Purpose: On the basis of the theoretical framework of a combination of Roy’s adaptation theory and Lazarus & Folkman’s theory of stress - appraise coping, the purpose of this study was to predict effect factors of adaptation to university life of Chinese international students in Korea. After this, a model of adaptation to university life of Chinese international students in Korea was constructed. Methods: A questionnaire was used to survey 369 Chinese international students from one university in Korea, which was analyzed by using PASW Statistics 18.0 and LISREL 8.7. Results: This theoretical model explained adaptation to university life of Chinese international students at 75.0% in Korea. Physical symptoms, loneliness, acculturation stress and self-efficacy directly affected the adaptation to university life. Korean language proficiency indirectly affected adaptation to university life through self-efficacy. Conclusion: Results of this study provided theoretical basis for the future health care of university- centered health centers. For improving adaptation to university life of Chinese international students in Korea, education and nursing measures for reducing physical symptoms, loneliness and acculturation stress, and improving Korean language proficiency and self-efficacy are proposed for further research and development.