By Tara Owen, Alli Schieber and Kristen Kirtley, Senior Reporters
College students are known for changing their majors. So, what impact does that have on the various degree programs at Northwestern?
Some departments are thankful for the changes, but others are being affected by the cut in enrollment numbers.
“I think most people change their major five or six times before they graduate,” said Ashley Fischer, an institutional research specialist at Northwestern Oklahoma State University. “It’s hard to choose what you want at that age. It’s a very difficult choice.”
In the fall of 2021, the university has 123 undecided majors. Fischer said the slight decrease in enrollment numbers through the years has been a statewide issue. This decrease in enrollment has led to a decrease in enrollment in several majors across campus.
“While we have had a trend these last five years going down, we have seen a recent pick up, which is wonderful,” Fisher said.
Fisher gives credit to the Northwestern Recruitment Office for the recent rise in recruitment numbers. Enrollment has risen by 61 students within the last year.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE MAJOR DROPS
Enrollment in the criminal justice major at Northwestern decreased by 56% from years 2017 to 2021 – the largest drop of any major at the university. As these enrollment numbers have decreased, Jeff McAlpin, an instructor of criminal justice, said he has been able to tell the difference.
“There are fewer students in the classroom,” McAlpin said. “Part of that, I do believe, is from COVID. The other part of that is from the political climate with the attitude towards police lately.”
As the criminal justice major has noticed a decrease in numbers, McAlpin said he is looking forward to the incoming freshman class, which had a few students interested in the major.
As of 2021, the major had 44 students, according to the most recent Northwestern Fact Book, which tracks enrollment data.
HEALTH AND SPORTS SCIENCE MAJOR GROWS
The health and sports science major at Northwestern has seen an increase in enrollment numbers by 18% from 2017 to 2021. Shane Hansen, chair of the health and sports science department, said he is excited about the trend.
“Class sizes have grown, and we have been able to spread out many of those classes from fall and spring, along with offering some new summer courses,” Hansen said.
By offering those courses in the summer, the university has been able to take some of the pressure off those class numbers. Hansen said that, if class sizes do get larger, the department will have to explore other options to offer courses.
“I think overall this increase in numbers is more of a trend, ” Hansen said. “As a society, we are placing health as a higher priority, which is a very good thing for everyone,”
Job availability within the healthcare industry has also grown, leading more students into health-related degree programs, Hansen said.
“We have seen growth in our pre-med program, with physical therapy and athletic training being the two that have grown the most in interest,” Hansen said.
Many students have come to Northwestern with different degrees in mind, and many have landed in the pre-med track, Hansen said.
Some students are waiting to see if they get accepted into nursing programs, and some who may have been turned down from nursing programs have changed their majors to health and sports science, Hansen said. Others are looking into education.
“Many students are deciding if they want to go towards the teacher ed path or alternative certification path,” he said. “We have seen a large number move into that education pathway.”
PSYCHOLOGY SEES FEWER STUDENTS
While the health and sports science major has had an enrollment increase during the past five years, the psychology department has had a decrease, like many other university departments.
Jason Ferrell, chair of the university’s psychology program, said the psychology department makes up about 10% of the student population at Northwestern despite having some decreases in enrollment during the past couple of years.
In 2017, 131 students majored in psychology. By 2021, that number had dropped to 93. However, numbers are rising again, Ferrell said.
“Now that we have come out of COVID, our major numbers have actually increased to what they were during COVID,” Ferrell said. “Some people are interested in studying psychology because of their own experiences with struggles with mental health.”
Since the pandemic, people have become more concerned about their mental health, Ferrell said.
Many now realize that mental health is just as important as physical health.
Some students have started majoring in psychology because general psychology can now be taken as a high school concurrent class, Ferrell said.
“The No. 1 recruiter for people to come into the psychology major is having a good experience in general psychology with the psychologist teaching the class,” Ferrell said.
NURSING ENROLLMENT DROPS
Nursing programs have seen a decrease in applications across the country.
“Nursing was shown in a great light in the pandemic, but it also brought a lot of light to what we as nurses really go through on a daily basis,” said Dr. Leslie Collins, the Charles Morton Share Trust Division of Nursing Chair at Northwestern. “We ourselves as people aren’t put first. We put our patient first because that’s who we are, and that’s what we like to do.”
Nurses often experience burnout, especially when working 12-hour shifts, Collins said.
Another reason for the decrease in nursing enrollment is because of the significant cost of a degree, Collins said.
“College is seen as being an expense instead of being seen as something that you use to really form yourself in who you want to be as a professional,” Collins said.
The nursing department at Northwestern uses various recruiting tools: social media posts, trips to high schools, recruitment events at community establishments and more.
The department also participates in Medical Avenues in Service and Health, or MASH, which is a series of pre-professional camps for middle school students in the Northwest Technical Center area. At these camps, students can visit hospitals and job-shadow medical professionals.
BUSINESS ENROLLMENT INCREASES
The data from the Northwestern Fact Book shows accounting and business administration as the majors with the highest enrollment numbers on campus, although these have decreased. Both majors were combined in 2021, and they have continued to have the highest enrollment, with 216 majors that year.
Dr. Garrett Lahr, the chair of the Division of Business at Northwestern, said he thinks the decrease in business majors is partially because of the oil boom ending in 2015. After the oil boom, several people left the Alva area. That not only decreased the population, but also decreased enrollment numbers at Northwestern, he said.
The business division is normally one of the most highly chosen majors at any college campus because it is a catch-all for students who are unsure of what they want to major in, Lahr said. Students who get a business degree can get hired almost anywhere.
“It’s just a very applicable degree for anything you can do in life,” Lahr said. “There’s always a business side to everything.”
Lahr said the business division tends to receive a lot of transfer students. He said the number of majors increased in the fall of 2022, with around 230 students in both accounting and business administration.
“I always tell kids that everything is a business,” Lahr said. “Any place you can spend money at is a business.”
AGRICULTURE
According to the fact book, agriculture, which includes agri-business and agri-education, is the fourth largest major at Northwestern, with 123 majors in 2021. Although the fact book shows an enrollment decrease of 46.73% in agriculture, it is because of the recent addition of two agriculture majors.
Dr. Dean Scarbrough, chair of the agriculture department, said he noticed an increase in the number of agriculture majors once the program was restructured in 2009 and 2010. The restructuring consisted of adding agri-business and agri-education.
“The agri-education degree is specifically for students who want to teach agriculture in high school and secondary schools,” Scarbrough said.
SMALLEST MAJORS
The smallest majors at Northwestern are in the Fine Arts Department. According to the fact book, the music – liberal art major had two students in 2021, the same number it had in 2017. It is the smallest major at Northwestern by enrollment.
The second smallest major is instrumental music, which had three students in 2021, down one student from 2017.
The third smallest major was music – non-teaching, which had five students in 2021, up from three students in 2017