Student Adjustment to College Questionnaire (SACQ)

Abstract

The Student Adjustment to College Questionnaire (SACQ) is a widely utilized psychometric instrument designed to measure the degree and nature of adjustment difficulties experienced by students entering higher education. Developed by Baker and Siryk (1984, 1989), the SACQ consists of 67 items rated on a Likert scale, providing a comprehensive assessment of overall college adaptation. The scale is particularly valuable for identifying students who may be at risk for academic failure, dropout, or psychological distress, allowing for timely counseling psychology intervention. It measures a global adjustment score alongside four critical domain-specific subscales: Academic Adjustment, Social Adjustment, Personal-Emotional Adjustment, and Institutional Attachment.

Keywords

College adjustment, Student retention, Academic performance, Personal-Emotional adjustment, Social integration, Institutional attachment, Psychometric instrument, Higher education, Freshman experience.

Authors

Richard W. Baker, B. Siryk, M. A. Siryk, S. Dahmus, J. H. Bernardin.

Purpose

The primary purpose of the SACQ is to provide a standardized, reliable, and valid measure of the transition and adaptation challenges faced by students entering a college or university environment. This psychological scale assists university administrators and counseling services in two main areas: first, screening large groups of new students to identify those experiencing significant difficulties; and second, providing diagnostic insights into the specific areas (academic, social, or emotional) where a student requires support. The instrument allows institutions to tailor interventions, thereby improving student success rates and retention.

By quantifying the multidimensional process of college adjustment, the SACQ offers predictive utility regarding future academic success and persistence. The scale is particularly sensitive to the stresses associated with the initial semester, which is often the period of highest risk for attrition.

Construct

The SACQ is structured around the construct of college adaptation, which is conceptualized as a multi-faceted process encompassing a student’s ability to cope with the environmental, academic, and personal demands of higher education. The scale measures four distinct, yet interrelated, domains of adjustment:

• Academic Adjustment: Reflects the student’s satisfaction with and performance in the academic demands of college, including studying habits, motivation, and perception of intellectual ability.
• Social Adjustment: Measures the student’s success and comfort in developing friendships, engaging in extracurricular activities, and navigating social relationships within the college setting.
• Personal-Emotional Adjustment: Assesses the student’s psychological and physical well-being, including levels of anxiety, depression, physical symptoms, and general sense of control and self-esteem.
• Institutional Attachment (or Goal Commitment/Institutional Adjustment): Reflects the student’s satisfaction with the university environment, commitment to remaining at the institution, and overall alignment with the college’s culture and offerings (e.g., courses, faculty, housing).

Validity

The SACQ demonstrates strong psychometric properties, particularly concerning its validity. Studies have consistently supported the scale’s ability to predict objective outcomes such as Grade Point Average (GPA) and college persistence. High scores on the Academic Adjustment subscale, in particular, correlate significantly with higher first-semester GPAs.

Research, including studies conducted on diverse populations such as European freshman students (Beyers & Goossens, 2002), confirms the concurrent and predictive validity of the SACQ. The scale effectively differentiates between students who are well-adjusted and those who report significant distress or are considering withdrawal. Furthermore, the four-factor structure has been cross-validated, supporting the theoretical delineation of the adjustment construct.

Reliability

The reliability of the SACQ is generally excellent across various populations. The original authors and subsequent researchers report high internal consistency for the overall score and the four subscales, typically measured using Cronbach’s alpha. The alpha coefficients for the full scale generally range from .92 to .95, indicating high homogeneity among the 67 items.

Subscale reliability also remains strong, with alpha coefficients for the Academic, Social, Personal-Emotional, and Institutional subscales consistently falling above the .80 threshold. Additionally, test-retest reliability studies demonstrate the stability of the scores over short periods (e.g., 2-4 weeks), suggesting that the instrument provides consistent measurement of the student’s adjustment status during the critical early phase of college attendance.

Factor Analysis

Factor analysis studies confirm the multidimensional structure of the SACQ. The initial exploratory factor analysis performed by Baker and Siryk identified four primary factors corresponding to the four dimensions of adjustment: Academic, Social, Personal-Emotional, and Institutional Attachment. These factors account for a substantial portion of the variance in student adjustment.

While the four-factor model is the standard, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) has supported the use of both the individual subscale scores and a single, higher-order Global Adjustment score. The strong correlation between the subscales allows researchers and clinicians to use the Total Score as a reliable indicator of overall adaptation, while the subscale scores provide granular detail necessary for targeted intervention planning.

Instrument

Test Type: Self-report psychological scale / Psychometric inventory

Format: 67 items utilizing a 9-point Likert scale, ranging from “Doesn’t apply to me at all” (1) to “Applies very closely to me” (9).

Language Available: English (Translations may exist in academic literature, but English is the primary published language).

Population Group: College and University students.

Age Group: Typically late adolescence and young adulthood (17-25), corresponding to traditional undergraduate enrollment.

Population Details: Primarily used with freshman students during their initial transition period (first semester/quarter) to assess early adaptation challenges.

Test Methodology: Self-administered paper-and-pencil or digital questionnaire. Responses are summed and averaged to produce a Total Adjustment score and four subscale scores. Higher scores indicate better adjustment.

