Development of an Educational Program Framework for Freshmen's University Adaptation: focusing on students at A university

Objectives This study aims to understand the current state of freshman programs at domestic and international universities. It investigates student satisfaction with existing freshman education programs and examines the challenges freshmen face in adapting to university life. The ultimate goal is to analyze these findings to develop a framework for educational programs that facilitate freshmen's adaptation to university. Methods To achieve this, we reviewed prior research on freshman programs and conducted various literature re-views and actual surveys on freshman education programs at domestic and international universities. Based on these, we developed survey questions to assess perceptions of freshman education. Subsequently, we ad-ministered the survey to students at “A” University and analyzed the responses. Based on the findings of this study, we developed a framework for educational programs aimed at facilitating freshmen's adaptation to uni-versity life. Results Freshman programs at domestic and international universities can be broadly categorized into pre-college programs, freshman orientations, and freshman seminars. When surveying satisfaction with freshman education programs, students expressed high satisfaction with education that allowed them to explore their majors or career paths and desired practical information about university life. The support freshmen needed to adapt to university fell into four main categories: interpersonal relationships, academic skills, major-specific learning, and personal development. Based on these findings, this study developed a framework for educational programs to facilitate freshmen's adaptation to university life. Conclusions The educational program framework for freshmen's university adaptation developed in this study can be utilized to create systematic educational programs that help students adapt well to university life.