Error with "...underachievers who loaf around the house until well passing their college years."

Question

I'm having a problem with this error identification test. The question goes...

The cost of living has skyrocketed, unemployment has gone up, going to college doesn't guarantee you can get a good job, and many young people are underachievers who loaf around the house until well passing their college years.

1. Skyrocketed
2. Going to college
3. Loaf around
4. Well passing

I am rather confident that the answer is 4. Well passing, but I'm having a hard time finding a reasonable explanation and coming up with how 'well passing' should be changed to make this sentence grammatically correct.

I thought about changing it into its present form, which is 'well pass'. Though I am not sure if that works. It sounds kinda odd to me.

Answer 1

In this context, the word you want is "past" rather than "passed." "Well past" would be the correct form. "Past" is an adjective meaning "gone by in time and no longer existing." It can also be a noun, as in "living in the past".