Main Article Content
Abstract
Business Education programmes prepare teachers, office professionals, and entrepreneurs, but students in these programmes face demanding workloads, practical skill requirements, industrial attachment, and mounting financial pressure. This study examined the impact of stress on the learning outcomes of Business Education students in public tertiary institutions in Enugu State, Nigeria. A correlational survey design was adopted. From a population of 2,847 students, a sample of 338 was drawn by proportionate stratified random sampling, and 302 valid responses (89.3%) were analysed. Data were collected using the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10), a Sources of Academic Stress Questionnaire, the problem-focused coping subscales of the Brief COPE, and a Business Education Skills Acquisition Scale, while cumulative grade point averages (CGPA) were obtained from departmental records with students' consent. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, multiple regression, hierarchical moderated regression, the t-test, and analysis of variance. Most students (84.4%) reported moderate stress and 12.6% reported high stress, with financial difficulties and academic workload rated as the leading stressors. Perceived stress had a significant negative relationship with CGPA (r = −.34, p < .001) and with skill acquisition (r = −.32, p < .001). The five sources of stress jointly predicted CGPA, F(5, 296) = 4.03, p = .001, but only financial stress was a significant individual predictor (β = −.24, p < .001). Problem-focused coping significantly moderated the stress-CGPA relationship (ΔR² = .024, p = .003): the negative effect of stress was about three times stronger among students with low coping than among those with high coping. Female students and 300-level students reported significantly higher stress. The study concludes that stress meaningfully undermines both academic performance and practical skill acquisition in Business Education, and recommends financial support schemes, workload and assessment reforms, and structured coping-skills training within Business Education departments.