Changing majors makes life harder

Our education system at IU is flawed. Students who want to change their majors, unless it is within their school of study, lose valuable credit hours, class time and a great deal of money. \nTake my friend Natalie, for instance. She decided to change her major from pre-med to education after her freshman year. Currently she has 117 credit hours and is of senior status and yet has two semesters left until she will graduate.\nShe lost 37 credit hours by changing her major. Our education system should work for us, not against us, but it is becoming increasingly difficult these days to graduate in four years.\nIt is also frustrating and disheartening that schools within IU do not work together to accommodate students. I am applying for the Washington Leadership Program through SPEA, but because I am a journalism major, I am not able to receive full credit for the program. \nThe School of Journalism will only accept three internship credit hours and through SPEA's program I would earn six. It is not fair that students outside SPEA may not be able to receive full credit for internships, even though they will work just as hard as anyone else. I will also still be required to pay the same amount of tuition as a full-time student, while not earning more than nine hours in the program. This will set me behind and chances are I will not be able to graduate on time.\nGraduating within the traditional four years is a big deal for many students. Not everyone has the luxury of all-expense paid schooling for four years and many people are paying their way through college. \nAn extra year or even semester is just not an option. And some students want to get out of school and get into the real world to pursue what they love to do. The possibility of not graduating on schedule is enough to make unhappy students settle with their majors and prevent some students from participating in worthwhile programs such as the Washington Leadership Program. \nIt is difficult as a freshman or sophomore to know what you are interested in doing after you graduate, yet by that time many colleges expect students to know. Students should not be penalized for changing their majors. We should not have to declare a major or even apply to get into a school until we reach our junior year. This way, it gives students more time to discover what they really might be interested in pursuing and it takes off some of the pressure of declaring a major. \nSchools should provide their students with as many opportunities as possible and encourage students to participate in internships, overseas study programs and other programs that help students broaden their horizons. They should be more than accommodating when helping students plan their schedules and do everything possible to help students graduate on time and pursue majors they enjoy. It should be the school's responsibility.\nCollege is a great time to explore different interests, but the education system is preventing many students from doing just that. The last thing students need to worry about is falling behind in school because they want to pursue internships, participate in overseas study programs or change majors.