Major Adjustment: Undergraduates' Transition Experiences When Leaving Selective Degree Programs

Abstract

More than 80% of college students switch degree programs, and students in selective majors, such as business and nursing, often face complex processes with serious implications when leaving such selective degree programs. Therefore, using qualitative, exploratory research, we sought to understand the resources, including support, situation, strategies, and self, that students in selective majors use when transitioning to new degree programs. We also examined the resources students identified as most valuable and the factors most influential in their decision to persist at their current institutions. The findings can provide academic advisors with valuable insight about ways to best support students as they transition out of selective majors.