Sources of Information that Introduced Undergraduate Students to their Allied Health Major

Purpose: Selecting a college major can be overwhelming for undergraduate students. The factors influencing major selection not only impact student success and degree completion time but also affect university recruitment and retention strategies. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to identify the most influential sources of information that first introduced undergraduate students to their current major of nutrition, public health, or speech pathology and sought to determine if any differences existed between the academic majors or by the demographic variables of gender or racial/ethnic backgrounds. Methods: A total of 121 undergraduate students from a regional, midwest institution participated in completing an electronic questionnaire, which consisted of ranking the levels of influence of 27 potential college- and non-college related sources of information. Results: Personal experience with the major (39%) was reported to be the most influential non-college related source of information, while college introductory courses (38%) were the most consistently reported influential college-related source of information. Conclusion: The findings of this study can assist institutions and academic programs in enhancing their recruiting campaigns and marketing materials, making them more effective and informative for prospective students. By providing accurate information for major selection decisions, students can make informed choices earlier in their academic journey, leading to increased satisfaction and a reduced need to extend their time to graduation.