With a bill pending in the state Senate that would extend financial aid to fifth-year college students, legislators are acknowledging the growing number of upperclassmen who don't exactly fit into one of the four traditional years of higher education.

Unofficially, these veterans to campus are known as the "super-seniors" of Penn State, and they aren't so rare anymore: Only about one-third of students graduate from Penn State in four years, according to 1998 statistics.

However, there are few characteristics super-seniors share besides the extra few semesters they have spent at the university, and that diversity prevents the probable passage of this bill from being a complete victory.

The Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency currently awards grants to financially eligible students completing their first four years of post-secondary education. Since at least 1996, state Rep. Lynn Herman, R-Centre, has been pushing for an extension of that limit to allow older students a chance at state money.

The Penn State Veterans Organization was among early supporters of such a bill, because some members have had to postpone their coursework as they needed to continue their military service.

But the kinds of people who spend longer than four years in college today are hardly limited to those in uniform.

At the top of the list are students enrolled in five-year programs, such as architecture or landscape architecture, or those who are pursuing integrated undergraduate-graduate studies.

But the bulk of the super-seniors are made up of men and women who switch majors, choose multiple majors, take lighter course loads or drop numerous classes midway through the semester.

Our college years should be a time of discovery, and changing our minds about what interests us most and what will lead us on to future success isn't necessarily counterproductive. But wasting away our time here without a sense of purpose should not be condoned nor rewarded with state financial aid.

Whether or not the bill succeeds, university advisers can do their best to ensure that more students graduate before they become super-seniors. Of course, this goal requires an equal, if not more devoted, effort on the part of students themselves.

Planning courses two, three or four semesters in advance is just one way to make sure that Penn State ends up being the best four years of our life.

And for any student who can't wrap their mind around ending their college career, there's always graduate school.