Though rising and falling university enrollment numbers can certainly contribute to the number of students enrolled in a certain college or major, other internal and external factors can influence numbers as well.

Early childhood education, though by far the university’s most popular major, saw a decline in majors since 1998, but it has jumped back up this year. In 1998, early childhood reached its seven-year peak with 1,331 majors, but dove as low as 917 during the 2000 school year. However, this year, the department has grown to include 1,039 majors and Merribeth Bruning, chair of early childhood, elementary and middle level education, expects the numbers to keep rising.

Bruning said she was not completely sure if any outside trends directly influenced numbers. However, one reason could have been changes in the state’s licensing procedure. The state changed what grades graduate students could teach. The current license allows students to teach preschool through third grade.

While the state worked through changing the license, some students may have been unsure as to what the new license requirements and guidelines would state.

Now the changes are in place on the state level, and Eastern has altered the early childhood education program to comply to those changes, bringing uncertainty to an end and attracting students back to the major, Bruning said.

“There has been an national and international trend, realizing the importance of early education,” she said.

Psychology, accounting and early childhood education each have fewer students in their department this semester, and department chairs cited possible internal and external reasons for the decline.

The psychology major reached its highest enrollment mark in 1996 with almost 500 students taking it up. However, numbers have slowly decreased over the last seven years, dropping to its two lowest enrollment numbers in the last two years. Last year, 399 students declared psychology and this year only six more added.

William Addison, chair of the psychology department, said the department has tried to explain the requirements of a psychology major to prospective students and made changes to the program.

He said some students in past years entered psychology and were surprised later on when their classes concentrated on math and science classes. Over the years, recruiters and advisers have stressed that psychology is a science, based on studies and statistics that require a strong understanding of mathematics.

“We emphasize to students … the importance of a strong background in math and science,” he said. “Some don’t realize the importance of that background.”

“We are doing the students a service,” he said. “We don’t want to surprise them; we want to tell them up front that this important.”

The department has also instituted minimal requirements to be accepted into the psychology major several years ago. Previously, students could declare psychology and would have to meet certain grade criteria as they started the introductory classes. Now, students need to meet that criteria before they even accepted into the program.

The extra requirements force students to wait longer before declaring their major psychology.

In 1998, 321 students majored in accounting. However, since then, the popularity of the major has declined. In 2000, 238 students were accounting majors and this year there are 214 students.

E. Wayne Chandler, associate chair of the school of business, said schools all over the country are seeing similar decreases in their accounting programs.

“Students are finding that jobs in finance and computer information systems pay more,” he said.

The department is seeking accreditation in accounting and assessing students “to see what things we might want to change in the program.”