Des Moines Register
02-223-07
Colleges steer students toward majors
Taking too long to choose a path can add debt, and universities feel pressure to
help students graduate.
By LISA ROSSI
REGISTER AMES BUREAU
Ames, Ia. - Students who take too long to "find themselves" in college could find
themselves in an academic and financial jam.
That's the message being delivered to students at schools in Iowa and
nationwide as officials help them choose a major area of study.
But at Iowa State University, where the number of students without a major has
grown 10 percent since 2003, officials now encourage freshmen to delay the
declaration of a major for their first semester or two, rather than choose the
wrong one, which could throw them off the course toward timely graduation.
A "Major Fair" at ISU on Wednesday highlighted efforts to steer drifting
undergraduates who run the risk of more debt for each year they stay in school.
"If you don't know in a year and a half what you want to do, you start wasting
time and money," said ISU student Allison Gus, a second-semester advertising
major from Boone who had been an "open major" and attended classes that
ranged from chemistry to accounting.
Ninety-eight more ISU freshmen have chosen the open major path since 2003, a
17.9 percent increase.
Neil Howe, one of the authors of "Millennials Rising: The Next Great Generation,"
said the current generation of college students might decide to delay the
selection of a major simply because they are afraid to be tied to the wrong one.
"There's a feeling that every choice you make is permanent," he said.
"A lot of these kids are under a lot of pressure. They know how competitive
colleges are now. They are under tremendous amounts of debt."
The University of Northern Iowa, where enrollment has shrunk in recent years,
reported 89 fewer students who were undeclared in 2006 compared to three
years earlier, a 20 percent decrease. Open-option majors at the University of
Iowa have dipped by 321, or almost 22 percent, over the same time period.
Officials credit rules that limit the number of credit-hours students can take before
they must declare a major.
At the ISU major fair, resurrected last year after a 15-year hiatus, booths manned
by faculty members represented various academic departments in the school's
Memorial Union.
"If they get into a major they are not happy with, we don't want them to leave
Iowa State University," said Dan Rice, a recruitment coordinator for the
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. "Once we get them here, we want to
keep them here."
Retention is a growing concern at ISU, especially as the projected pool of Iowa
high school graduates continues to shrink.
Some say they vacillate between majors because they are unsure whether their
original chosen career path would be fulfilling or lucrative.
"I really like music," said Alex Erwin, a freshman from Sioux City. "I would love to
play in a band for a job, but you can't do that."
Courtney Mergen, an ISU freshman from Whittemore, said the proliferation of
majors and career choices prevents her from settling on one, although she feels
the pressure to make a decision.
"It feels like you need to have one," she said.
Experts say colleges feel their own pressure to help students graduate in four
years. That's why more and more have developed strategies to help move
undecideds toward graduation.
"It is unfair if they have to turn lots of applicants away partially because existing
students are taking significantly longer than four years time to finish," said
Barmak Nassirian, with the American Association of Collegiate Registrars.
"Therefore, public institutions have an obligation to accommodate 'self-discovery,'
but on the other hand to make sure you don't have one student taking up
resources that can go into educating two."
A crackdown on open majors at the U of I started with a 2005 rule in the College
of Liberal Arts and Sciences that said a student must declare a major or be
admitted to a "limited access" program by the time he or she has completed 72
credit-hours.
"We feel that students should be free to select the course of study they want as
soon as they know what it is," said Peter Hubbard, associate director for the
college's academic programs and services. "If they realize they are more
interested in something else, and the major they chose isn't what they thought it
would be - if they switch to something, that's OK."
At UNI, advisers talk to students about majors and career paths, said Jan
Hanish, interim vice president for educational and student services. The
academic advising and career services departments merged in 2005, she said,
which jump-starts career conversations earlier in a students' education, she said.
Reporter Lisa Rossi can be reached at (515) 232-2383 or lrossi@dmreg.com