Key Finding 1: Although Academic Achievement Is an Important Factor in the Decision to Attend College, There Are Persistent Gaps in College Attendance Rates by Other Nonacademic Factors

As expected, students with higher academic achievement were more likely to enroll in college and to attend a 4-year college than their lower-achieving peers. Yet, even after taking into account differences in college enrollment rates and 4-year college attendance rates by academic achievement, there remained notable gaps in both of these rates by factors such as students’ gender, their parents’ education level, and their degree aspirations. Specifically, females, students whose parents earned advanced degrees, and students who had higher degree aspirations were more likely to enroll in college and to attend a 4-year college. These gaps are more prominent among those with lower academic achievement, and they tend to diminish (and, in some cases, become nonexistent) as students’ achievement level rises.

Key Finding 2: Students with Greater Certainty about Their Choice of Planned Major Are More Likely to Commit to Their Major During the First Year of College

Forty-one percent of students who selected a planned major during ACT registration indicated that they were very sure of their planned major choice; 45% were fairly sure, and 15% were not sure. This self-reported measure of students’ commitment to their planned major choice is a good predictor of whether they will commit to their planned major during the first year of college. In particular, we found a 20 percentage-point difference in the share of students who declared a major within their planned major area between students who were very sure and those who were not sure of their planned major choice. This difference is substantial, being similar in magnitude to the difference in the share of students who declared a major within their planned major area between 4-year college students in the ACT Composite score range of 1–15 and those in the range of 33–36.

Key Finding 3: Students Who Selected a Planned Major That Is a Good Fit with Their Measured Interests Are More Likely to Declare a Major That Is Consistent with Their Plans

Thirty-six percent of students who selected a planned major during ACT registration chose a major that is a good fit with their interests, as measured by the ACT Interest Inventory; another 32% had moderate Interest-Major Fit, whereas 32% had poor fit. As with the self-reported measure of students’ certainty of their planned major choice, the extent to which students’ choice of planned major aligns with their measured interests is a good predictor of whether they will follow through on their plans during college. Specifically, between students who had a good Interest-Major Fit and those with a poor Interest-Major fit with their planned major choice, there is a 10–15 percentage-point difference in the share of students who followed through on their plans and declared a major within their planned major area.

Key Finding 4: Many Students Who Declare a Major Outside of Their Planned Major Area Do Not See a Notable Improvement in the Fit Between Their Choice of Major and Their Measured Interests

Fifty-seven percent of 4-year college students and 44% of 2-year college students declared a major inside of their planned major area. Compared to these students, those who declared a major outside of their planned major area were less likely to have good Interest-Major Fit with the planned major they selected during ACT registration. Declaring a major in an area that was different from the area of their planned major, however, did not improve the Interest-Major Fit for many of these students. In particular, 54% of students who had poor Interest-Major Fit with their planned major still had poor Interest-Major Fit with their declared major, and 64% of students who had moderate Interest-Major Fit with their planned major had moderate or poor Interest-Major Fit with their declared major. Students who had good Interest-Major Fit with their planned major did not fare much better than their peers when choosing a declared major outside of their planned major area, as only 41% of these students still had good Interest-Major Fit with their declared major.

Key Finding 5: Students Who Are Undecided about Their College Major Are Less Likely to Declare a Major That Is a Good Fit with Their Interests

Students who were undecided about their planned major when they registered for the ACT represented 15% of all ACT-tested students. Compared to students who selected a planned major, undecided students were just as likely to enroll in college, and they attended 4-year and 2-year colleges at the same rates. However, undecided students were less likely than students who selected a planned major to have declared a major during their first year of college that was a good fit with their measured interests. Moreover, this gap in Interest-Major Fit between undecided students and students who selected a planned major actually increases among students with higher academic achievement.

Recommendations

When recruiting students, colleges should:

• Consider looking at students’ intended major while simultaneously considering their Interest-Major Fit score and self-reported certainty of planned major choice in order to better identify students who may have a stronger interest in a particular major and who might be more likely to enroll in a particular major. This information is especially important when trying to recruit more male students to your campus and when trying to increase the enrollment of females within particular STEM fields.
• Use student results from the ACT Interest Inventory to provide prospective students who are undecided about their planned major choice with information about particular programs of study at the college for which they might have good fit.
• Promote institutional strengths in advising and career development to prospective students who are undecided about their major or occupation, are uncertain of their planned major or occupational choice, or indicate that they want assistance with educational and occupational planning. For example, admissions personnel could communicate information about academic advising, special programs for undecided students, internships, career counseling, and other programs and services that can help students make informed decisions about educational majors and careers.

After students enroll, colleges should:

• Use Interest-Major Fit scores as a part of institutional efforts to identify students who could benefit from advising and career planning interventions intended to guide students into better-fitting college majors.
• Use information regarding students’ status as undecided, certainty of their planned major choice, or their request for assistance with educational and career planning to help target students for additional academic advising and career counseling services as part of student orientation and first-year programming.
• Consider different advising strategies for high-achieving and low-achieving students, as high-achieving students are less likely to be very sure about their planned major choices but more likely to have good Interest-Major Fit, whereas low-achieving students are more likely to be very sure about their planned major choices but less likely to have good Interest-Major Fit.