GAP Year Programs

Have you ever considered a gap year? Deferring college acceptance and taking a year before college to travel, volunteer and reflect may help students determine their future pursuits. Below are some gap year programs to explore:
Program Link Description
AmeriCorps www.nationalservice.gov Do you want to help a kid succeed in school? Or protect a national forest? Or help a family rebuild their home after a devastating disaster? When you join AmeriCorps, you use your energy, ideals and talents to help others. Plus you’ll earn money for education, learn to be a leader and gain real job skills.
Aspire – Academic Programs International (API) www.aspirebyapi.com Programs in Chile, Argentina, France, Ireland, Spain, and Itlay. During a gap year abroad, students gain real-world knowledge that cannot be learned in a classroom.  They return more motivated, focused and prepared for their first year of college. Set yourself apart, expand your horizons, follow your dreams and benefit from the advantages of a gap year program abroad.
Chewonki Semester School www.chewonki.org Chewonki is an environmental education organization based in Wiscasset, Maine, that inspires transformative growth, teaches appreciation and stewardship of the natural world, and challenges people to build thriving, sustainable communities throughout their lives.
City Year http://www.cityyear.org/ As a City Year AmeriCorps member, you’ll spend your 11 months serving hands-on with a small group of students to change their educational outcomes and their futures as a whole. At City Year, we’re working to bridge the gap in high-poverty communities between the support that students actually need, and what their schools are designed and resourced to provide. In doing so, we’re helping to increase graduation rates across the country, and changing the lives of the students we serve.
Global Vision International www.gviusa.com We’re a family-run organization with an amazing culture and an awesome team of people across the world who are passionate experts in their chosen field and will make your experience a truly unforgettable one (in a good way).
Hurricane Island Outward Bound School www.hiobs.org Outward Bound is a non-profit educational organization and expedition school that serves people of all ages and backgrounds through active learning expeditions that inspire character development, self-discovery and service both in and out of the classroom. Outward Bound delivers programs using unfamiliar settings as a way for participants across the country to experience adventure and challenge in a way that helps students realize they can do more than they thought possible.
International School for Earth Studies www.earth-studies.ca A private leadership school promoting education that bridges people, animals, and the land. ISES offers students a unique opportunity to develop an environmental ethic. Our 500 acre outdoor classroom includes a private 50 acre lake, marshlands, meadows, forests and hillsides. Students gain certifications and skills amid a quest for insight and enlightenment to solve our more-than human disconnect in terms of mind, spirit and environment.
Rustic Pathways www.rusticpathways.com Rustic Pathways Gap Year programs offer students a safe bridge to the world where they will learn, work hard, and encounter many of the challenges that await them as adults. We create a supportive atmosphere that encourages students to utilize and grow their unique talents as they have some of their first truly independent experiences. Students who have successfully completed a Gap Year excel in the classroom and beyond, and the stories they tell resonate with college admissions boards and future employers. Students walk away from this empowering year knowing not only facts and figures, but also with relationships and a human understanding of the world around them.
Sea Education Association www.sea.edu Our fully accredited study abroad program, SEA Semester®,  is the leading off-campus Environmental Studies program focused on the ocean. While the academic focus varies,  each program offers an interconnected suite of courses designed to explore a specific ocean-related theme using a cross-disciplinary approach. We look for motivated undergraduates of all majors who are passionate about learning, inspired to tackle and address real-world problems,  and eager to become part of an unparalleled living and learning community.
Sea|mester www.seamester.com Sea|mester challenges you every day with college-level academics and the responsibility of playing an active and integral part in the outcome of the voyage. As part of the crew on Argo or Ocean Star you learn by doing, seeing and experiencing. You study marine biology and oceanography by conducting research diving on reefs. Acquire knowledge of geology trekking through mountainous terrain. Master meteorology and navigation as you plot your course across seas. And develop leadership and communication skills working together with your crewmates.
The Road Less Traveled www.theroadlesstraveled.com Educational programs in adventure, service learning, language, leadership and global perspectives in 17 countries around the world.
Thinking Beyond Borders www.thinkingbeyondborders.org Thinking Beyond Borders is a community where young people find their voices and learn to transform our world. Our gap year programs are about more than just travel and service. They combine deep cultural immersion, fieldwork with experts, and engaging readings and discussions to create an incredible learning environment. There are no grades, no tests, and no essays. Our Program Leaders are there to support and challenge you in becoming who you want to be.
Travel for Teens, LLC www.travelforteens.com
Travel for Teens believes that student travel should be both fun and enriching. Our programs feature choice in what you do, see, and experience, a dynamic that sets us apart from superficial tours that herd large groups from one site to another. We interact with our host cultures, taking cooking and dance lessons, performing valuable service work to help local communities, and conversing with the people who have spent their lives living in the places we journey to. We have crafted our unique programs to engender love for travel, hunger for learning, curiosity about differences, appreciation of similarities across cultures, and an understanding of what it means to be a global citizen.
United Planet www.unitedplanet.org United Planet offers volunteer opportunities in 35 countries, immersing you in local culture as you do your part to create a global community
Where There Be Dragons www.wheretherebedragons.com Dragons Gap Year Programs in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East are the highest quality Gap Year Programs to be found. Each course features our nine Program Components, such as homestays, language study, service learning, and independent study, that make for a holistic cultural experience in each destination.
Woolman http://woolman.org The Woolman Semester School is a progressive academic school for young people who want to make a difference in the world. Students in their junior, senior, or gap year come for a “semester away” to take charge of their education and study the issues that matter most to them. Woolman students earn transferable high school credits while taking an active role in their learning experience through community work, organic gardening and cooking, permaculture, art, wilderness exploration, service work, and by doing advocacy and activism work with real issues of peace, justice and sustainability in the world.
2015 Guide to GAP Year Programs from Teen Life http://teenlife.uberflip.com/i/434399 Great resource to explore a variety of programs and the benefits of taking a GAP year.