Academic Exploration Program

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For decades, Bradley University’s Academic Exploration Program (AEP) has helped students who are undecided about their major identify and pursue their academic and professional goals. Through a combination of instruction, reflection, and exposure, students gain the experience and confidence to declare a major and succeed professionally.

The key to success in the Academic Exploration Program rests with the student-academic advisor relationship. Each student in AEP is assigned an advisor, with whom they will spend over 30 hours in the classroom and one-on-one advising within the first semester. The award-winning academic advisement in AEP is integrated throughout the AEP curriculum. It helps students select the major and career path that’s best for them through the lens of whole student development.

Footsteps

Footsteps is a career exploration program that provides Bradley University students with an opportunity to begin exploring and experiencing potential careers firsthand. Students shadow a professional within their field(s) of interest for a portion of the work day. This provides students with a deeper understanding of the career/industry. Students also develop a professional contact within a prospective career field, laying the foundation for a potential mentorship, internship or career opportunity.

See the Footsteps Info Guide.

Footsteps Program Application
Meeting with coordinator of Academic Exploration Program
Career research
Meeting with career advisor
Footsteps job shadowing experience
Brief reflection write/up
Final meeting with coordinator of Academic Exploration Program

Students submit a brief reflection to and meet with the Coordinator of the Academic Exploration Program following their Footsteps experience. This allows students to debrief and discuss their observations and interests to assist in the process of selecting an academic program most fitting their career goals.

Current Students

Current Bradley students may schedule a major/minor exploration appointment with an AEP advisor to discuss their skills, interests, values, and programs at Bradley that may better align with their goals. Follow the instructions below to schedule an appointment:

Login to Navigate
Click “Get Assistance”
Select “Academic Advising.”
From the next dropdown, select “Major/Minor Exploration” and click “Next.”
Select the date and time you would prefer for your appointment, then click “Next.”
Be sure to click all the way through to confirm the appointment. You will receive a confirmation email. If you did not receive this email, your appointment is not confirmed.

Prospective Students

Prospective students who wish to learn more about starting at Bradley with an undeclared/exploratory major should contact the Office of Undergraduate Admission at (309) 677-1000.

Caterpillar (International Business, Accounting)
Children’s Hospital of IL Foundation (Marketing)
Charter Oak School (Speech Language Pathology)
Ethan Allen Interior’s (Family and Consumer Science—Retail Merchandising)
Lakeview Museum (History)
National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research (Biology)
OSF Saint Francis Medical Center–Occupational Therapy Rehabilitation (Health Science)
Regent Broadcasting (Television Arts)
Simantel Group Incoporated (Advertising)
State Farm Insurance Company (Actuarial Science)

Please note:

Setting up an individual job shadowing experience will take at least a couple of weeks.
The duration of each Footsteps shadowing experience can be a couple of hours or a half-day depending on employer availability.
Most employers work between 8am and 5pm, therefore all job shadowing experiences must take place during “normal business hours”.

While the Academic Exploration Program assists students with discovering their interests using a variety of internationally recognized interest, skill, and personality assessments, there are many resources available for students to begin exploring potential majors and careers on their own:

Assessments

Please contact (309) 677-2416 to schedule an appointment to have any of the following assessments administered.

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator^®
Self-Directed Search^®
College Majors Scorecard
Kuder Journey^®
Career Occupational Preference System (COPS-P)

Web Resources

College Board Majors and Career Profiles
U.S. Department of Labor O*NET Career Exploration & Job Analysis
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook
Smith Career Center What Can I Do With This Major?

Videos

Career Player – Use The Video Quick Jump To Find Areas That Interest You.
College Majors 101 – click on the major areas that appeal to you.

Print Resources

The Academic Exploration Program office in Cullom-Davis Library 320 contains a broad selection of literature students may use for major and career exploration. Students may browse and borrow from the AEP literature collection by appointment.

Current Students

It is estimated that somewhere between 75%-85% of college students will change their major before they graduate. Because of this, students who enter the university with a chosen major may elect to participate in the Academic Exploration Program after their first semester.

A section of AEP 100, the Student Planning Seminar, is offered in the spring semester to help students who may have learned over the course of their first semester that their initial major may not be their best option. The AEP 100 course is designed to prepare students to navigate major exploration and make any necessary changes to their program plan. Students who wish to participate in AEP after their first year will also be able to enroll in the fall semester AEP 100 course.

Current Bradley students may transfer into the Academic Exploration Program anytime prior to their junior year (fewer than 56 credit hours).

Students in the Academic Exploration Program will be assigned an AEP advisor until a new major is declared. Students are not required to declare AEP as a major to access AEP resources.

To start the process of transferring into the Academic Exploration Program, please schedule a Major/Minor Exploration Appointment with an AEP advisor.

Future Students

Ready to start college, but not ready to decide on your major? No problem!

The Academic Exploration Program (AEP) has helped thousands of students through the years identify major and career opportunities that align with their skills, interests, values, and goals.

At Bradley, 1 in 10 first-year students begins in the Academic Exploration Program, making it the second-largest incoming program for new freshmen!

While in AEP, students will learn about major and career opportunities through the unique lens of their strengths and goals. New students will spend their first semesters completing graduation requirements while exploring their options through a series of assessments and activities designed to help them understand and align their skills and values with majors and occupations.

Students will also have a knowledgeable and reliable professional advisor who will engage them with holistic and individualized academic advising. Most students who go through AEP graduate on the same timeline as their peers who may have declared a major on or before their first day.

Students in AEP will enroll in a Student Planning Seminar (AEP 100), which will provide them with a variety of resources both on and off campus that will help them understand and define their academic goals through exposure, self-reflection, goal setting, and assessment.

Prospective students who wish to learn more about starting at Bradley with an undecided/exploratory major should contact the Office of Undergraduate Admission at (309) 677-1000 or [email protected].

We also encourage students to schedule a campus visit, where you can meet with AEP advisors to learn more about the program.

Parents and Supporters

Every part of the Academic Exploration Program (AEP) at Bradley University is designed to help your student achieve success. While each student navigates the major and career exploration process a little differently, the professional staff advisors in AEP will help your student make intentional, efficient, and educated decisions about course registration and major declaration.

Whether your student is undecided about their major or is on the fence between two or more, AEP is a great place for students to start their education. Some students will begin college with a general idea about the direction their major is going. For these students, it is not uncommon to have a class schedule that looks similar (if not identical) to their peers with a declared major.

For those students who have a broad range of major options, AEP advisors will help students be intentional about selecting Bradley Core Curriculum coursework that will get students exposed to a variety of academic disciplines while simultaneously completing graduation requirements. Because of this, most students who enter the university in AEP will graduate on track with their peers who entered with a declared major.