University of Colorado Boulder vs. Arizona State

ASU change of major after frosh admission to an engineering major is not restricted, but students who enter ASU outside of engineering must meet the listed transfer requirements at https://engineering.asu.edu/admission-requirements/ (change of major at the bottom of this page).

As an aside, he may want to consider whether he wants to do a more specialized major like aerospace versus a more general major like mechanical (with aerospace electives). Aerospace leads to a more limited set of employers and jobs (many of which require security clearances), although the competition for those jobs will include other types of engineers. Non-aerospace jobs may prefer those with a more general major like mechanical.

Within California, did he apply to UCs and CSUs where the engineering majors are not impacted or less impacted (e.g. UCR, UCM, CSUSac, CSULA)?