Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire (SACQ)

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Instrument Overview

Expert Notes AvailableView expert commentary on strengths and cautions for this instrument
Strengths

Comprehensive, multidimensional measure of college adjustment; strong track record of use in higher education research; applicable across a range of institutional contexts; useful for both research and applied settings

Cautions

Length may be burdensome in large survey batteries; Factor structure may vary across populations and cultural contexts

The Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire (SACQ) is a self-report instrument designed to assess how well students adjust to college across multiple domains. It captures academic, social, personal-emotional, and institutional attachment aspects of adaptation. The SACQ is widely used in research on student persistence, well-being, and college success.

Organization

Topic
Pathways to and Through Postsecondary
Collection(s): College Readiness and Success
Collection Category(ies)
Social Skills
Tags
College readiness

Content

Grades
Post secondary
Languages
English

Administration Information

Length
67 items

Access and Use

Developer
Roger W. Baker and Bohdan Siryk (1989)
Open Access
No

Psychometrics (additional guidance)

Psychometric References

Gravini Donado, M. L., Mercado-Peñaloza, M., & Dominguez-Lara, S. (2021). College adaptation among Colombian freshmen students: internal structure of the Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire (SACQ). Journal of New Approaches in Educational Research, 10(2), 251-263.

Soledad, R. G. M., Carolina, T. V., Adelina, G. C. M., Fernández, P., & Fernanda, M. (2012). The student adaptation to college questionnaire (SACQ) for use with Spanish students. Psychological reports, 111(2), 624-640.

Taylor, M. A., & Pastor, D. A. (2007). A confirmatory factor analysis of the Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire. Educational and psychological measurement, 67(6), 1002-1018.

Baker, R. W., & Siryk, B. (1989). Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire (SACQ) Manual. Los Angeles, CA: Western Psychological Services.

Populations of Validation

The SACQ was originally validated with traditional college students, primarily first-year undergraduates at U.S. institutions. Subsequent studies have used and validated the instrument across diverse student populations, including nontraditional students, community college students, and international students.

Countries with validation/adaptation evidence:
- United States (original validation)
- Spain (Soledad et al., 2012)
- Colombia (Gravini Donado et al., 2021)
- Ecuador
- Belgium / broader Europe
- Peru
- Indonesia
- Italy

Factor structure sometimes does not fully replicate outside the U.S.