The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic caused immense changes, particularly in education. There has been a shift from mostly face-to-face to increased remote learning, and students have tried to adapt to this change. Hybrid classes are now implemented as students adjust to the new normal of the post-pandemic era. While the transition for some can be…

This study examined the challenges faced by first-year university students in Tanzania, focusing on the interplay between psychological distress, coping mechanisms, and academic adjustment. A cross-sectional survey was conducted using Kessler's psychological distress scale, the Student Adjustment to College Questionnaire, and the Brief COPE scale…

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to assess the psychometric properties of the Flourishing Scale (FS) by employing samples of Malaysian and Indonesian undergraduates. In addition, the present study seeks to identify aspects of the social-psychological functioning that were perceived differently by both samples. Design/methodology/approach: The…

The social adjustment process is a prominent factor in the literature on the transition to higher education (HE). This vast body of research, however, has predominantly focussed on academically oriented first-year higher education (FYHE) contexts, leaving professionally oriented programs (providing vocational education that prepares students for a…

This study is about the experiences for first-year women who take part in the Formal Panhellenic Recruitment process but are not accepted for membership. The participants narrate their experiences with Formal Panhellenic Recruitment as well as how the process affected their transition to their institution and how the process changed their path to…

Universities today are facing challenges regarding students' persistence and success especially among first year students who converge from diverse socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds and anticipate a smooth academic and social adjustment to the university setting. However, contextual and individual factors play important role in the academic…

University First Year Seminar (FYS) programs are diverse in their content and pedagogy. Yet all seek to assist first-year students in the difficult college transition. The purpose of this pilot study was to evaluate if grouping similar academic majors into the existing First Year Seminar (FYS) courses would improve social connectedness, use of…

The coronavirus pandemic has caused a rather difficult period of adaptation of students to the university system and the new educational process. Digital technologies came to the rescue, which contributed to some solution of emerging adaptation issues for nonresident students. This article is aimed at identifying the features of social adaptation…

First-year college students (N = 384) self-reported parental support, emotional detachment from parents, and college adjustment. Higher levels of parental social support were associated with greater academic adjustment, social adjustment, and institutional attachment. Higher levels of emotional detachment were associated with greater institutional…

Inequality in college has both structural and psychological causes; these include the presence of self-defeating beliefs about the potential for growth and belonging. Such beliefs can be addressed through large-scale interventions in the college transition (Walton & Cohen, 2011; Walton et al., 2023) but are hard to measure. In our…

Globally, universities have an interest in recruiting the most talented students; however, limited attention has been given to how these students experience their transition and adjustment to university life. This mixed-methods study analyzes the academic, social, emotional, and institutional dimensions of gifted students' adjustment to university…

The transition from school to the institute of higher learning is a challenging phase that requires students to adapt to new environments and cultures. This study aimed to explore the adaptation experiences of first-year students at the Institute of Teacher Education by using storytelling through drawing. This study involved 18 students pursuing…

A dearth of literature exists on first-year transfer student interventions, which makes it difficult to determine whether there are transfer student subgroups that struggle more than others. This study used a latent class analysis to examine whether meaningful subgroups of transfer students emerged based on their response patterns to measures of…