Enrollment in postsecondary institutions of higher education increased 33% between 2000 and 2014 and is projected to grow another 13% between 2014 and 2025 (Hussar & Bailey, 2017). This new wave of college students is presenting with increased mental health concerns. If left untreated, the consequences of mental health disorders, including poor academic performance, higher attrition rates, lower retention rates, self-harm, and suicide or homicide in the most severe cases, can be severe and wide-ranging for students and for the larger campus community. In response, college counselors, student affairs officials, wellness coordinators, and administrators across the United States are engaging in outreach, education, and consultation by training students to recognize and refer peers in mental distress. The literature is lacking a psychometrically validated measure to help college counselors and student affairs officials identify how likely a student is to respond when encountering a peer in mental distress and which responses are more likely. The purpose of this study was to design, validate, and cross-validate scores on such a measure, the Mental Distress Response Scale (MDRS). The following research questions were addressed: (a) What is the underlying dimensionality of the MDRS with a large sample of undergraduate students? (b) Is the emergent factor structure of the MDRS confirmed with a new sample of undergraduate students?