Major declaration affects graduation rate

Junior Scott Gruman entered IU as a human biology major and plans to leave with a degree in exercise science. His end goal has always been the same: become a certified physical therapist.

The path just changed.

Luckily, Gruman’s parents supported him in this decision.

“They were pretty understanding,” Gruman said.

“I explained to them why I wanted to switch, and I think they were just relieved I wasn’t changing my major five or six times. I still had the same long-term goal, and they were just happy to see that I had a determined path.”

Gruman has a determined path, and a new study from Western Kentucky University confirms that most college students do.

Only 25 percent of students ever change their major, and just 5 percent of these students switch programs more than once, according to the study. 

Timing and the number of times the individual changes his or her major are variables that influence students’ graduation rate.

“Students are saying, ‘Oh, it’s causing delays,’ parents are saying, ‘Oh, it’s causing delays,’” said Matthew Foraker, research coordinator at WKU.

“There is also a negative connotation that it is a mistake at some time, but it’s not necessarily a bad thing.”

Students who entered the university without a major but declared one before the end of sophomore year had the highest graduation rate at 83.4 percent.

Individuals who entered with a major and never switched had a graduation rate of 72.8 percent, and those who switched majors once graduated at a rate of 71.7 percent.

Students with the worst outcomes, graduating at a rate of 62.6 percent, were those who waited until at least their junior year of school to select a major.

“The theory behind this is students who say they’re undeclared up front show initiative, effort, perhaps above somebody going down a track that could have been picked by their parents,” Foraker said.

“If nothing else, what one key takeaway is that there should be no stigma whatsoever with coming in undeclared.”

However, major changing after sophomore year was correlated with modestly lower grades and longer times to graduate.

“Suprise, surpise, there is a price to pay to changing your major late, and it does result in some lower success statistics,” Foraker said.

Associate Vice Provost of the Registrar Mark McConahay said he thinks the most common reason students change their major is because they are not accepted into the school they applied to.

“I have a feeling people switch from business to education or from physics to whatever is, the primary reason, that those folks didn’t get accepted to the school they wanted to attend,” McConahay said.

“It’s a built-in reason why people would change their major.”

McConahay then said IU was designed for students to enter undecided. The first year of study is to learn the cultural value of the University, and then students are meant to study professionally.

Gruman followed this path and changed his major during his freshman year at IU.

But he also said he could understand why some parents could be concerned. 

“Parents could be upset because they don’t want their child to be lost, or reflect poorly on them,” Gruman said. “They don’t want to think that they could have done something else to lead them into the right direction.”

Luckily, according to Foraker’s research, most students do decide on a degree following their freshman year.

“Have an open mind and don’t stick with what you’ve got if you’re really starting to have a bad premonition it’s not the right major for you,” Foraker said. “Just know it’s better to change now than later.”