Editorial: Exploratory studies are smart, but crushing college debt isn't

What do you want to be when you grow up?

The older students get, the more complicated the answer can become. By the time they graduate high school, plenty of young adults don’t have a grasp on what their next act might be.

Many pick a college but not a major. About half of college students don’t have a major when they enroll in a university.

Pennsylvania Western University is trying to reframe by changing the language and the process. The three-campus university, stitched together from the colleges in California, Clarion and Edinboro, isn’t calling these students undeclared or undecided. That typical terminology is being replaced by the umbrella of “exploratory studies.”

No one should have to make a decision about their entire life at 17 while filling out applications. If you know you want to be a teacher or an engineer or a pharmacist, that’s great.

But the purpose of about half of the credits to graduate is exposure to other courses of study. Maybe someone never knew they wanted to be a social worker until they took that psychology class during their second semester.

PennWest’s new plan involves career coaches and mentors. It promotes the idea that not knowing the job you want to retire from in 50 years is perfectly reasonable. College is a step on that path, not a contract.

The university has more than 100 students participating in “exploratory studies,” and 35% have found that major through their explorations.

The question is whether that’s enough bang for the considerable bucks a college education requires.

PennWest is one of the most affordable four-year college options in the Keystone State, but it still tops $25,000 a year between tuition, housing, food, fees and books, before financial aid. For a dependent student, that can mean up to $5,500 in federal student loans and a lot more in private debt.

Worse, the cost can come with a high likelihood of leaving school without a degree. The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center reported, of U.S. freshmen enrolling in fall 2023, about 13.6% didn’t return for the spring semester. About 22.4% weren’t back on campus in fall 2024.

Exploring might be a gateway to finding a reason to stay instead of giving up on an unsatisfying program. But that’s only if students can afford the cost of following that treasure map to find themselves. Many can barely afford the programs that will get the degrees they know they want. As of August, the Education Data Initiative puts Pennsylvania’s average student loan debt at $36,012 — up $1,024 over 2024.

Let’s be clear: PennWest’s plan to help students find their future is worthwhile. It should grow and be built upon.

At the same time, we need to keep focus on the crushing cost of college. Deciding on a future and being accepted to college doesn’t make it affordable.

Until more colleges can make college a practical, affordable investment that doesn’t come with an unhealthy dose of debt, fewer students will be able to afford to figure out what they want to be when they grow up.

And that will be unfortunate. Because we are still going to need those teachers and engineers and astronauts, and it would be great if they had the financial ability to explore their options.