Inside Higher Education reports that students are abandoning business as a college major, according to the UCLA annual Freshman Survey. Students majoring in business down to 14.4%, its lowest level since 1974.
Breaking down the major of business, the survey shows that students interested in management, accounting, and business administration is down, but finance and marketing are holding steady. The recession may play a role in the decrease; one only has to speculate upon the effect of the Wall Street debacle or company bailouts on students considering a major in business. The article did not talk about a “new” college major: Entrepreneurial studies. This is usually a concentration within business schools, but sometimes it stands alone.
38% of freshman also believe they will need remediation in college. The study showed the most severe gaps are in science, writing, and foreign language, all very essential subjects in a global world that is evolving faster than we can know.
The study also showed a 2% drop in the number of students identifying as “liberal”. Apparently this is a “normal” trend in the year after a presidential election.
