Objective: The purpose of this study is to investigate the status of freshmen s mental health literacy and its impact on mental health and to provide a reference for probing into the effectiveness and sustainality of curriculum education as the main channel of improvement of mental health literacy. Methods: Mental health literacy questionnaire for Chinese adults and college students mental health screening scale were used to investigate 2 878 freshmen in a university in Wuhan. Mental health literacy was one of the indicators of course teaching evaluation. The curriculum intervention effect was investigated through pre-test, post-test and 10-month follow-up. Results: The mental health literacy of freshmen (40.12±6.57) was higher than the national average level(35.81±8.06), but lower than the average level in terms of self-help mental health literacy(F=28.25，P<0.01). There were gender differences and urban-rural differences in mental health literacy. The mental health literacy of freshmen without psychological problems was significantly higher than that of freshmen with psychological problems(F=374.80，P<0.01). Structured course teaching significantly improved freshmen s mental health literacy, which were still significant after 10 months. Conclusion College freshmen s mental health literacy is generally great, and the mental health curriculum improved their mental health literacy.