The COVID-19 pandemic has caused stress for higher education students especially because of the way it has impacted lives, economics, and academic activities.

When reporting the frequency of positive emotions experienced by higher education students since the pandemic’s beginning, the following results were discovered: “hopeful (39.4%), joyful (29.7%), proud (26.5%), and relieved (17.9%).” With North American students reporting the greatest levels of joy (34.5%), and students from Asia reporting the most hope (42.2%).

Relating to the frequency of negative emotions, 45.2% experienced boredom, 39.8% were anxious, 39.1% reported frustration, 25.9% felt anger, 18.8% experienced hopelessness, and 10% felt shame.

Students in South America reported the greatest levels of anxiety (65.7%), followed by Oceania (64.4%), North America (55.8%), and Europe (48.7%). However, some of the lowest levels of anxiety were found in Africa (38.1%) and Asia (32.7%). This continent pattern was closely resembled when observing frustration levels as well.

It was also found that men seemed to feel more hope, undergraduate students feeling more bored, and arts and humanity students experiencing more anxiety and frustration.