Abstract
In today's highly competitive world, students face various academic problems, including disinterest in attending classes, inability to understand the subject taught, and most significantly, academic stress. The alarming rates of academic stress among tertiary students constitute grave consequences for educational practitioners and society. This study, therefore, examined the school environment, self-concept, workload, and classroom size as predictors of academic stress among first-year tertiary students in Southwestern Nigeria. For this study, a descriptive research design of survey type was adopted. The study adopted the multistage sampling method. The simple random sampling technique was used to select one tertiary institution from each of the six states in Southwestern Nigeria. 300 first-year students were used for the study. Valid and standardized instruments, including the School environment Scale (α=0.78), Self-concept Scale (α=.82), Academic Workload Scale (α=.78), and Student Academic Stress Scale (α=.73), were used for information gathering. Data collected was analyzed using simple percentages, Pearson product-moment correlation (PPMC), and multiple regression statistical method at 0.05 level of significance. Findings revealed that academic stress of first-year tertiary students is significantly correlated with the school environment, self-concept, workload and classroom size. Class size made the most significant contribution, followed by workload, School environment and Self-concept. Based on these findings, it is concluded that many of the students were highly stressed due to the large class size and too much academic workload. Therefore, there is a need for active participation from both the public and private sectors in the planning of educational facilities in tertiary institutions.