As a student that has worked your way through your high school diploma, do you wonder what is next? Did you look into colleges and feel you weren’t quite ready? Did you look at Trade Schools and wonder what trade am I really intrigued by? Did you think you were done with school forever and then realize that your parents won’t let you hang out on the couch watching tv or playing games, eat out of their refrigerator or prepare food for you the rest of your life? Maybe it’s time to consider a GAP YEAR.
What IS a gap year? It is a British term referring to a period, typically an academic year, taken by a student as a break between secondary school and higher education.
If that sounds like a great plan for you, look further into this article of all the possibilities. ~ Sandy
Gap Year Programs
The USA Gap Year Fairs profile a broad range of Gap Year programs.
All the programs listed below are Keystone Programs; that is, they are registered to participate in the majority of our fairs across the country.
Below you will find a profile of each Gap Year program and a link to its full website. If there is a specific program you are interested in or a question you have regarding these programs, please feel free to contact them directly!
Dynamy
Dynamy Internship Year is the oldest and only residential internship program in the country. Our mission is to offer young people, ages 17-22, a transformational gap year (or semester) opportunity. Located in Worceste…
Thinking Beyond Borders
Thinking Beyond Borders’ gap year programs are specifically designed for students who are passionate about learning and are eager to create meaningful social change in the world. We combine deep cultural immersion, worki…
API Abroad
API Abroad is dedicated to providing comprehensive gap year and gap semester programs in Argentina, Chile, France, Ireland, Italy, and Spain. API’s language and cultural immersion programs provide students with oppo…
Gapforce
Students from the USA, UK, Canada, Europe, Australia and more all come together as a Gapforce team to share their adventure. Over 15,000 global students have all participated on our professionally led gap year and study …
Venture Semester
Venture Semester provides young adults with life-changing experiences in food, farming and leadership in the Green Mountains of Vermont. As a program of the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps, corps members live, lea…
Outward Bound
Over one million students in the U.S. have benefited from Outward Bound’s unparalleled approach to “learning by doing.” Outward Bound in the U.S. traces its roots to 1962 when courses were developed to prepare young peop…
Cross-Cultural Solutions
Expand your horizons through immersive service-based experiences with Cross-Cultural Solutions. With CCS, the possibilities are endless. We operate year-round in 10 exciting destinations across Africa, Asia, and Latin …
The Experiment in International Living
The Experiment in International Living provides summer abroad programs for high school students who want to connect deeply and engage meaningfully with the richness and complexities of another country. Participants explo…
EF International Language Centers
Invest in your dreams on the ultimate study abroad experience. Achieve fluency, see the world, expand your international network – and launch your global future. Study for 6, 9 or 11 months and start in April, June, Se…
Academy at Watkinson
The Academy at Watkinson offers a pre-college year designed by YOU. While strengthening your transcript at a historic preparatory school, you can participate in intriguing internships, travel opportunities to amazing pla…
Carpe Diem Education
Carpe Diem programs are designed to safely challenge every student. Through service, travel, community and cultural exchange – our students receive a unique and personal insight into themselves and the cultures they live…
Youth For Understanding (YFU)
YFU advances intercultural understanding, mutual respect, and social responsibility through educational exchanges for youth, families and communities. The global YFU network, consisting of partners in more than 60 dif…
Youth International
Since 1997, Youth International has been providing many people with the most exciting, fulfilling and educational experience of their life. Youth International is an experiential learning program that combines rugged int…
Summit Adventure
Summit Adventure is a nonprofit organization that uses experiential education, adventure, service and cross-cultural immersion as tools to move individuals and groups out of their comfort zone and into more reliance on G…
RIDGE Mountain Academy
RIDGE Mountain Academy is a campus-based gap year enrichment program that revolves around mountain sports. Located in Whitefish, Montana, RIDGE is designed for male and female student athletes ages 17 to 20 that are inte…
Sea|mester
Sea|mester offers a range of unique gap-year adventures where our students live full-time aboard either S/Y Ocean Star or S/Y Argo sailing from island to island, country to country or continent to continent in any number…
Eastman Immersion
If you’re passionate about music – if you can’t wait to get home from school so that you can practice, if the highlight of your week is an orchestra rehearsal, if you scour the web for recordings or videos of your …
LEAPNOW: Transforming Education
