DATA

POINT

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

NCES 2018-434 DECEMBER 2017 

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 within 3 years of 

enrollment. Rates of change in major are shown for students by degree program and by original declared field of study. 

Data in this report are from the 2012/14 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:12/14), a nationally representative study of 

about 25,000 students who enrolled in postsecondary education for the first time in the 2011–12 academic year. These analyses are restricted to 

students who had ever enrolled in an associate’s or bachelor’s degree program and declared a major within 3 years of initial enrollment. Students 

with declared majors represent a majority in both associate’s (94 percent) and bachelor’s (97 percent) degree programs (NCES 2017). 

What percentage of 

students enrolled in 

associate’s and 

bachelor’s degree 

programs had changed 

their majors within 

3 years of initial 

enrollment?

Within 3 years of initial enrollment, 

about 30 percent of undergraduates in associate’s and bachelor’s 

degree programs who had declared

a major had changed their major at 

least once (figure 1). 

About one-third of students enrolled 

in bachelor’s degree programs

changed majors, compared with 

28 percent of those enrolled in 

associate’s degree programs.

About 1 in 10 students changed 

majors more than once: 10 percent 

of associate’s degree students and 

9 percent of bachelor’s degree 

students. 

FIGURE 1. Percentage of 2011–12 beginning postsecondary 

students who ever changed majors and number of times 

students changed their major, by undergraduate degree 

program: 2014 

 

NOTE: The total percentage includes all students who had ever enrolled in either an associate’s or a 

bachelor’s degree program and declared a major. The associate’s and bachelor’s degree percentages 

are not mutually exclusive: the associate’s percentage includes all students who had ever enrolled and 

declared a major in an associate’s degree program, whereas the bachelor’s percentage includes all 

students who had ever enrolled and declared a major in a bachelor’s degree program. Students who 

had any enrollment in both degree programs within 3 years after initial enrollment, e.g., associate’sdegree holders transferring into bachelor’s degree programs, are therefore included in both 

percentages. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. Standard error tables are available at 

https://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2018434. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 2012/14 Beginning 

Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:12/14). 

To learn more about BPS:12/14, visit https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/bps. 

For questions about content or to view this report online, go to 

https://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2018434. 
Beginning College Students Who Change Their Majors Within 3 Years of Enrollment

What percentage of all students had 

changed their majors within 3 years of 

initial enrollment, by original field of study? 

The rate at which students changed majors varied by 

their original field of study. Whereas 35 percent of 

students who had originally declared a science, 

technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) 

major had changed their field of study within 3 years, 

29 percent of those who had originally declared a 

non-STEM major had done so (figure 2). 

• 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, both STEM and non-STEM, except the 

natural sciences. 

• Among students in STEM fields, those majoring in 

computer and information sciences and in engineering and engineering technology changed majors at 

lower rates than did students majoring in either 

natural sciences or mathematics (28 and 32 percent 

vs. 40 and 52 percent, respectively). 

• Students whose original major was computer and 

information sciences changed majors at a rate that 

was lower than the rates for students who originally 

majored in humanities and education, but was not 

statistically different from those of students who 

majored in any other non-STEM field. 

• Among students in non-STEM fields, those in other 

applied fields had the lowest rates of major change 

(22 percent), followed by students in health care 

fields (26 percent). 

References 

National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). (2017). Percentage of 2011–12 

First Time Postsecondary Students Who Had Ever Declared a Major in an 

Associate’s or Bachelor’s Degree Program Within 3 Years of Enrollment, by Type 

of Degree Program and Control of First Institution: 2014. Institute of Education 

Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. Washington, DC. 

https://nces.ed.gov/datalab/tableslibrary/viewtable.aspx?tableid=11764. 

FIGURE 2. Percentage of 2011–12 beginning postsecondary students who ever changed majors, 

by original declared field of study: 2014

 

NOTE: Natural sciences includes biological and physical science, science technology, agriculture, and natural resources. Other applied includes personal and 

consumer services; manufacturing, construction, repair, and transportation; military technology and protective services; architecture; communications; public 

administration and human services; design and applied arts; law and legal studies; library sciences; and theology and religious vocations. Standard error tables 

are available at https://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2018434. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 2012/14 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:12/14). 

This National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Data Point presents 

information on education topics of interest. It was authored by Katherine Leu 

of RTI International. Estimates based on samples are subject to sampling 

variability, and apparent differences may not be statistically significant. All 

noted differences are statistically significant at the .05 level. In the design, 

conduct, and data processing of NCES surveys, efforts are made to minimize 

the effects of nonsampling errors, such as item nonresponse, measurement 

error, data processing error, or other systematic error.