A Comparative study was done to assess the academic stress among final year BSc nursing students in selected self-financing government and private colleges of Ernakulum. From selected colleges of Ernakulam, 100 samples were taken for the study. The tools used for the study comprised Socio-demographic data and Academic Stress Scale Majority (73%) of the samples belonged to Christian community, and females between 21 and 24 years of age group. Forty percentage of their fathers are educated up to high school and 43% of the mothers up to high school, 32% of their fathers are daily wages and 79% of the mothers are housewives. Fifty five percentage of the subjects were from rural Area and 54% of the samples spend 4–6 hr for study. Majority (80%) of the subjects spend 1–3 hr for extracurricular activities. The study findings revealed that the level of academic stress is almost same in Government (111.4 ± 23.66) and private (108 6 ± 23.74). In itemwise analysis the p-values corresponding to AS- score for item 23 (lack of communication between teachers and students) and AS-score for item 40 (Inadequate lab and library facilities) are less than the significance level 0.05; the difference in AS- score for item 23 and AS-score for item 40 between Government and private is significant. AS-score for item 23: The weighted mean confirms that the AS- score for item 23 (Lack of communication between teachers and students) is significantly higher in Government (3.28) compared to private (2.72). The mean rank also confirms that AS-score for item 23 is significantly higher in Government (56.9) compared to private (44.1). AS-score for item 40: The weighted mean confirms that the AS-score for item 40 (Inadequate lab and library facilities) is significantly higher in Government (2.56) compared to private (2.00). The mean rank also confirms that AS-score for item 40 is significantly higher in Government (56.8) compared to private (44.2). Therefore, the research hypothesis that there is significant difference between academic stress of final year students of government and private college is partially accepted. There is significant association between academic stress and education of father, mother and occupation of mother. Therefore, the research hypothesis that there is significant association between academic stress and education of father, mother and mother’s education is accepted. There is no significant association between academic stress and other demographical variables.

Keywords: Comparative; Academic stress; Nursing Students.