Abstract：The purpose of this study was to discuss impact of the outdoor adventure education programs (OAEP) on university students' life effectiveness and leadership development. A nonequivalent control group pretest-posttest design was employed in this quasi-experimental research. Students at National Ilan University enrolled in elective physical education courses were selected as subjects. The students were divided into an experimental group (20 students in OAEP) and a control group (20 students not in OAEP). Students in the experimental group took a total of 18 weeks in one semester of OAEP. Results were verified with 2 scales: the adventure education life effectiveness scale and the leadership development scale. Results reveal that the experimental group improved more than the control group on the overall adventure education life effectiveness scale and its 6 subscales as well as on the overall leadership development scale and its seven subscales. In particular, the experimental group scored significantly higher in the posttest with respect to the overall adventure education life effectiveness scale as well as 5 of its subscales (i.e., emotional control, achievement motivation, social leadership, confidence, and active initiative) and the overall leadership development scale and its 7 subscales (i.e., self-awareness, commitment, collaboration, common goal, civility, social responsibility, and change). Also, low to medium levels of positive change were found in the effect size of the experimental group. This study concludes that the OAEP and its interventional physical education courses can promote university students' life effectiveness and leadership development. (Full text)