The Effect of Counseling on University Students, Academic Achievement

Counseling is an important factor in solving Students’ problems. Nowadays, each Iranian university or higher education institute has a counseling center. The principal purpose of this cross-sectional survey was to obtain a better understanding of the effect of counseling on students’ academic achievement. The research model includes four factors or components; they are: family interaction, social skills training, improving client’s self-esteam and Job–search and/or job satisfaction. The data are collected through university-counseling centers. Findings show that in terms of space and human resources there are significaut differences between counseling centers. Pearson correlations indicate that there are close relationships among the major components of the model. In addition, the results of regression analysis and structural equation modeling indicate that counseling may help students, through the components, in order to solve their study problems and consequently, increase their academic achievement. The most important help comes through improvement of the students’ self-esteem. Considering the importance of counseling in students’ academic achievements, the improvement of university counseling centers is recommended.