History and Objectives: Depression is a debilitating factor in life. Its frequency is estimated to be around 15-20%. It’s prevalence among students groups were reported from 10 to 64%. Depression may lead to suicide, drug dependence, low self confidence and may lead to low school performance among students and it will have adverse effect directly and indirectly on the society as a whole. The present study was carried out in order to determine the prevalence of depression among university students in Kashan in 1996-1997.

Materials and Methods: A descriptive study was carried out on 310 subjects. Individuals were selected on random basis. A short version of Beck standard questionnaire was given to each student. Personal records were collected.

Results: From 307 individuals, the prevalence was 35.8%. Depression was most prevalent among health and hygiene students (42.3%) and the medical students had the lowest prevalence (28.4%). Depression was not related to gender and residency of students.

Conclusion: Due to relative high prevalence of depression among students, preventive measures ought to be designed in order to reduce stressful situations.