Hiking 500 miles of the Camino de Santiago, living with a host family outside of Warsaw while learning Polish, doing a 4-month service program in Uruguay, and taking photography classes — that’s what I would do, if I were taking a gap year.
A gap year, to paraphrase the Gap Year Association, is a period of experiential learning taken during a time of transition to deepen one’s practical, professional, and personal awareness.
Realistically, I’m a working professional and graduate student who doesn’t have the funds to spare right now. Still, anyone can take gap time and I will enjoy fantasizing about these adventures in between work events and group assignments. Dreaming, after all, is free.
I know I’m not the only one envisioning “what could be.” As seniors across the country are planning their transitions to college or the workforce, several thousand are planning a gap year instead. In 2017, the Census Bureau reported that among 15-24-year-old high school graduates who had graduated that year, 412,000 were not employed nor enrolled in 2-year, 4-year, vocational, or graduate school. While we still don’t have complete data reflecting the total number of students taking a gap year, industry trends suggest that a good percentage of those students are pursuing intentional gap experiences.
However, I’m also not the only one weighing the cost of that choice. While dreaming is free, living, obviously, is not.
To start, there are two main ways to organize the endless possible gap-year experiences: independently or through a gap-year program provider. The former is usually less expensive, but can easily still cost up to $10,000. The latter, meanwhile, can charge between $0 and $55,000 for the program experience.
Having worked three years for a gap year program provider, I can say that the moment I mention the price is the moment many people stop listening.
Why should I pay that much for a gap year when I already need to pay for higher education? It is a valid question. With the cost of higher education escalating and the relative power of a bachelor’s degree declining, families are seriously reflecting on the investment of schooling.
Focusing on the program provider path, after researching the prices, program length, and included activities of 30 program providers, I want to clarify the face value. All programs included some time with a student cohort and support from a mentor or program leader. Furthermore, 65%-80% of those programs included a training/orientation and a form of closing reflection/reintegration support. While an individual can have some pretty outstanding adventures on their own, few people would have the awareness to contextualize and internalize the meaning of their gap-year experience without prompting. Having even minimal guidance from program staff and peers can be the essential catalyst for drawing those big life conclusions advertised by gap-year advocates.
The support of a program also aids students in making ethical decisions concerning service and cultural engagement. Currently, there are 24 programs accredited by the Gap Year Association and the accreditation process reflects that the provider has passed the highest standards of safety, quality, and integrity as approved by the Gap Year Association and the Department of Justice (i.e., they’ve already proven a certain level of value). There are ways to plan a quality gap year independently and I encourage those considering that route to check out resources provided by the Gap Year Association and Gapyearly, including their newest Gap Year Planning Guide, as good places to start. Still, any reasonable consumer knows that you typically get what you pay for, and the safety, quality, and integrity of gap year providers is a big part of what is reflected in the program price.
What’s more, the value described doesn’t even include the combined $4 million in financial aid awarded by program providers per year, or the many personal benefits of a gap year. Simply perusing the data provided by the Gap Year Association or listening to the stories on Gap Year Radio’s podcast offers a glance at all that a gap year can represent.
If you want a world with more culturally aware, focused, inspired, and mature young people, then a gap year just might be worth it for you too.
Erin Aucar (@Erin_EnCamino on Instagram) is a graduate student at American University studying Social Enterprise and International Education while working for the summer and gap year program Amigos de las Américas. She plans to take a “gap month” hiking the Camino de Santiago in June.
