Minding The Gap: Should More U.S. High School Grads Take A Year Off?

In Australia, it's called "going walkabout."

Taking a gap year between high school and college has long been part of the European and Australian educational experience, but now more and more U.S. students are also minding the gap.

On gap-year.com, a popular British Web site, gap years are described as a “time-out” or a “break.” Students across the pond share the same gap-year goals of experience, adventure, and perspective, but they seem to allow themselves more unscheduled time and freedom to achieve them. By contrast, many U.S. “gappers” opt for highly structured programs that, while rewarding, seem more exhausting than a traditional freshman year at college.

The Center for Interim Studies—one of the main U.S. programs that helps students tailor their gap years—describes a sample year-long program: writing courses in Oxford, followed by art history studies in Venice, and then a restoration project in France.

The recently launched initiative, Global Citizen Year, places gap-year students in intensive service projects around the world to cultivate “a new generation to lead the fight against global poverty.” Students receive leadership and language training before starting work on their local development projects.

Elite colleges have also recently championed the gap year experience: Princeton University launched a pilot gap year program this past fall that places interested freshman in tuition-free service work abroad for a year.

Yet despite the increasing popularity of gap years in the United States, taking a year off from academics remains a somewhat stigmatized choice. Admission statistics at Harvard report that as of 2008, only between 50 and 70 members of its admitted freshman class of about 1600 deferred enrollment in favor of taking a gap year.

Parents express concerns that once students step off the collegiate track they won’t get back on. And although Interim Studies says its students come from a variety of financial backgrounds, the average program price tag is between $10,000 and $20,000, not easily paid for with the wages of a student’s part-time job.

It seems that before more Americans mind the gap, there are still a few gaps to bridge.

– Ali Goldstein 


Organizations Cited:

• Gap-Year.com
• The Center For Interim Programs
• Global Citizen Year
 

Comments

Posted on 4/14/2009 by

Marina Lynch

I graduated from a U.S. high school in June 2008 and am currently in my eighth month of my gap year. I moved to Belgium and have been working as an au pair. The experience has been difficult and extremely rewarding. I recently enrolled in a college in Brussels, thanks to my exposure to Belgium and the personal growth I've achieved. I would never have known about the school I'm going to go to had I not taken this year off. I would recommend taking time between high school and college to travel and experience new things. The reason I became an au pair was because I would have a stable place to live and a small income. Plus, I've been learning French and been able to travel fairly inexpensively. What more could you ask for??

Posted on 4/20/2009 by

Vanessa Quirk

I would agree that gap years are still a bit stigmatized in the States, especially in high schools like mine (where you work yourself to the bone just to get into a good college - and then promptly work yourself to the bone some more). I think a gap year might have been the perfect way for me to gain some perspective and would have let me appreciate my collegiate experience more.

Posted on 6/08/2009 by

Everett Brokaw

Numerous wise adults have expressed concern at American disdain for the concept of a "gap year". I find that a shame.

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