Health education-based interventions have emerged as an effective method of decreasing mental illness stigma and creating greater awareness about psychological disorders. Hence, health education is significant in promoting mental health awareness and reducing stigma, particularly among university of Ibadan students. However, this study examined the impact of health education in reducing stigma and promoting mental health awareness, challenging barriers to mental health, and facilitating coping mechanism among University of Ibadan students. The study employed a descriptive research design and the target population for this study included both undergraduate and postgraduate students of the University of Ibadan aged 18years and above, across all faculties of the University. A stratified random sampling technique was adopted, with the fourteen faculties as the strata. A sample size of 18 students was randomly selected from the population of 252 in the fourteen faculty. A self-developed questionnaire was used to collect data from the respondents and contained 33 items. The study used SPSS version 24.0 to analyze data on mental health awareness, utilizing descriptive statistics and Pearson Product Moment Correlation to examine relationships. The research received ethical approval from the University of Ibadan Research Centre, with informed consent obtained from participants. The result of the first hypothesis showed that there is a statistically significant relationship between effectiveness of health education and stigma reduction among university of Ibadan students (r=.580, n=252, p (.001) <.05). Hence, the null hypothesis was rejected.

The second hypothesis tested revealed that there is no statistically significant relationship between effectiveness of health education and challenging barriers to mental health (r=.023, n=252, p (.712)>.05). Hence, the null hypothesis was accepted. The last hypothesis tested showed that there is a statistically significant relationship between effectiveness of health education and health coping mechanisms among university of Ibadan students (r=.425, n=252, p (.001) <.05). Hence, the null hypothesis was rejected. This study concluded that health education significantly enhances mental health awareness, reduces stigma, and strengthens coping mechanisms among University of Ibadan students, although it does not effectively address systemic barriers to mental health care. It is therefore recommended that future interventions should not only sustain and expand interactive, peer-led, and empowerment-based health education programs but also implement broader structural reforms, improve access to mental health services and use technological platforms for wider outreach, and continuously monitor program effectiveness to achieve comprehensive and sustainable mental health outcomes.