Even in the late stages of the COVID-19, the physical and psychological trauma caused by the epidemic continues to affect people, particularly university students, whose physical and psychological health is vulnerable to environmental influences. The purpose of this article is to investigate the relationship between learning adaptability and “state” anxiety among university students enrolled during the COVID-19(2020-2022), as well as the role of self-management in mediating this process. The findings reveal a negative association between college students' academic adjustment and their state anxiety, a process that also includes a mediation role for self-management, with subjects in this research being college students enrolled during COVID-19. This study offers a theoretical foundation for investigating the factors influencing anxiety from an operationalized viewpoint, as well as for further effective regulation of university students' mental health and anxiety reduction.