Student affairs, student support, or student services is the department or division of services and support for student success at institutions of higher education to enhance student growth and development. People who work in this field are known as student affairs educators, student affairs practitioners, or student affairs professionals. These student affairs practitioners work to provide services and support for students and drive student learning outside of the classroom at institutions of higher education.

The size and organization of a student affairs division or department may vary based on the size, type, and location of an institution. The title of the senior student affairs and services officer also varies widely; traditionally in the United States, this position has been known as the "dean of students", as distinguished from the academic dean or the deans of individual schools within a university. In some institutions today, student affairs departments are led by a vice president or vice chancellor who then reports directly to the president/chancellor of the institution. In other cases the head of student affairs may report to the provost or academic dean.

Although institutions of higher education have had to deal with student affairs in some way for as long as they have existed, student affairs as a distinct professional field emerged first in the Anglo-American context in the late 19th century. There it developed from the originally distinct positions of "dean of women" and "dean of men". The field developed much later in continental Europe, where development first began in the 1950s but was greatly spurred when the Bologna Process in the 1990s created a surge in international students with greater needs for student support. Similarly in many other countries where student affairs is still a largely inchoate profession, such as Uruguay, professional activity in the field has emerged in relation to the needs of international students.

In 1988, Asia Pacific Student Services Association (APSSA) was created after representatives of the Asia Pacific Student Affairs Conference recognized there was a need for more communication and partnerships between student affairs professionals and the institutions they worked for. The work that APSSA does focuses creating a space for international collaboration through conferences with internal attendees and training and staff networking programs through the Institute of Student Affairs (ISA). ISA is the standing committee for APSSA's Executive Committee, and manages the planning and marketing for training and networking programs. In 2021, the Institute has five recorded Program Coordinators from different countries and regions: Japan, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Malaysia, and China. From 2018 to 2022, Maria Paquita D. Bonnet from De La Salle University in the Philippines was appointed to the position of Director of ISA.

APSSA holds a staff conference every two years where individuals from different countries will come together and encourage ideas for student affairs workers and offices to collaborate with one another. This conference allows for networking between organizations and staff and upholds APSSA's goal of global collaboration. This society also holds a student conference, which allows for student leaders from participating countries to meet and nurture their leadership strengths together, while also allowing students to have a platform to share their thoughts and ideas for activities and careers.

Student affairs in Canadian higher education dates back to the vocational school established at the Collège des Jésuites in seventeenth century. Additional development of Canadian student services has many similarities with authoritarian teaching in terms of monitoring and controlling students behaviour on campus that was common in United States in nineteenth century. The protest that occurred at Queen's University in 1875, when Principal William Snodgrass suspended several students for drinking, indicated a need for closer observation for students' conduct. After the Principal Snodgrass sent a report to the Senate, two students were suspended. They were allowed to attend the class, but could not graduate. Their friends appealed against the suspension, and refused to go to the class. Since the Senate rejected their request, all students returned to their class in a week. In order to prevent further misbehaviour, staff representatives started to be more engaged in students life organizing social, cultural and physical activities.

Several decades later, the Queen's Rev Principal Robert Bruce Taylor emphasized importance of students representatives role by including deans of men and women to be elected and responsible for cooperation with administration, student events and regulations. They used to live on several campuses to supervise visitors, off-campus housing, dress code, etc. The first Dean of Women Caroline McNeil started at Queen's in 1918 and soon, the other Canadian universities appointed dean of men and women on their campuses.

After the Second World War the professionalization of student affairs expanded by supporting soldiers who received tuition and living assistance based on Veterans Rehabilitation Act in 1945. Within the educational system, veterans received personal support and career counselling, but the other students were put on a side. While in the last seven decades Canadian student affairs has developed to support all students in financial need, career services, housing, residence life and academic advising, it was also reorganized frequently, e.g.: