Page 12 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • August 27, 2014 Students should take care when selecting a major As recent college graduates can no doubt attest, the job market for young people can be difficult to navigate. Many recent graduates are still struggling to find full-time employment, and some might be wondering if they chose the right major. Though choosing a major is about more than just find- ing a job, the financial burden of earning a college degree cannot be ignored. According to the Project on Student Debt, 71 percent of college seniors who graduated in 2012 had student loan debt, with an average of $29,400 per bor- rower. In fact, between 2008 and 2012, the average student loan debt at graduation increased an average of six percent each year. So while the right major should incorporate a student’s interests, skills, and strengths, it is also important to find a major that can help students earn a living after they walk across the stage and receive their diplomas. The following are a handful of tips college students can employ to ensure they choose the right major. Don’t jump into it. Some students might want to pick a major before they ever set foot on campus. While that strat- egy might work for some, it should only be employed by those students who are wholly certain a major is for them. Some students choose a major early on because they feel they may get a head start at navigating their way through a job market that recently endured exceptionally high levels of unemployment. However, the pressure of finding a job should not be what drives students when choosing a major. Unless a student is entirely certain a particular course of study is right for him or her, it is a good idea to wait to choose a major. The first year of college is a great time to expand academic horizons, and students should use that time to their advantage. Don’t procrastinate. While rushing into a major is a mis- take, it is also foolish to procrastinate with regard to choos- ing a course of study. According to The College Board’s annual survey of colleges, the average tuition and fees at private nonprofit four-year colleges for the 2013-14 school year was $30,094, while public four-year in-state tuition and fees averaged slightly less than $9,000 for the same year. So no matter which type of college or university a student enrolls in, he or she will be making a significant financial commitment. Waiting too long to choose a course of study may mean paying for extraneous courses, increas- ing tuition along the way. Use the resources that are available. Students who are undecided about a college major should make use of their schools’ career development departments to help them get on the right path. Many such departments provide assess- ment tools to help students find a major that synthesizes their interests and skills with a field of study. In addition, the personnel within career development departments have dealt with hundreds, if not thousands, of previous students who found themselves in similar situations, and that expe- rience can prove invaluable to students who might feel lost with regard to choosing majors. Students who have a specific career in mind should know the associated requirements. While many majors are not difficult to navigate, some fields of study have strict guidelines that students should be aware of almost imme- diately. For example, students hoping to attend medical school after graduation need to determine which courses they absolutely must take in order to qualify for medical school. In addition, students with such specific plans in mind often must choose their majors as early as possible so they can plan their curriculum in accordance with the standards they will need to meet to be considered for post- graduate work.