458-4584
8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday
Aggie Parent & Family Programs
You do not know who to call. This office runs the parent and family portal and exists to point families at the right department, which makes it a reasonable first call when the problem does not fit a category.
- Phone
- 979-845-5826
- Text
- 979-256-1311
Emergency Aid, Aggie One Stop
An unexpected expense from an accident or emergency is threatening your student's ability to stay enrolled. It is one-time aid, the student applies, and they have to speak with an enrollment services advisor first to open the application.
Common questions
- Who do I call if I am worried about my student at Texas A&M?
- It depends on how urgent it is. If your student sounds flat, anxious or overwhelmed but is not in danger, start with Student Counseling & Mental Health Center. If you have not heard from them and you are frightened, call Student Assistance Services, Student Life. If they may not be safe right now, call Texas A&M University Police Department (UPD) at 979-845-2345.
- What number do I call in an emergency at Texas A&M if I live hours away?
- Call Texas A&M University Police Department (UPD) at 979-845-2345 rather than 911. Dialing 911 reaches the dispatch center covering wherever you are, not the campus, and that agency would have to relay the call. Campus police already have jurisdiction on university property and can go directly. Use 911 only if you are local or you are with your student.
- Will Texas A&M check on my student if I ask?
- Yes. Student Assistance Services, Student Life is the office that does this, and it takes a concern raised by a parent. Most families do not know it exists, which is why students go unchecked longer than they need to.
- Does Texas A&M have an after-hours crisis line?
- No. Student Counseling & Mental Health Center does not publish its own overnight crisis number. Call or text 988 for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, which is staffed around the clock, or contact Texas A&M University Police Department (UPD) at 979-845-2345 if your student may not be safe.
Encourage Us is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Texas A&M University. Every contact above is published by the school and links back to its source.
Know something we do not? If a number here has changed, or there is an office at Texas A&M that belongs on this page, tell us and we will fix it. Parents tend to find these things before we do.