For some young people, just heading off to college can be challenging enough, even before deciding on what course of study might carry them through their adult life. One Milwaukee area school is trying to make navigating that undecided part of the college experience a little easier.
Christine Pharr is president of Mount Mary University, which recently announced its “Compass Year” program for undecided students. "I think, in higher ed," she explains, "we are understanding of the fact that perhaps many 18-year-olds are not sure what direction they want their career to go in."
The program, which holds a preview day for prospective students on Saturday, offers a variety of support measures, including first-year classes that introduce students to more than 30 different majors. Pharr says the program speaks to a common issue.
"About 80 percent of college-going students either don't know what they want to do when they come to college - or change their major within the first couple of years. So that suggests that the vast majority of people really don't know — at 18 — what they want to do."
