Each year, about 15 percent of our incoming freshmen and a number of transfer students begin their education at Northwest as a deciding student.
Northwest supports deciding students by offering a deciding student professional advisor to assist students through the major and career exploration process. With the assistance of the deciding student professional advisors, students will evaluate personal interests, abilities, needs and values and how each fits with a major or career.
Deciding students select from one of four meta-majors. The meta-major concept is designed to allow you to explore while also ensuring you remain on the path to an undergraduate degree. The four meta-majors areas include Sciences, Business, Education, and University Studies. Students who may wish to pursue a major in the sciences, business-related area, or education field are encouraged to select the related meta-major. University Studies meta major is for a deciding student with no interest in sciences, business, or education. The University Studies meta-major allows additional exploration while taking only Northwest Core (general education courses) and institutional requirements. The Northwest Core consists of 44-47 credit hours and institutional requirements (4 hours) allowing students necessary exploration time prior to making a decision on their major.
To further explore the majors and departments in each meta-major you may want to look through the list of majors and minors. To read about a students progression toward a major, view four-year plans.
The staff at the Student Success Center are happy to assist deciding students in the process of choosing a major.
Contact them at:
