Conditions for successful ‘undecided majors’
Published: 01 Oct. 2024, 19:57
Pang Chung-rok
The author is head of the planning office and a professor at the School of International Studies, Languages and Literature, at Handong Global University.
The government is promoting the expansion of “undecided major enrollment” as part of education reform. Universities across the country are creating plans to uphold the policy such as accepting a certain percentage of freshmen with undecided majors starting 2025, allowing them to choose their majors after admission and reorganizing the academic system.
The undeclared major admission provides students with opportunities to choose their majors after fully exploring their aptitude and career paths. It aims to solve the problem of mismatch between aptitudes and majors and foster creative and convergent talents by breaking down the boundaries between departments. At the same time, there are concerns that students will later favor a few certain majors.
Prestigious universities such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University and Brown University in the United States have introduced the undecided major programs. Students enter those universities without declaring a major, spend their first year taking liberal arts courses and later decide on a major that suits them. In the second year, students begin to seriously study their majors. During this process, universities provide multifaceted guidance and a counseling system to support students carefully choose their majors.
Since 1996, Handong Global University has been running an undecided major program for all freshmen. At Handong, freshmen complete a year of basic liberal arts education and explore various majors. As they enter their sophomore year, they choose their majors according to their aptitudes and career plans. Afterwards, students can also change their majors without any restrictions on fields of study or grades.
According to the university’s experience over the past 29 years, students’ preferences for certain majors have changed with the times, increasing or decreasing accordingly. And yet, the fluctuation has not led to a severe preference of certain majors, so the school was able to maintain balance at a manageable level. The university periodically checks the fluctuation of student numbers for each major and manages the budget, number of faculty members and learning spaces for each department.
How has this undecided major program been operating relatively stably? It is worth noting that the university has established and operated an academic system and various support programs affecting students’ selection and completion of study. First, the principle of a mandatory double major program has mitigated the excessive concentration of students toward certain majors.
Career exploration courses during freshman year helped students choose their majors carefully. There were also regular information sessions for each major as well as faculty members who served as counselors and advisors alongside dedicated academic advisors.
Handong also operates a team program where 35 students are grouped for one year under one advisor. This program enhanced freshmen’s sense of belonging and connected them to their seniors, who gave them advice on coursework and extracurricular activities.
These efforts yielded significant outcomes. As students choose their majors according to their aptitudes and career paths, their satisfaction with university life and academic accomplishment remains at a very high level. The principle of completing double majors has helped ease the preference of certain majors and promote interdisciplinary education.
Under the undecided major system, each department proactively improved its curriculum and strengthened tutoring and counseling programs to promote student-centered education innovation. As a result, Handong Global University accomplished a 116-percent enrollment rate in 2024 and a 2.9-percent dropout rate in 2023, which are among the best in the country.
The undecided major system is a key example of educational innovation that puts students at the center of higher education. When students are given maximum autonomy to choose their majors and prepare for their careers, their full potential can be realized, and both student satisfaction and academic success are enhanced simultaneously.
Simply introducing the undecided major program is not enough. A multifaceted and meticulous support system is essential in order to ensure that this innovative program operates smoothly and produces expected outcomes.
Translation by the Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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