Happiness in the university environment is not merely an individual or psychological experience; rather, it reflects cultural structures, social relations, and institutional and environmental interactions. The present study, adopting a socio-cultural approach, examines the relationship between the quality of students’ social interactions and the availability of educational and welfare facilities on the happiness of female university students. This research employed a quantitative survey method and investigated the issue of happiness in the present time. Accordingly, it is a cross-sectional study conducted in the winter of 2024–2025. The statistical population consists of female students at the University of Tabriz, and a sample size of 370 participants was estimated using Cochran’s formula. The sampling method was stratified proportional sampling combined with simple random sampling. The results of multivariate analysis indicate that, except for parental income, all independent variables have a significant effect on the dependent variable (female students’ happiness). The variables of quality of educational and welfare facilities, quality of social interactions, level of study, employment status, and age had the highest regression effects on the dependent variable, respectively.This means that higher quality educational and welfare facilities, improved social interactions, higher academic level, employment, and increased age are associated with greater happiness among female students. Overall, the findings suggest that policymakers in higher education, with the aim of enhancing happiness as a socio-cultural phenomenon that contributes to the growth and development of female students, should pay special attention to the quality of educational and welfare facilities in universities and higher education institutions.