Times are changing, and so are the interests and goals of young millennial students enrolled in universities across the country.  New Mexico State University (NMSU) is no different in terms of how students are demonstrating their changing aspirations through the swaying numbers of enrollment for certain majors.

Science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) majors have overall grown in enrollment dramatically across the country and even across the globe, initiating the creation of programs that promote STEM careers on a national level.  On the other hand, career fields in the arts and social sciences are losing potential candidates to become professionals in these fields.

Journalism and mass communications is a career field that has proved to be ever-changing and perpetually evolving in a positive way.  And although the statistics may not clearly show a negative drop in enrollment, the real-life feedback from current journalism students proves to be both positive and negative for the journalism and mass media department these past few years.

“I wouldn’t consider journalism a ‘dying’ major, but I would say that it’s a hard major to have, which is probably why there’s been a decline in students who are majoring in journalism,” said journalism student, Kiana Gonzales.  Kiana explained that STEM majors are guaranteed jobs after college, while graduating with a degree in journalism makes finding a job much harder.

Another department at NMSU that is suffering losses in terms of student enrollment is the Hotel, Restaurant, and Tourism Management (HRTM) department that is part of the College of Agricultural, Consumer, and Environmental Sciences (ACES).  Unlike Journalism and Mass Communications, the statistics for HRTM clearly demonstrate a significant drop in student headcount.

From the fall semester of 2012 to the current fall semester of 2017, the number of students enrolled as HRTM majors has dropped from 354 to 158, a 55 percent drop.  The reason as to why this number is dropping as the years go by, whether it be lack of students with true interest in the field or simply not enough students, is unclear at this point.

“As far as something to improve for the department, just some PR for [HRTM]. HRTM sometimes gets lost in all the other awesome things at NMSU…I think just shedding more light on the great program that NMSU provides [would be great] for someone interested in the hospitality business,” said HRTM major, Audrianna Giron.

The overall mentality that permeates through the millennial generation is that success means quickly turning a degree directly into a job.  For this reason, many millennial students are deciding that journalism doesn’t have the capability to catch up with this mindset.  The same applies to HRTM; today’s society is losing the human factor in the work field, making HRTM and its personable attitude requirements undesirable for many students, making STEM fields, that usually do not require people skills, more attractive.

Millennials are also naturally geared towards STEM majors compared to consumer sciences majors, due to the simple fact that there is more demand for STEM students; these days, students are looking to where they are needed and wanted.

The future of many majors offered at colleges and universities across the country may not be clear, but what is clear is that the change will make a lasting impact on our academic establishments.