Like other major variables in the PTC, the flags for whether or not a student has declared a major that is considered STEM is measured at the semester level going out twenty-one semesters and for up to three majors in a single semester. The flags are of the general form
- STEM*_CODE_SEM * *
- STEM*_DESC_SEM * *
Where the first asterisk indicates which of three majors this is and the second and third asterisks indicate which semester is being measured. Thus STEM1_CODE_SEM01 measures a student’s first major in their first semester while STEM3_CODE_SEM08 measures their third major in their eighth semester. Note that there are both _CODE_ and _DESC_ versions of each variable. The following is the breakdown of code and description:
- B0 = Biology
- B1 = Biochemistry
- B3 = Biomedical Science
- B4 = Plant Science
- C0 = Chemistry
- E0 = Engineering
- H0 = Nursing
- H1 = Allied Health
- M0 = Mathematics
- M1 = Statistics
- P0 = Physics
- S0 = General Science
- S1 = Environmental Science
- S2 = Forensic Science
- S4 = Fire Science
- S5 = Actuarial Science
- T0 = Technology
- U0 = Computer Science
- U1 = Other CIS
- ZZ = Non-STEM
The full list of all 126 variables is not being included here for space reasons.