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Considering the pivotal role of academic adjustment for student success, it is important to gain insight into how several motivational and behavioural factors affect academic adjustment and the extent to which academic adjustment influences student success. This empirical study investigated how intrinsic motivation, academic self-efficacy, selfregulated study behaviour and satisfaction with the chosen degree programme influenced academic adjustment in university and how these variables and adjustment affected three important indicators of student success: grade point average (GPA), attained number of credits (ECTS) and intention to persist. The sample consisted of 243 first-year university students in the Netherlands. Structural equation modelling showed that academic adjustment was influenced by intrinsic motivation, self-regulated study behaviour and degree programme satisfaction, which together explained 72% of the variance in adjustment. Motivational and behavioural variables did not influence GPA and credits directly but through academic adjustment. Furthermore, only satisfaction with the degree programme predicted intention to persist. These results point to the importance of academic adjustment in predicting university GPA and credits and the pivotal role of satisfaction with the degree programme in predicting intention to persist. Universities could integrate the development of self-regulated study skills-the biggest contributor to academic adjustment-in the first-year programme. Moreover, looking at the importance of students' satisfaction with the programme, communication and collaboration between secondary schools and universities should be enhanced in order to Eur J Psychol Educ DOI 10.1007/s10212-017-0347-8

High dropout rates, delay, and dissatisfaction among PhD students are common problems in doctoral education. Research shows that many different factors are associated with doctoral success, but these factors have not often been studied simultaneously. Moreover, characteristics of the PhD project are mostly neglected. In this study, we investigate which supervision, psychosocial, and project characteristics are related to satisfaction, progress, and quit intentions in a sample of 839 PhD candidates at a university in the Netherlands. Results of regression analyses show that experienced workload was negatively related to satisfaction and progress and positively to quit intentions. The quality of the supervisor-PhD candidate relationship, the PhD candidate's sense of belonging, the amount of freedom in the project, and working on a project closely related to the supervisor's research were positively related to satisfaction and negatively to quit intentions. The high workload of PhD candidates should be a major point of attention for universities who wish to increase their rates of PhD completion and PhD candidates' satisfaction. In addition, the 'match' between PhD candidate and supervisor is crucial, both personallya good relationshipand academically, i.e. that the PhD candidate works on a topic closely related to the supervisor's research.

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Many theories on college retention recognize the significance of student satisfaction as a positive factor in students' persistence. Yet, there are few theories that address the relationship of degree program satisfaction to study behaviour and dropout. This paper explores the impact of degree program satisfaction on academic accomplishment and dropout. The impact of degree program satisfaction was studied within a multitheoretical framework. The results of the study show that student accomplishment not only depends on differences in academic ability but also on degree program satisfaction. Decreased degree program satisfaction appears to diminish both study motivation and study behaviour. The authors discuss some implications for current educational practice.