Roadblocks to Momentum: An Analysis of College Major GPA Restrictions and Stranded Students

College retention, persistence, and completion are key indicators of a successful institution, but six-year degree completion has remained stagnant in recent years (National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, 2022). Despite institutional efforts through success initiatives to keep students retained, one set of barriers to degree completion may be due to established major GPA restrictions and policies that prevent students from being able to declare their majors. Accordingly, students who are unable to declare their major but keep enrolling in courses may be in danger of becoming “stranded.” This quantitative examination of student data from one large public four-year college aims to identify the characteristics of stranded students and consider how they compare to non-stranded students. The Academic Momentum Model by Cliff Adelman (1999, 2006) provides a lens to identify academic factors that may predict stranded status. The results of the analysis found that stranded students demonstrate indicators of academic momentum (Adelman, 2006), however, decreased levels of academic performance increased the likelihood of becoming stranded. A student’s choice of major was found to be related to the likelihood of becoming stranded, along with other academic characteristics such as summer term enrollment, second-year GPA, changing of majors, and continuous enrollment. The study confirmed that major GPA admission restrictions were associated with a lower likelihood of a positive outcome for students.