Major changes! The new norm on campus

Statistics: up to 80% of college students change major at least once
 

  • College Bound looks at major changes
    College Bound looks at major changes
  • Infographic showing the estimated percentages of college students who change majors
    Infographic showing the estimated percentages of college students who change majors

    For many U.S. undergraduates, picking a college major isn’t a one-and-done decision — it’s part of the exploration. Recent data show that a substantial portion of students revise their academic plans as they gain classroom experience, encounter new interests and reassess career goals. 
    While there isn’t one definitive number representing how many students change majors — in large part because different studies use different methods — the scope of the trend is clear: Roughly one-third of U.S. undergraduates change their major at least once during their college career, according to National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) data. Around 30 percent switched within three years of initial enrollment in a declared major. Meanwhile, other analyses suggest the figure is substantially higher — with some institutional and survey-based estimates reporting up to 70–80 percent of students switch their major at least once before graduation. 
    Less common is changing majors more than once and according to a nationally referenced data set, only about 9-16 percent of students change majors more than twice. 
    With those figures in mind, for this edition of College Bound, ANR spoke to several area high school graduates who are either in college now or have recently completed their studies and are working in the area of their settled upon major. 
    We wanted to know if they changed college majors at some point in their college careers and, if they did, what were the factors influencing the course correction. We also asked how that has impacted them in terms of taking extra time and expense to complete their studies. 
    In the process we encountered students who were at both ends of the spectrum in regard to major changes. Either they had chosen a different path than the one they set out on as college freshmen or they stayed the course and are now proceeding toward the career they chose as early as their high school years. 
    Section C of this week's edition features the results of those interviews with several local collegians.