Hacking College: Why the Major Doesn't Matter?and What Really Does

How college faculty and staff can help students "hack" their college experience through a proactive, personalized approach to success.

Finalist, 2026 PROSE Award in Best Book in Education Theory and Practise, Association of American Publishers

College is a complex, high-stakes game, according to authors Ned Scott Laff and Scott Carlson, but students can learn how to win it. Hacking College offers college advisors, faculty, and staff in student and academic affairs a groundbreaking guide to rethinking higher education so that students can succeed in an increasingly complex world. Drawing from extensive research and real student experiences, this essential book exposes the hidden challenges and bureaucratic traps that undermine student success, from convoluted transfer processes to a single-minded emphasis on majors.

Each chapter provides actionable strategies to help advisors lead students to tailor their education to their aspirations. Through vivid case studies, Laff and Carlson advocate for a proactive approach to education―encouraging students to "hack" their college experience by crafting a personalized field of study. This method challenges the traditional focus on declaring a major and empowers students to link their personal interests with academic pursuits so that their education aligns with future career and life goals.

Enriched with insights on how to find underutilized institutional resources and foster meaningful mentor relationships, Hacking College encourages students, educators, and institutions to transform passive educational experiences into dynamic journeys of discovery and self-fulfillment.

Ned Scott Laff spent 35 years working in academic affairs at a range of public and private institutions toward curriculum development and student success.

Scott Carlson is a senior writer for the Chronicle of Higher Education.