How to Choose a Major: 7 Steps Using Real Career Data

Choosing a major feels like choosing your whole future. It is a big decision, but it is less final than it seems: about 30% of students who declare a major change it within three years (NCES). The goal is not to find the one perfect major. It is to pick a good starting point with your eyes open.

This guide walks through seven steps, using U.S. government data on 1,901 majors and the careers they lead to.

Step 1: Start with what you enjoy doing

Interests are the best starting point because they predict which kind of work will keep you engaged. The most widely used model sorts work into six interest areas, often called the Holland Code or RIASEC:

• Realistic: building, fixing, working with tools, machines, plants or animals.
• Investigative: researching, analyzing, solving problems with science or math.
• Artistic: creating, designing, writing, performing.
• Social: teaching, helping, caring for people.
• Enterprising: leading, persuading, selling, starting things.
• Conventional: organizing, working with data, records and clear procedures.

The College Major Quiz uses the official O*NET Interest Profiler questions plus a few personality questions, then ranks majors by how well the careers they lead to fit you. It takes about 12 minutes, and you do not need to sign up. Our guide what major should I choose lists the majors that fit each interest area best.

Step 2: Look at the careers each major leads to

A major is a path to work, so look at where it goes. The U.S. Department of Education links each major (a CIP code) to the occupations it prepares students for. In that crosswalk:

• The typical major is linked to 3 careers that have full data on this site.
• About 1 in 5 majors (20.8%) is linked to just one career. These are usually specialized programs, such as a specific health technology.
• Broad majors are linked to many careers. Business Administration and Management, General is linked to 42, Business/Commerce, General to 30 and Computer Science to 25.

Neither kind is better. A specialized major gives a clear path and often a quick start. A broad major keeps more doors open but may need an extra step, like an internship or a graduate program, to point you somewhere specific.

Step 3: Check the pay and the training for those careers

For each career a major leads to, look at three numbers on its career profile:

• Median pay (BLS, May 2025), and pay in the state where you want to live;
• the education most workers report in that job;
• the number of jobs, which tells you how many openings there are likely to be.

Education level and pay are closely linked. We grouped the 610 careers that have their own BLS pay figure and an O*NET education profile by the education most workers in each career report:

Source: O*NET 31.0 and BLS OEWS May 2025; our calculation. The middle value of each group's career medians.

This does not mean a degree guarantees higher pay; within every group the range is wide. It does mean you should know which level your target careers expect. See careers by education to browse.

Step 4: Count the full cost and time

A major's cost is more than tuition. Consider:

• Length: some majors lead to jobs that need a graduate degree or license (for example, counseling, physical therapy or law).
• Tuition: in 2022–23, average tuition and fees were about $9,800 a year at public 4-year schools and about $4,000 at public 2-year colleges, for in-state students (NCES Fast Facts).
• Extra requirements: clinical hours, student teaching, portfolios or licensing exams.

A major that leads to a well-paid career after a long, expensive program may still be the right choice, but go in knowing the full path.

Step 5: Test it before you commit

Before you declare, try the major in small ways:

• Take the intro course in your first year. If you dislike the basics, the advanced courses rarely get better.
• Talk to juniors and seniors in the major about the hardest classes and what graduates do next.
• Talk to people in the careers it leads to. Ask what a normal week looks like.
• Look at the downsides. Every career profile on this site lists the hard parts of the job from O*NET, such as tight deadlines, physical work or dealing with conflict.

Step 6: Keep your options open

If you are torn between two directions, look for ways to keep both:

• Pick a broad major and add a minor or a set of electives in the specialized area.
• Choose courses that count toward more than one major in your first year.
• Learn skills that matter across many careers. In O*NET, judgment and decision making and complex problem solving are rated important in about a third of all careers. See our list of transferable skills.

Step 7: Decide, then review once a year

Make a decision with the information you have, then check it once a year. Ask yourself:

• Do I still enjoy most of my classes in this major?
• Do the careers it leads to still appeal to me?
• Are my grades in the core courses on track?

If two or more answers are "no", read should I change my major. Changing is common and, done early, usually costs little time.

Mistakes to avoid

• Choosing a major only because it is popular or because friends chose it.
• Looking only at the most famous career a major leads to. Check every career it is linked to, including the ones with the most jobs.
• Ignoring the requirements after graduation, such as a license, a graduate degree or clinical hours.
• Deciding in a hurry. If you are unsure, take intro courses first; many schools let you declare by the end of your second year.
• Never revisiting the choice. Check in once a year and adjust early if it is not working.

Common questions

Does my major decide my career?

Less than many people think. Many careers accept graduates from several majors; for example, the crosswalk links 35 different majors to data scientists and 17 to management analysts. Licensed fields such as nursing, engineering, accounting and teaching are the main exception. Read more in does your major matter.

What if I have no idea what I want?

Start with the College Major Quiz, take a mix of intro courses in your first year, and choose a broad major if you still are not sure. Many schools let you wait until the end of your second year to declare.

Should I choose a major for the money?

Pay matters, but a major you dislike is hard to finish. Use pay as a filter between majors that fit your interests, not as the only reason.

Sources

• NCES, Beginning College Students Who Change Their Majors Within 3 Years of Enrollment (Data Point 2018-434).
• NCES Fast Facts: Tuition costs of colleges and universities.
• U.S. Department of Education, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk (majors to careers).
• O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025.