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A Travel Blog by Lakes Region Airport Shuttle

Is Your High School Grad Following This New Trend?

Posted On: 05/04/2016

It has recently been announced that the president’s daughter, Malia Obama, will be attending Harvard next year! But first, she’s choosing to take a gap year with one of the many programs that allow students to learn more about themselves before heading to universities. Harvard is one of the Ivies that urges students to take time off before they attend school. We’ve compiled a list of Gap Year Program options that could be great for your high school grad to consider!

The Stats About Gap Year Students

According to studies shared by NPR, Gap Year Students have statistically higher GPAs than students who went right to college from high school. Gap Year programs can cost as much or even more than a first year’s tuition at college but scholarships are usually available.

Between 30,000 and 40,000 students usually participate in these programs each year, which is a pretty small percentage of the overall students headed for higher education, but it can really be worth it for those students who aren’t entirely sure what they want to do career-wise.

Gap Year Programs That Travel!

Gap Years happen inside the USA and outside. Different programs center around adventures and discovery, teaching abroad, cultural exchange, ecology, art history, and many more themes. Here are some lists of notable Gap Year Programs:

Program	Theme	Location(s)
Thinking Beyond Borders	Cultural Immersion	South America, Asia
Irish Gap Year	Outdoor Adventure, Community Volunteership	Ireland
EIL	Cultural Immersion	Europe, the Americas, Africa, south of the Sahara, North Africa and the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific
Eastman Immersion	Music	Rochester, NY
Gapforce	Community Volunteerism	Australia, Bahamas, Borneo, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Europe, Ghana, Nepal, Peru, South Africa, Thailand
Sea\|mester	Education Outside the Typical Classroom	Australia, Fiji, Galapagos, Italy, South Africa, Spain, Tahiti, Thailand, and the Caribbean
Venture Semester	Agricultural Studies	Vermont

There are many more Gap Year programs to discover on the USA Gap Year Fairs website. With new technologies, there are more job opportunities for young people. It makes it easier to fluster young, ambitious minds. Programs like these help to isolate how young people want to make a living as adults.

Is this something you’d want your new high school grad to try? Tell us on Twitter @LakesRegAirport!

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