CUES Student Major-Changers Survey

The following is the copy of the CUES survey.  Members are advised to print this page and find the answers in their institution's 2003-2004 data.  Once answers have been located, access and complete the survey at https://surveys.ksu.edu/Survey/takeSurvey.do?offeringId=33994. Survey answers may be submitted through March 17.

CUES Student Major-Changers Survey

Survey Description:
Most research regarding students who change majors is 10 to 15 years old. This out dated information is no longer of use for institutional planning and or national comparisons. The NACADA Commission on Undecided and Exploratory Students (CUES) seeks to remedy this situation and reveal important information about the current status of students who change majors and those who advise them.

Opening Instructions:
We hope that you can take time to find and provide the needed information based upon your 2003-2004 undergraduate population. If you are unable to obtain the needed data, please use your best judgment to estimate. It is important that institutional data is reported based upon the definition of major-changer used for this survey.

For this survey a major-changer is defined as:
an undergraduate student who enters college decided about a major but changes to another before he or she graduates. Students who enter college undecided are NOT considered major-changers until they change after declaring an initial major.

Page 1

Question 1

Name of your institution:   (maximum of 100 characters)

Question 2

Your institution would best be described as:

• Public
• Private (non profit)
• Proprietary (for profit)

Question 3

Highest degree granted by your institution:

• Technical (vocational) certificate
• Associate’s degree
• Bachelor’s degree
• Master’s degree
• Specialist
• Ph.D., Ed.D., or professional degrees, i.e. M.D., J.D., D.D.S. etc.

Question 4

Institutional Size [number of total students enrolled]

• Less than 2,500
• 2,500 – 4,999
• 5,000 – 9,999
• 10,001 – 19,999
• 20,001 – 29,999
• 30,000 – 39,999
• more than 40,000

Page 2

It is important that institutional data is reported based upon the definition of major-changer used for this survey. For this survey a major-changer is defined as an undergraduate student who enters college decided about a major but changes to another before he or she graduates. Students who enter college undecided are NOT considered major-changers until they change after declaring an initial major.

Question 5

The information used to answer the following survey questions is based on actual data or estimates from the 2003-04 academic year?

• Actual data
• Estimate

Question 6

During the 2003-2004 academic year, what percentage of undergraduates at your institution have changed majors?

• over 90%
• 80 – 89%
• 70 – 79%
• 60 – 69%
• 50 – 59%
• 40 – 49%
• 30 – 39%
• 20 – 29%
• 10 – 19%
• under 10%

Question 7

Looking at your data, when do the largest percentage of students change majors?

• Freshman year
• Sophomore year
• Junior year
• Senior year

Question 8

What percentage of 2003-04 undergraduate students who were initially admitted into the “undecided” category changed their major after their first major declaration?

• Over 90%
• 80 - 89%
• 70 - 79%
• 60 - 69%
• 50 - 59%
• 40 - 49%
• 30 - 39%
• 20 - 29%
• 10 - 19%
• Less than 10%

Question 9

What percentage of students changing majors in 2003-04 dropped out or did not return to your institution for the 2004-05 academic year?

• Between 80 - 100%
• Between 50 – 79%
• Between 25 – 49%
• Under 25%
• Don't know

Question 10

Who advises major-changers at your institution?

• Special advising staff assigned to major-changers
• Faculty advisors
• Undecided advising center staff
• Career center staff
• We make no distinction
• Other:

Question 11

CUES researchers would like to follow-up with institutions that reported information based upon actual data. If your institution is interested in participating in a follow-up study, please answer question 11 by providing the email address of the individual at your institution with the best access to relevant data.

Yes, our institution would like to participate in further research on this topic. Reach the individual with the best access to relevant data at: fill in email address. (maximum of 230 characters)

Access the survey at https://surveys.ksu.edu/Survey/takeSurvey.do?offeringId=33994