Student Adjustment to College Questionnaire – SACQ
Measures how well a student is adapting to the academic, social, personal-emotional, and institutional demands of college life.
Scale Development & Technical Details
Scale Overview
The Student Adjustment to College Questionnaire – SACQ was developed by Robert W. Baker & Bohdan Siryk (1989). It is designed to measure College Adjustment. The scale is intended for use with College students.
Scale Structure
This instrument consists of 67 items organized into 4 factors/subscales: Academic Adjustment, Social Adjustment, Personal-Emotional Adjustment, Institutional Attachment.
| Factor / Subscale | Items | N |
|---|---|---|
| Academic Adjustment | 3,5,6,10,13,17,19,21,23,25,27,29,32,36,39,41,43,44,50,52,54,58,62,66 | 24 |
| Social Adjustment | 1,4,8,14,18,26,30,33,37,42,46,48,51,56,63,65 | 16 |
| Personal-Emotional Adjustment | 2,7,11,12,20,22,24,28,31,35,38,40,45,49,53,55,64,67 | 18 |
| Institutional Attachment | 9,15,16,34,47,57,59,60,61 | 9 |
Response Format
Respondents rate each item using a custom response format.
Response anchors: 1 = Doesn't apply to me at all, 2 = 2, 3 = 3, 4 = 4, 5 = 5, 6 = 6, 7 = 7, 8 = 8, 9 = Applies very closely to me.
The scale includes 34 reverse-scored items to reduce acquiescence bias.
Scoring
Items are scored by subscale, with each subscale sum representing a distinct dimension.
Total scores range from 67 to 603. Interpretation guidelines:
- Low Adjustment: 67 – 245
- Moderate Adjustment: 246 – 424
- High Adjustment: 425 – 603
Psychometric Properties
Internal Consistency: The scale has demonstrated good to excellent internal consistency with reported Cronbach’s alpha values of 0.92 – 0.95.
Administration
The scale is self-administered and typically takes approximately 15 minutes to complete. It can be administered individually or in group settings. No special training is required for administration.