Abstract:

In higher education, we encounter various types of counselling. This includes primarily study counselling, and secondarily all other types of counselling and support, which may or may not be related to study. These are, for example, legal, social, psychological, career and spiritual counselling, in which the student needs help in solving a personal, partner, family or other life situations. Counselling services are usually designed for all students, only some of them are intended for specific target groups, such as students with specific needs. They are provided at the university, faculty and departmental levels. First year of the university studies can be a stressful time for students and a very demanding process of their adaptation. This study aims to examine the support services provided by the universities to their students in Slovakia. So it is designed as a case study, which is one of the qualitative methods in education. 1st year students´ perceptions of the social support were received at the beginning of their study at the university. Regarding the findings peer support seems to be the most prominent type of support, that facilitated the adaptation process of the students. Other types of support and counselling provided by the faculty were less helpful for them.

Keywords:

Social support, higher education, process of adaptation, 1st year students.