After four years of high school, students are ready for a break, however long it takes is completely up to them. Some students choose to take a gap year to either figure out what they want to do in their life, whether that might be to get a job to raise the money for education or travel to different areas in the world. Some people decide to take a gap year because they are not financially stable enough to afford to go to college and are not wanting to get a loan.
According to The Scholarship Program, if you have another child or student who is going to college the following year, allowing your child to take part in a gap year means that they will start school together, and that can lead to higher financial aid awards for both. Need-based financial aid is usually given based on your students expected family contribution (EFC). When two kids in the same family are both attending school, the financial aid is usually split in between them. Other times, students get jobs to raise up for college when they’re off school for a year.
Another reason for taking a gap year is when students don’t know what they want to do in their lives completely, so they travel and try new things to figure it out. Whether that is to go another country or to visit close by states and visit college campuses to see which one fits your standards. There are gap year programs where when someone travels out of the country participants are housed with local families, and many get jobs to take a part in the culture they’re exploring. The danger of taking a gap year is that people may get distracted by jobs they aren’t too happy with or simply watching Netflix all day in their pajamas. Although, that may be the case most students are excited to get back into school.
Students should consider taking a gap year if they’re uncertain about what they want to do and what career they want to choose or if they’re struggling with financial problems. Gap years are great for students who want to take a year off to travel or work between high school and college.