Selecting a major is one of the most consequential decisions a student will make in college. Though major selection is often conceived of as a discrete choice made at a particular point in time, many students change their majors at least once during college. This article examines the process of changing majors as a key education transition.…

Attending and graduating from college or university has profound influences on financial earnings and career opportunities. Beyond these financial and career benefits, attending higher education also offers social and emotional benefits. While there are many potential benefits to going on in one's education, there are known disparities in who goes…

Along with anxiety and depression, mindfulness has recently gained attention among the predictors of college adjustment. This study conducted in Türkiye, investigated the relationship between mindfulness and college adjustment through the mediating role of depression and anxiety. Data were collected using the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale, the…

This study examines college access among undocumented students in Elkhart County, Indiana to understand how institutional actors are responding to revelations of their legal status. Using data from 39 life history interviews, we demonstrate how undocumented students' transition to college can hinge on the extent to which students are deemed…

Introduction: Theoretical approaches suggest that adaptability and well-being could serve as protective factors in influencing mental health. However, it remains empirically unclear how students' prior adaptability and well-being predict depression (and vice versa) in the long term. Hence, using a longitudinal design, the present study explores…

Vertical transfers, those who transferred from a 2-year institution to a 4-year institution, often face multifaceted challenges and lower success rates upon arriving at the receiving 4-year institutions. This quantitative study focused on three forms of social capital related to post-transfer adjustment, retention, and success for vertical…

Objective: To evaluate the psychometric properties of the short version of the Spanish Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire (SACQ-50, Spanish version). Participants: 1513 students from 14 universities in Peru, mainly females (61.5%), aged between 18 and 30 years. Method: Cross-sectional study with the questionnaire administered in person.…

Purpose: This research study set out to answer the following question: How does social class relate to social connectedness in college? Design/methodology/approach: The authors operationalized a nonexperimental, cross-sectional and analytical study design to analyze 271 survey responses. Findings: This study illustrates that discretionary income…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine whether functional limitations mediate the relation between PTSD symptoms and college life adjustment in student veterans with PTSD symptoms. Methods: A total of 232 student veterans with PTSD symptoms were recruited for this study. Participants were predominantly male (84.5%; females = 15.5%).…

The transition from high school to university is usually complex for every student, but especially for minority groups. This is mainly due to the need to create more inclusive universities. The objective of this study was to determine the variables that influence the transition from post-compulsory education to university for students identifying…

As part of the fabric of college students, minority international students undergo specific and unique challenges to their health and wellness. Little is known about how and what constitutes wellness for minoritized international students and the impact of wellness on their university adjustment. Using a systematic grounded theory approach, this…

Non-traditional students are quickly becoming the majority on college campuses, with three-fourths of campus populations fitting the definition of a non-traditional student. However, many institutions still lack a tailored orientation model for non-traditional students. This leads to the marginalization of adult learners, distance education…

One consequence of the widened participation in higher education (HE) is that the social demarcation line that once existed at the entrance to HE has moved inside the HE system. This study investigates how students experience social friction when demarcation lines are crossed and how such friction develops over time. This was achieved by repeated…

Despite years of investigation on international students' adjustment, cultural distance and cultural intelligence, the definitions of and the relationship between these concepts are not yet sufficiently well established. This article further explores the three concepts and their possible interrelations. We propose a hypothesized model that…

The sense of belonging satisfies the need for relatedness which is one of the three basic psychological needs. It is considered to be a foundation for success in higher education. One of the predictors of sense of belonging from a psychological perspective is students' personality in the sense of Big Five traits. There are three modes in which…