The purpose of this study was to examine subjective well-being in college students and the mediating effect of perceived stress and mental health on the influence of empowerment. Methods: A descriptive correlational and cross-sectional research design was used. Participants were 275 students who were recruited from a university in Seoul, and completed the survey. Research tools were empowerment, perceived stress, subjective well-being and mental health (standardized MMPI-2 scale). Collected data were analyzed using SPSS and AMOS 23.0. Significance of the indirect effect was analyzed by the bootstrapping method. Results: Fitness of the modified model was appropriate (x²/df=2.68, TLI=.92, CFI=.94, RMSEA=.078, SRMR=.053). Empowerment had a significant direct effect on mental health and indirect effect through perceived stress. Perceived stress had a significant direct effect on subjective well-being and indirect effect through mental health. Empowerment had an indirect effect on subjective well-being through perceived stress and mental health. Empowerment, perceived stress and mental health explained 70.7% of the subjective well-being in the structural equation model. Conclusion: It is important to maintain good mental health in order to improve the well-being of college students. In addition, strategies to improve empowerment are required to reduce stress and promote mental health.