Indicator: First-year program of study concentration
Definition
Postsecondary students demonstrate selection of a program of study by completing nine credits or three courses in a meta-majorix during their first year.
ix Meta-majors included in IHEP’s Postsecondary Metrics framework: education; arts and humanities; social and behavioral sciences and human services; science, technology, engineering, and math; business and communications; health; trades.
RECOMMENDED METRIC(S)
Percentage of students completing at least nine credits (or three courses) within a meta-major during their first year in postsecondary education
Note: CEDS Connections offer guidance, including data elements and step-by-step analysis recommendations, for how to calculate select metrics.
Type(s) of Data Needed
Administrative data; student transcriptsWhy it matters
Community college students are often presented with a “menu” of course-taking options and receive little guidance on which courses to take, and in which order. Students who do not concentrate in a program of study within their first year at a community college are less likely to earn a credential (with “concentrate” defined as accumulating nine credits within a meta-major). Jenkins and Cho showed that 40 to 50 percent of students who concentrated in a program area had earned a certificate or associate’s degree, transferred to a four-year institution, or earned a bachelor’s degree within five years, compared to less than 15 percent of students who did not concentrate within their first year.
What to know about measurement
Course-taking patterns of first-year students can be measured using student transcript data tracked in postsecondary institutions’ data systems, but these data typically are not publicly available and reported. Nguyen et al. provide guidance for using course data and degree requirements to consistently classify meta-majors, and the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC) Postsecondary Data Partnership tracks this measure. Jenkins and Cho note that whether students declare a major in their first year does not adequately capture the program of study selection, given that declaring a major does not necessarily mean students have completed multiple courses in that meta-major. Therefore, we recommend using course data rather than information on student major for this indicator.
E-W Case Studies
Source frameworks
This indicator appeared in four source frameworks reviewed for this report. Our proposed measure aligns with work by the Institute for Higher Education Policy.
References
The framework's recommendations are based on syntheses of existing research. Please see the framework report for a list of works cited.