An Analysis of the Effect of Admission into Desired Majors on Higher Education Performance

This study aims to provide policy implications for the implementation and expansion of policies that broaden major selection options, such as liberal arts or undeclared major systems, by analyzing the impact of admission to desired college majors on higher education outcomes, represented by academic achievement, satisfaction, and dropout rates of college students. To this end, the study utilized data from the Korean Education & Employment Panel II (KEEP II) collected from 2016 to 2022 to analyze how the match between high school students' desired college majors and their actual majors in college affects higher education outcomes. Stepwise multiple regression analysis was conducted for models where the dependent variables were academic achievement and satisfaction, while logistic regression analysis was performed for the model where the dependent variable was dropout status. The results showed that the match between students' majors did not have a statistically significant effect on academic achievement. However, it had a positive effect on satisfaction with college life and a negative effect on dropout rates. In other words, expanding major selection options is confirmed to have a positive impact on improving the quality of college life, such as increased satisfaction and academic persistence. These findings suggest that policy interventions aimed at expanding students' major selection options and strengthening their autonomy may have a greater effect when the core policy goal of university organizations is to improve student satisfaction and academic persistence rather than to enhance academic achievement.