The Transition to University

Freshmen students at six Canadian universities completed questionnaires that assessed the quality of match between their individual needs and their university environment. The Student-University Match Questionnaire (SUM), a theoretically derived scale, was developed and demonstrated excellent psychometric properties (Cronbach's alpha = .87). Furthermore, interviews were conducted with students who had deregistered from their universities and a matched control group of students who remained enrolled. The interviews provided construct and predictive validity for the SUM scale. They also revealed important themes of student-environment match concerns for these emerging adults, confirming the characteristics of development, exploration, and mobility as identified by Arnett. Implications are discussed.