Purpose: The purpose of this study is to predict the extent to which sociodemographic factors and forms of instruction influence university students' emotional experiences of distance education. The need for this research is in designing effective pedagogical methods and educational policies for distance or online education in comparison with studies from international university settings. Design/methodology/approach: The research was carried out on an empirical basis using the binary logistic regression method. Data were collected through a questionnaire. A total of 569 respondents participated in the research. The effect of gender, level of education and students' preferred form of teaching (face-to-face or online) on their emotional experience of distance education was predicted. Findings: University students are particularly vulnerable to psychological distress due to the COVID-19 era of distance education. Women are more likely to experience negative feelings about distance education than men. The negative feelings of students are caused by online education. Bachelor's students are more likely to experience negative feelings due to their lack of digital competence. Originality/value: This study extends existing knowledge in terms of approaches to working with specific groups of bachelor's students in distance education. This area has not yet received such attention in universities. This fact makes this study to be original. The study has practical implications for the field of educational quality assurance for digital pedagogy.