Students Who Change Majors in College

Among undergraduates in associate’s and bachelor’s degree programs who had declared a major, about 30 percent had changed their major at least once within 3 years of initial enrollment. The National Center for Education Statistics released a new Data Point report today (December 7), entitled Beginning College Students Who Change Their Majors Within 3 Years of Enrollment. This Data Point examines the extent to which first-time associate’s and bachelor’s degree students change their majors after 3 years of enrollment, focusing on how the rate at which students change major varies with their degree program and field of study. Key findings include the following: • About one-third of students who were enrolled in bachelor’s degree programs changed majors, compared with 28 percent of those enrolled in associate’s degree programs. • About half (52 percent) of students whose original declared major was mathematics switched majors within 3 years. Mathematics majors changed majors at a rate higher than that of students in all other fields except the natural sciences. This report uses data from the nationally representative 2012/14 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:12/14).