LEAPNOW runs LEAPYEAR, the only gap year program that is a full academic year in length, focuses equally on international travel and your inner journey and features a fully integrated and accredited year of college and r…
Visitoz
Visitoz – visit Australia – is the only organisation in Australia that guarantees jobs for young people coming to our country on a Work and Holiday Visa. The visa is for people between the ages of 18 and 30, but most pa…
Irish Gap Year
Ceid Mile Failte! A hundred thousand welcomes to Ireland! At Irish Gap Year, our pristine beaches, forests and mountains are your classroom. You’ll truly immerse yourself Irish culture, history and nature through trave…
ARCC Gap
ARCC Programs has been offering programs for young adults since 1983. ARCC Gap Semester programs are an opportunity to live and learn in some of the greatest classrooms on earth. Our Semester programs take students on a …
MEI Academy
Imagine studying Buddhism in the temples of Angkor Wat, examining communism in the Silk Market of Beijing, or observing efforts in ecological sustainability while scuba diving at the Great Barrier Reef. Learning about th…
Center for Interim Programs
Founded in 1980, the Center for Interim Programs is the first independent gap-year counseling organization in the United States. For 35 years, Interim has been developing an extensive database of vetted programs and plac…
Amigos de las Americas
AMIGOS offers Gap Year and Gap Semester opportunities in Nicaragua, Colombia, and Brazil with the goal of empowering youth leaders and promoting community development throughout the Americas. Gap volunteers intern wit…
FrontierGap
An overseas volunteer or internship placement is a great way to get experience of working in a team and overcoming challenges while having a great time in a beautiful location. You can also earn qualifications includin…
The High Mountain Institute (HMI) Gap
The HMI Gap is a semester of rock climbing, exploration, and conservation in the rugged American West and wild Patagonia.HMI Gap is for 18-22 year olds looking to discover more about the world and themselves through out…
The Leap
Every program delivers a unique and varied experience. In all our program, you’ll get to travel to different locations and work on a range of different projects. One week you could be teaching local kids whilst livi…
Art History Abroad
Study art, architecture and European culture in Italy, Paris and London. Our carefully structured programs last for 12 weeks in the fall, or 6 weeks at other times. We also offer shorter summer courses. Learn about t…
Where There Be Dragons
In the days before the world had been fully charted, mapmakers would draw dragons to represent lands that were still unknown. Bold explorers who ventured beyond the map’s edge were said to go “where there be dragons….
National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS)
For nearly 50 years, the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) has been the leader in wilderness education. More than 221,000 students have learned and mastered outdoor skills, developed leadership, and studied envir…
Expedition Education Institute
Expedition Education Institute Do you want to be an Ecological Leader, to become deeply rooted in the natural world and in your own power to make change and create a better, more resilient world? Organized as the e…
International Studies Abroad
ISA Gap programs range anywhere from one month to a full year in length, and include courses that cover virtually every academic discipline: Language, Science, Humanities, and more. Students will take classes at prestigi…
YMCA of the Rockies
TREK is a working Christian gap program designed for 18 to 24 year olds seeking personal and spiritual growth while working in a seasonal job at Snow Mountain Ranch. The 2016-2017 TREK @Snow Mountain Ranch (TREK @SMR) w…
Winterline Global Skills Program
9 months. 10 countries. 100 skills. Are you ready to travel? Gain practical life skills that you didn’t get in high school and won’t get in college? Develop friendships that will last a lifetime? Then come join us…
International School for Earth Studies
The International School for Earth Studies (ISES) is a private, interdisciplinary institution specializing in earth-based studies. We seek students who wish to pursue interests related to responsible and sustainable en…
Enroute Consulting
EnRoute Consulting creates customized itineraries for students who are looking for a meaningful, rewarding gap year. Director Julia Rogers offers a personalized, supportive approach in connecting young people with vetted…
University of Navarra
International Foundation Program Enrolling in the International Foundation Program at the University of Navarra will be an adventure you will remember for the rest of your life. Experience a total language and cultura…
CIEE
CIEE offers recent high school graduates a unique way to explore the world. While on a gap year with CIEE, participants establish and hone skills needed to excel in a globally interdependent world gaining greater appreci…
Oyster Worldwide
Oyster Worldwide is a gap year and responsible travel company with over fifteen years of experience. Our unique projects are demanding, but worthwhile, offering the opportunity to experience life overseas first-hand. …
Rustic Pathways
A global leader in community service, experiential education, and international adventures for young adults, Rustic Pathways facilitates incredibly unique and powerful Gap Year programs. While emphasizing safety, positiv…
