Shift in Majors Not Definitively Due to COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused uncertainty regarding higher education for many students.  A recent survey has found that many American college students and incoming freshmen have pursued different areas of study or changed their major due to the influential events of the past two years.  

Data published by the online, student-focused newspaper Intelligent shows that an increased number of college students in America have changed their major or intended educational path, with many students now focusing on different fields than seen in earlier studies in 2019 by the National Center for Education Statistics.  

Dean of the Office of Academic Advising and Planning Cecilia Easton expresses that she does not believe the possible correlation proposed by the Intelligent survey applies to students at SUNY Geneseo.  

“I would have a really, really hard time calling anything like this causation. It’s interesting that you see a sort of shift in this way, but I don’t see any tracking [with Geneseo students]” said Easton.

The survey focuses specifically on a decline in prospective education majors, with many graduating high schoolers seemingly less interested in education than in previous years.  

“Some people, I think individually, might have felt less prepared to go into the classroom, possibly because they didn't actually have face to face experience with students,” said Easton. “Anecdotally, and I would only say anecdotally since I have no data on the pandemic, that could have had an effect on students sort of making some different career choices.”

Despite some fields of study having more changes than others, Easton said, “the number of people pursuing history with adolescents is still up, and in the big scope of what people major in, biology is still very large, and psychology is still very large. So, when we say there is a little shift [away from these majors], we're talking about, overall, still kind of a small number of students.”  

While Easton expresses that she does not believe the Intelligent survey data can be seen in students at Geneseo, she acknowledges that recent events have likely shaped the education pathways of both new and returning Geneseo students.  

“I think it's not just the pandemic, but the times that we've been living in,” said Easton. “While this incoming class was in high school, they experienced the pandemic, they experienced the disruption in their lives, and also a lot of social and political disruption. So, when you talk to this new class they're really interested in questions about social justice and racial equity. So people are kind of going in those directions, and I'm going to guess we're not the only ones that are seeing a lot more programs like those.”

In addition to programs focused on social, political, and equity issues, Easton said there is an increase in students interested in “applied majors or interests” such as healthcare.  

Easton said, “The crisis of healthcare was in the news so the majority of people who study in socio-medical sciences are looking to become health care providers, and I think that I'm pretty excited about [those majors] because I think the folks are going to do a really great job in the future. They are what’s next for healthcare.”