Princeton Makes ‘Gap Year’ Official
Travel Blog • Julia Ross • 02.21.08 | 8:35 AM ET
I’ve always been a little jealous of the Brits on account of the gap year. To take an officially sanctioned pre-college year to travel, volunteer, or study language seems to me a wonderful start to adulthood. Administrators at Princeton University apparently think so, too: They’ve just announced they plan to launch a “gap year” program (they call it “bridge year”) for up to 10 percent of incoming freshman students, who will spend a year abroad performing social service work. The program is the first of its kind in the U.S., and Princeton says it will not charge tuition for the year.
A New York Times story on the announcement has drawn mixed reaction: Some commenters see it as a necessary step to prepare young Americans for a fast globalizing world, others think a gap year should focus first on volunteer service in the U.S. A supporter from Berkeley, California, notes: “The United States is full of intelligent, engaging, and thoughtful young people. The world wants to meet them.” A skeptic counters, “Is Newark a foreign country deserving of such attention? ... The ivory towers must be quite tall if they can’t see the smoldering cities that surround them.”
As the Times reported a couple years ago, U.S. high school graduates are showing greater interest in creating their own “gap years”—some combining service work in the U.S. with travel or service abroad.
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Noelle 02.22.08 | 9:13 AM ET
As an American currently on a gap year, I can say that it while it wasn’t easy taking one… and that it’s certainly nice that Princeton is endorsing it… it doesn’t really have to be this “big of a deal”.
Certainly, I had to turn down acceptances from universities that I wanted to go to (UC Berkeley, for one) as they wouldn’t allow me to delay matriculation - and, yes, when I enter university in the fall it will be to a British school (University of Bristol) - but most of the private schools in the states already have some sort of system in place enabling students to request a delay of matriculation.
Such requests aren’t always looked at favorably, nor are they understood - but several of the universities that I was considering even had preset forms ready for the situation.
(Of course, it was still significantly easier dealing with a British school - all I had do to was check a box in the application process.)
Julia Ross 02.22.08 | 11:24 AM ET
Thanks for sharing your experience, Noelle. It’s too bad Berkeley wasn’t more receptive to your request. I’ve long had the impression that state schools in the US lag behind private schools on this sort of thing (I’m a University of Michigan grad myself). Let’s hope attitudes continue to shift.
John 02.22.08 | 4:17 PM ET
I follow the American “gap” or “interim” trend closely, as I’ve been personally involved in facilitating pre-college service programs in the developing world since 1998. My sense is that Princeton’s move is going to give many high school college counselors (and parents of high school students) a wake up call to question their resistance to promoting the whole concept. In my experience, most colleges and universities recognize the value of incoming freshmen spending a year to mature and gain global awareness between high school and college—it is our high schools that need to get more on board and encourage juniors and seniors to think seriously about the benefits of a gap year, whether it involves doing something meaningful in the US or abroad.
Linda Brown 04.07.08 | 10:09 AM ET
I am partnering with an Illinois high school counselor to start-up a “gap year” consulting service which will be service-oriented and locally focused. I would welcome a dialog regarding the gap year concept. How do we get the high schools on board to encourage students and parents to explore the benefits of a gap year? Would any commentators be willing to join a brainstorming session via email or phone?