“Decided,” “Undecided,” and “In Transition”:
Implications for Academic Advisement, Career Counseling, & Student Retention

Joe Cuseo

Introduction The objective of this article is twofold: (a) to critically review research on how students’ process of decision making with respect to selecting college majors and careers relates to their persistence in college, and (b) to tease-out practical implications of this research for improving the academic advisement, long-range planning, and retention of first-year students. The majority of new students entering higher education leave their initial college of choice without completing a degree (Tinto, 1993), and national attrition rates have been increasing since the early 1980s at two-year and four-year institutions, both public and private (Postsecondary Education Opportunity, 2002). At all types of higher education institutions, including highly selective colleges and universities, the most critical period or stage of vulnerability for student attrition continues to be the first year of college (“Learning Slope,” 1991). More than half of all students who withdraw from college do so during their first year (Consortium for Student Retention Data Exchange, 1999), resulting in a first-year attrition rate of more than 25% at four-year institutions, and approximately 50% at two-year institutions (ACT, 2003). Retention research suggests that student commitment to educational and career goals is perhaps the strongest factor associated with persistence to degree completion (Wyckoff, 1999). Given the increasing trend of new students to report that their number-one goal for attending college is “preparing for an occupation” (Astin, Parrot, Korn, & Sax, 1997), it becomes understandable that difficulty finding or committing to long-term goals will increase their risk for attrition. Furthermore, if students develop a