Keywords

Higher education, Student success, Academic self-efficacy, Counseling, Retention strategies, Psychological well-being, Self-report measure, College transition.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not available in source material.

Affiliation Email addresses: Not available in source material.

Correspondence Address: Correspondence generally directed through Western Psychological Services (WPS), the publisher.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The Student Adjustment to College Questionnaire (SACQ) was originally developed by Baker and Siryk in 1984, with a revised manual published in 1989. It is a proprietary instrument distributed by Western Psychological Services (WPS), which holds the copyright and manages permissions and fees. Access to the full scale and scoring materials requires purchase or licensing through the publisher.

The original PDF sample report for this instrument can be downloaded here: https://www.wpspublish.com/store/Images/Downloads/Product/SACQ_Sample-Test-Report.pdf

Reference’s

• Baker, R.W., & Siryk, B. (1984). Measuring adjustment to college. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 31, 179-189.
• Baker, R. W., & Siryk, M. A. (1989). Student adaptation to college questionnaire manual. Los Angeles, CA: Western Psychological Services.
• Dahmus, S., & Bernardin, J. H. (1992). Student adaptation to college questionnaire. Measurement & Evaluation in Counseling & Development, 25(3), 139-142.
• Beyers, Wim., & Goossens, Luc. (2002). Concurrent and predictive validity of the Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire in a sample of European freshman students. Educational and Psychological Measurement. 62(3): 525–536.

Items of the Student Adjustment to College Questionnaire (SACQ)

The SACQ utilizes a 9-point Likert scale ranging from “Doesn’t apply to me at all” to “Applies very closely to me.” The 67 items are:

1. I feel that I fit in well as part of the college environment.
2. I have been feeling tense or nervous lately.
3. I have been keeping up to date on my academic work.
4. I am meeting as many people, and making as many friends as I would like at college.
5. I know why I’m in college and what I want out of it.
6. I am finding academic work at college difficult.
7. Lately, I have been feeling blue and moody a lot.
8. I am very involved with social activities in college.
9. I am adjusting well to college.
10. I have not been functioning well during examinations.
11. I have felt tired much of the time lately.
12. Being on my own, taking responsibility for myself, has not been easy.
13. I am satisfied with the level at which I am performing academically.
14. I have had informal, personal contacts with college professors.
15. I am pleased now about my decision to go to college.
16. I am pleased now about my decision to attend this college in particular.
17. I’m not working as hard as I should at my course work.
18. I have several close social ties at college.
19. My academic goals and purposes are well defined.
20. I haven’t been able to control my emotions very well lately.
21. I’m not really smart enough for academic work I am expected to be doing now.
22. Lonesomeness for home is a source is of difficulty for me now.
23. Getting a college degree is very important for me.
24. My appetite has been good lately.
25. I haven’t been very efficient in the use of study time lately.
26. I enjoy living in a college dormitory. (Please omit if you do not live in a dormitory; any university housing should be regarded as a dormitory.)
27. I enjoy writing papers for courses.
28. I have been having a lot of headaches lately.
29. I really haven’t had much motivation for studying lately.
30. I am satisfied with the extracurricular activities available at college.
31. I’ve given a lot of thought lately to whether I should ask for help form the Psychological/Counseling Services Center or from a psychotherapist outside of college.
32. Lately, I have been having doubts regarding the value of a college education.
33. I am getting along very well with my roommates(s) at college. (Please omit if you do not have a roommate.)
34. I wish I were at another college or university.
35. I’ve put on (or lost) too much weight recently.
36. I am satisfied with the number and variety of courses available at college.
37. I feel that I have enough social skills to get along well in the college setting.
38. I have been getting angry too easily lately.
39. Recently I have had trouble concentrating when I try to study.
40. I haven’t been sleeping very well.
41. I’m not doing well enough academically for the amount of work I put in.
42. I am having difficulty feeling at ease with other people at college.
43. I am satisfied with the quality or the caliber of courses available at college.
44. I am attending classes regularly.
45. Sometimes my thinking gets muddled up too easily.
46. I am satisfied with the extent to which I am participating in social activities at college.
47. I expect to stay at this college for a bachelor’s degree.
48. I haven’t been mixing too well with the opposite sex lately.
49. I worry a lot about my college expenses.
50. I am enjoying my academic work at college.
51. I have been feeling lonely a lot at college lately.
52. I am having a lot trouble getting started on homework assignments.
53. I feel I have good control over my life situation at college.
54. I am satisfied with my program of courses for this semester/quarter.
55. I have been feeling in good health lately.
56. I feel I am very different from other students at college in ways that I don’t like.
57. On balance, I would rather be home than here.
58. Most of the things I am interested in are not related to any of my course work at college.
59. Lately I have been giving a lot of thought to transferring to another college.
60. Lately I have been giving a lot thought to dropping out of college altogether and for good.
61. I find myself giving considerable thought to taking time off from college and finishing later.
62. I am very satisfied with the professors I have now in my courses.
63. I have some good friends or acquaintances at college with whom I can talk about any problems I may have.
64. I am experiencing a lot of difficulty coping with the stresses imposed upon me in college.
65. I am quite satisfied with my social life at college.
66. I’m quite satisfied with my academic situation at college
67. I feel confident that I will be able to deal in a satisfactory manner with future challenges here at college.