Abstract: Objective To explore the prevalence of depression and its risk factors among freshmen and to provide references for implementing relevant interventions.Methods Totally 179 freshmen were selected from a university in Hubei province with cluster sampling and surveyed with questionnaires during November 2013.Results Among the 179 college freshmen,47 cases of depression were identified and the detection rate of depression was 26.2%.Of the 47 depression cases,40 (85.1%) were mild depression and 7 (14.9%) were severe depression.Multivariate unconditional logistic regression analysis showed that with a general satisfaction for specialty (odds ratioOR=3.015,95% confidence interval95%CI:1.157-7.857),being unsatisfied to specialty (OR=4.941,95%CI:1.421-17.177),high stress due to study (OR=3.414,95%CI:1.432-8.142),poor health status (OR=4.453,95%CI:1.233-16.077),and disharmonious interpersonal relationship (OR=3.171,95%CI:1.349-7.451) were risk factors of depression among the freshmen.Conclusion The freshmen with low satisfaction for specialty,perceived high stress due to study,poor personal health and disharmonious interpersonal relationship are more likely to suffer from depression.