**Disadvantaged Youth in Higher Education: Health and Match with the Environment** Research questions: 1. a) Are low-SES youth at universities reporting more health problems compared to high-SES youth at universities, low-SES youth in a lower level of education (higher professional education), and high-SES youth in a lower level of education? b) Is the variance in health problems between SES-groups and educational levels, different after one, two, three, four and five years of higher education? 2. a) Are low-SES youth at universities less satisfied with the academic and social environment compared to high-SES youth at universities, low-SES youth in a lower level of education (higher professional education), and high-SES youth in a lower level of education? b) Is the variance in satisfaction between SES-groups and educational levels, different after one, two, three, four and five years of higher education? **Data**: Student Monitor The Student Monitor-dataset contains data from the ‘Student Monitor’, a large-scale survey in the Netherlands of students’ experiences in higher education. Participants were selected with a random sample procedure from all higher education institutions in the Netherlands. The dataset that we will use for this study contains data from 15 waves (from 2001 to 2016; N = 83453). Because of changes of the content of the questionnaire between 2001 and 2015, several questions have not been included in all measurements, resulting in missing data. Our dataset contains health data from 42241 respondents, information about well-being with the academic environment from 41380 respondents, and information about well-being with the social environment from 23075 respondents. **Inclusion criteria**: • Students are enrolled in higher education (i.e., university or higher professional education); • Students are enrolled in a full-time educational program; • Students are between 17 and 25 years old; • Respondents are qualified to enter the highest level in tertiary education (According to the Dutch law this is the case when they obtained a VWO-diploma); We will not remove any outliers. **Independent variables:** 1. Educational level Participants are enrolled either in the highest level of higher education (university), or a lower level of higher education (university of applied sciences). 2. SES We employ two measures of SES: 1) Objective SES: Measure based on parental educational level, two levels: 1) (High-SES), one or both parents obtained a diploma in higher education and 2) (Low- and middle-SES), both parents haven’t obtained a diploma in higher education. 2) Perceived SES: Measure based on a single item regarding students’ view on their parents’ social class. The response scale ranged from 1, lower social class, to 10, higher social class. *“Some people belong to a higher social class, others to a lower one. If you look at your own social background, where on the scale would you place your parents/caregivers?”* **Measures** *Health:* Participants have responded to a multiple-response question with 39 items on health. In this study, we select 14 health-issues that could be related to chronic stress. The response-scale was binary (0, no, and 1, yes). *"There are students who struggle with their programs because they have an illness, disorder or handicap, for example wheelchair confinement, a serious disease, dyslexia and RSI. The next section asks questions about a wide range of handicaps or limitations that students may have. The answers to these questions will give a better understanding of students with limitations and enable government and universities to work together to improve these students’ academic experience. Please read the questions carefully and indicate if you have a limitation.* *Do you have one or more of the following disorders, diseases or functional limitations? More than one answers possible*. [multiple responses]" a. Concentration problems b. Fatigue / lack of energy c. Chronic pain complaints d. Migraine / severe headache e. Eating disorder (bulimia, anorexia, obesity) f. Lung and breathing problems (e.g., non-specific respiratory track disease, asthma, chronic bronchitis, CF) g. Skin disorder (e.g., eczema, psoriasis) h. Diabetes i. Mental health problem/disorder (e.g., psychosis, burn-out, anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, addiction) j. Arthrosis, rheumatism or other joint ailments k. Muscular dystrophy, spasm or other muscular disease l. Neurological disorder (e.g., MS) m. Heart and vascular disease (e.g., heart disorder, high blood pressure, constricted vessels) n. Serious bowel condition (e.g., Crohn’s disease, colitis)* Classification: The International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-10, WHO Version 2016) is an ordering of illnesses and disorders in categories according to established criteria. We have classified our health data according to this ordering into seven categories. We added the category ‘General health complaints’ for health complaints that are not related to one specific category. We employ a measure for each of the fourteen health-items, with score 1 (yes) or 0 (no). *Well-being* Participants have responded to five single items on well-being. Three of these items reflect their experiences with the academic environment and two measure their experiences with the social environment. We will apply two scales, one for satisfaction with the academic environment (α = .72) and one for satisfaction with the social environment (α = .70). The response scale ranged from 1, very dissatisfied, to 5, very satisfied. *“The next questions are about your overall satisfaction with a number of aspects of your programme of study. Please indicate how satisfied you are overall with the following”:* (Academic environment) 1. The content of the programme 2. The general skills learned in the programme 3. Quality of teaching (Social environment) 4. General atmosphere 5. Students’ attitude towards fellow students **Split Samples method** In order to reduce the risk of type I errors, we use a Split Samples method. We generate randomly two non-overlapping subsets of the data, using a 50-50 split. First, we carry out all our planned analyses (see below) in one subset. Second, we will repeat the analyses with significant results in the second subset. All analyses are carried out without correcting for multiple comparisons. **Analysis to address question 1a** Analysis: Logistic regression analysis Dependent variables: • Health problems (14 measures) Independent variables: • Educational level (university, higher professional education) • SES (two measures, separate analyses) • Interaction: Educational level x SES Covariates: • Average grade on final exam in secondary education (scale 1 to 10) • Gender • Age **Analysis to address question 1b** Analysis: Logistic regression analysis Dependent variables: • Health problems (14 measures) Independent variables: • Educational level (university, higher professional education) • SES (two measures, separate analyses) • Interaction: Educational level x SES x Number of years in higher education (separate interaction-terms for year 2, 3, 4 and 5, and year 1 as reference category). Covariates: • Average grade on final exam in secondary education (scale 1 to 10) • Gender • Age **Analysis to address question 2a** Analysis: Linear regression analysis Dependent variables: Well-being (academic environment (scale), and social environment (scale)) Independent variables: • Educational level (university, higher professional education) • SES (two measures, separate analyses) • Interaction: Educational level x SES Covariates: • Average grade on final exam in secondary education (scale 1 to 10) • Gender • Age **Analysis to address question 2b** Analysis: Linear regression analysis Dependent variables: Well-being (academic environment (scale), and social environment (scale)) Independent variables: • Educational level (university, higher professional education) • SES (two measures, separate analyses) • Interaction: Educational level x SES x Number of years in higher education (separate interaction-terms for year 2, 3, 4 and 5, and year 1 as reference category). Covariates: • Average grade on final exam in secondary education (scale 1 to 10) • Gender • Age