{"id":2772,"date":"2018-12-12T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-12-12T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nacacadmitted.wpengine.com\/wordpress\/?p=2772"},"modified":"2018-12-11T13:52:06","modified_gmt":"2018-12-11T18:52:06","slug":"could-enhanced-advising-help-more-students-find-a-right-fit-major","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/admitted.nacacnet.org\/wordpress\/index.php\/2018\/12\/12\/could-enhanced-advising-help-more-students-find-a-right-fit-major\/","title":{"rendered":"Could Enhanced Advising Help More Students Find a Right-Fit Major?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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It\u2019s no secret that switching majors can increase the time and money a student spends earning a degree. But college officials say it\u2019s a scenario more and more undergrads are now facing.<\/p>\n

According to federal data, a third of all college students change their major at least once. Ten percent of students switch paths two or more times.<\/p>\n

Carol Jean Vale, president of Chestnut Hill College (PA), attributes the shift to a rise in college access. As more first-generation students enter college, they need different types of support, she told The Hechinger Report<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThere are so many options open to them, so many things they\u2019re interested in, that settling on one thing can be very difficult,\u201d Vale explained.<\/p>\n

But that indecision comes with consequences, she noted.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not all right,\u201d Vale said. \u201cIt\u2019s just too costly.\u201d<\/p>\n

The college started a new voluntary program this fall designed to help students sort through their options. Students meet with an advisor once a week to weigh potential majors and narrow down their choices.<\/p>\n

The challenge going forward for Chestnut Hill and other colleges is how to continue to encourage exploration, while helping students complete a degree in a timely manner.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think that anybody who has gone through the collegiate process is surprised that a 17- or 18-year-old doesn\u2019t know what they want to do for the rest of their lives,\u201d Dhanfu Elston, with Complete College America, told The Hechinger<\/em> Report<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Instead, the question becomes: How do colleges ensure their students are well-informed about their choices?<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the first step institutions really have to think about,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

View the full story on The Hechinger Report<\/em><\/a> and see NACAC\u2019s tips for students on selecting a major<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Admitted writer\/editor Mary Stegmeir welcomes additional comments and story ideas at\u00a0<\/em>mstegmeir@nacacnet.org.\u00a0<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s no secret that switching majors can increase the time and money a student spends earning a degree. But college officials say it\u2019s a scenario more and more undergrads are now facing. According to federal data, a third of all college students change their major at least once. Ten percent of students switch paths two … Continue reading Could Enhanced Advising Help More Students Find a Right-Fit Major?<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[111],"tags":[267],"class_list":["post-2772","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-college-completion","tag-college-majors"],"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"Mary Stegmeir","author_link":"https:\/\/admitted.nacacnet.org\/wordpress\/index.php\/author\/mstegmeir\/"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/peWmJq-II","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/admitted.nacacnet.org\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2772","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/admitted.nacacnet.org\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/admitted.nacacnet.org\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/admitted.nacacnet.org\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/admitted.nacacnet.org\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2772"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/admitted.nacacnet.org\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2772\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/admitted.nacacnet.org\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2772"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/admitted.nacacnet.org\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2772"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/admitted.nacacnet.org\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2772"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}