Although the contribution of family support and peer support to university adjustment has been examined separately, few attempts have been made to explore the mechanism underlying this relation. This is the first study in the Asian context to test the role of self-esteem in mediating the effect of social support on first-year university adjustment…

Objective: Emerging adulthood is an important phase in the transition to adulthood. Emerging adults experience minimal social control and incomplete development of executive functioning leaving this age-group at risk for misusing this newfound independence. Hence, it is important to understand pathways to support positive development (PD)…

Many late adolescents who transition to the college environment perceive changes in psychosocial stress. One such stressor, loneliness, has been associated with numerous health problems among adolescents and adults. The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis is one mechanism through which loneliness may affect health. Guided by a risk and resilience…

There is an increasing need for student affairs professionals to understand the experiences of student athletes in higher education. The researchers asked: How do academic, athletic, and social experiences integrate to affect the freshman student athlete transition to college and impact their overall college experience? The results indicated that…

This study explored the effects of parents' and students' communication patterns on students' social, emotional, and academic adjustment to college. It matched 118 pairs of parents and students (n = 236) and asked them to report their frequency and mode of communication, as well as the first-year students' perceived adjustment to college. The…

College completion has become a national priority in the United States. Before students can graduate from a college or university, however, they must survive their first year in higher education. The retention of out-of-state freshmen is a major piece of the larger college student retention puzzle due to recent national enrollment trends and the…

Problem: The purpose of this research study was to examine the coping strategies of nontraditional female students in a private university in Southwest Michigan, and a public university in Northern Indiana. According to Carney-Compton & Tan (2002), nontraditional female students characterize the leading emergent set of students beginning…

International students encounter academic and social adjustments different than those of their domestic peers. Of particular concern is language proficiency, specifically students' investment in continual language development throughout university study. In the current article, I present a comparative case study of two Chinese freshmen (Jenn,…

The current qualitative study explored the transition to college of youth aging out of foster care and their adaptation in the first year of college. The aim of this study was to determine the nature and quality of former foster youths' college transition experience and factors influencing their adaptation in the first year. Participants included…

A successful freshman year of high school lays the foundation for the path to college: ninth-grade grades are powerful indicators of high school graduation, college access, and college degree attainment. However, the transition from eighth to ninth grade is a time when students' academic performance often declines. This report explores how Chicago…

Background: Much has been written about Black undergraduate men's out-of-class engagement and social experiences, identity development, participation in intercollegiate athletics, and college enrollment and completion rates. Too little is known about their academic readiness and first-year college adjustment. Purpose: The purpose of this study was…

This study explores the lived experiences of 10 students entering college from rural Oregon communities. Using narrative inquiry, the author examines students' transition, common experiences, and enrollment barriers. Resulting themes include: (a) unexpected emotional and social transition, (b) motivations for enrolling, (c) lack of social and…

The number of international students on U.S. campuses has increased more than 84 percent over the past decade (IIE, 2016). Although it has been well-established that interaction and friendship with local students is a key element for international student adjustment to a foreign university, few studies have grappled with how these intercultural…

Despite the fact that international students face challenges at the United States (U.S.) universities and colleges, little research exits on these student's sense of belonging. This study investigates the factors of sense of belonging for international students and provides insights on factors like academic adjustment, homesickness, peer…

College is one of the most formative times in an individual's life. Its intense living-learning environment can promote students' extreme self-confidence and positive development, or alternatively, can result in low levels of well-being. The first year in college is an opportunity for faculty and staff to engage with students to help them build…