Academic Stress, Anxiety, and Institutional Support Across the Student Trajectory: An Exploratory–Descriptive Study in Romanian Higher Education

This study examined self-reported academic stress, anxiety-related difficulties, coping strategies, and perceived institutional support among 1494 students enrolled in ten Romanian university centers. Four research questions addressed academic barriers and their demographic and structural correlates, the association between stress and academic functioning, coping strategies, and the role of family, peer, and institutional support. The percentage of students reporting high or very high stress differed markedly across year-of-study groups in this cross-sectional sample, from 28.1% among first-year Bachelor’s students to over 80% among second-year Master’s students; perceived institutional support followed an inverse pattern, with second-year Master’s students reporting the lowest levels among all year-of-study groups. A multivariate ordinal regression identified year of study and monthly study-related costs as robust, independent correlates of reported stress; residential environment showed a weaker association that did not hold under an alternative model used as a robustness check. Gender showed no statistically significant effect in either of the two hypotheses that directly tested gender (H4, H5), nor across the broader set of gender-related statistical tests conducted in this study, despite small descriptive differences. Perceived university support was lower among employed students, and awareness of institutional stress-related policies differed by employment status and year of study. Overall, year of study and structural circumstances, rather than gender, were most strongly associated with reported academic stress and institutional support in this sample. This highlights the need for universities to adjust psychological, academic, and financial support across different stages of study.