Parents' Concerns About Their Children Taking a Gap Year

Is a Gap Year Safe?

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Is a Gap Year for My Child?

An Interim gap year is for anyone seeking productive change and direction in his or her life. We work primarily with students because it is usually easier for them to take an interim semester or gap year to explore the world and their interests. Successful gap years can be had by all who are motivated and who participate wholeheartedly, ranging from the highly self-directed and academically focused to those thoroughly tired of the traditional academic process or hampered by learning differences.

Will My Child Go on to College After a Gap Year?

The only person who can keep your son or daughter from going to college is your son or daughter! If college is their desire and they have the physical and personal resources, they will most likely go to college. Most every student with whom we have worked has continued on to college within a year of completing their gap year. Many students who would have dropped out of college had they gone straight on from high school find that they are more excited about the prospect of college after having a chance to connect in-the-world experience with classroom learning.

Will a Gap Year Add to the Already High Cost of College?

Given the cost of college and the economic concerns that many families are facing, the answer to this question can be critical to considering a gap year. The answer, surprisingly, is that a gap year can actually reduce the overall cost of education and help save money on college! We can't blame you if your first response to this assertion is doubt. After all, the gap year adds a year to the educational time frame; however, the facts as reported by CNN Money in 2004 and the US government operated National Center for Education Statistics (NCES link below) are that only 37% of entering freshmen graduate within 4 years and the average student takes more than 5 years to complete college. Why? Because students, who are often unsure of the academic direction they wish to take, frequently change majors, sometimes more than once, and often change schools. Either of these occurrences adds costs and time to a student's college education. Possibly as important is the troubling statistic, backed up by this NCES report on 2001 graduates, that only about 63% of those that start college complete their Bachelor's degree in 6 or fewer years. The fact is that 4-year completion rates rarely reach 90% in our best colleges and universities. US News & World Report lists the schools with the highest graduation rates in this report. You might be surprised to find that Harvard's 4-year graduation rate is 88%, MIT's is 83%, Stanford's is 80%, NYU's is 78%, and Boston University's is 76%. Most are even less.

How much does the extra time in college cost? This NY Times piece quotes the College Board when placing a dollar value on the costs of extra time to degree completion, "For an out-of-state student at a public four-year university, the extra cost of taking six years to complete an undergraduate degree averages more than $58,000" and "even five years for an in-state student costs an extra $18,000." So, if you're budgeting for 4 years of college, be prepared, there's a very good chance that you will incur significant costs for one or more extra years!

The obvious conclusion to draw is that a gap year, which can be made less expensive than even the lowest priced colleges, can save money by helping the student to focus, define what they want from college, and obtain their degree in four years. Added maturity also helps. Most gap-year students heading to college are far less likely to waste precious time with excessive partying or an uncertain attitude about what to study.

What Do Colleges Think of the Gap Year?

Most colleges today are very supportive of the gap year concept as long as the student is doing something valuable with their time. They recognize that students who engage in a year of creative, structured experiences will be more mature, motivated and productive, in short, a far more appealing student overall. Fred Hargadon, former Dean of Admissions at Princeton University which will now offer a Bridge Year to up to 10% of incoming Freshmen, commented that students need more wisdom, perspective and experience to take full advantage of college, and that creative use of an Interim year can provide these necessary elements. We have worked with many students who believe that their Interim gap-year experiences helped them get into colleges that otherwise might not have accepted them.

Why Use a Gap-Year Counselor?

The first and foremost reason for using a gap-year counselor is to help you and your child avoid the potholes and speedbumps on the road to a gap year. An experienced gap-year counselor listens to your wants, needs, and concerns and steers you in the best direction for your family. Holly Bull, the president of The Center for Interim Programs published an article Why Use a Gap-Year Counselor which addresses the issue.