Education Commons^™

Why Students Select Their College Major: An Investigative Study, Kate N. Matthews, Diane R. Edmondson, Lucy Matthews

Atlantic Marketing Journal

With the decline in the number of traditional college-aged students, understanding the degree selection process is important for departments, colleges, and universities alike. For students, selecting the proper major early is also beneficial since it reduces time in school and tuition costs. Therefore, a better understanding of the degree selection process is worthwhile. Survey data was collected from 1,177 undergraduates at a southeastern U.S. university. Survey questions included major selection influences and other attitude and demographic items. The highest ranked reason is interest and passion followed by fit with personality type. This was similar for students who changed majors. External …