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Gap Years: How Can Starting Behind Put Kids Ahead?
Gap years can rewire college-bound brains for long-term success.
Posted August 14, 2018
In places like Germany, Denmark, Israel, Australia, and the UK, when students graduate from high school, they’re encouraged – and in some cases required – to take some time off from their studies to travel, work, or serve in the military before going on to college. In the United States, not so much. Though the idea is gaining traction, especially with the decision of Malia Obama to take a gap year, for the most part parents panic if their child doesn’t go straight on to college. They presume that it’s a luxury only for wealthy kids, or that if their kid gets a taste of the non-school life, that they will never want to return.
Neither of these presumptions is true. There are many work-study programs available for gap year participants such that, while they may not be saving for the future, they’re not digging a financial hole for themselves either. And authors of a new book about the gap year found that ninety percent of those who took this time off returned to college within a year. In fact, the Center for Interim Programs, which counsels on gap years, has found that many gappers who were disinclined to attend college after uninspiring high school experiences were actually energized to go after their gap year. Israel’s track record supports this point: Israel has one of the highest percentages of college graduates in the world, even though citizens are required to fulfill military service in between high school and college.
Gap Years Allow Brains Time to Grow
While a gap year isn’t necessarily for everyone, we’re strong proponents. One reason is simple science, in that the prefrontal cortex is continually growing in the late-teen years. Before spending the energy and money on a college experience, it just makes sense to bring a more mature brain into the equation. This is particularly true for kids who have ADHD (in whom development of the prefrontal cortex lags behind that of other kids) and kids who see college not as a meaningful growth opportunity but as an obligation.
Another reason is financial: Spending huge tuition on kids who hate school is a really risky proposition. According to the book Academically Adrift, kids who attend a four-year college for two or three years commonly have nothing to show for it beyond their student loans. The book points out that more than 45 percent of the 2300 undergraduates at 24 colleges who took the College Learning Assessment showed no significant improvement by the end of their sophomore year in critical thinking, writing skills, or complex reasoning. We’ve seen way too many parents who haven’t saved for retirement because they’ve put that money into their child’s education instead. Switching majors is one reason that many students need more than four years to complete college, adding tens of thousands of dollars to the cost of their education and delaying their entry into the workforce. Those who have taken a gap year, it turns out, finish college more quickly because they’ve taken the time to sharpen their focus. Fifty-seven percent of people commenting on their gap year said it helped them figure out what they wanted to study. In contrast, consider that almost half of students who enroll in four-year colleges don’t graduate at all.
Gap Years Foster Resilience for a Challenging Life Stage
But our main reason for endorsing the gap year is that there are many students who simply aren’t ready for the rigors of college. The costs of going too soon are high—and in more than just a financial sense. Dr. Richard Kadison sounded an alarm about the “mental health crisis” on college campuses in 2004, and it’s only gotten worse since then. In a 2010 study, 44 percent of students seeking help at a college counseling center were found to have very serious psychiatric problems. A gap year is not going to cure mental health problems, of course, but over 90% of students who participated in a gap year study said it increased their maturity and self-confidence. When students take a year off and move out of their comfort zones, they gain non-cognitive skills and have the space to develop their sense of self, adaptability, and confidence. They get to figure out what their values are before diving in to a college environment that is likely replete with lack of sleep, abundance of drinking, and high levels of stress.
Candidates for a gap year might look very differently from one another. It could be that they’re excellent students but are completely burned out by a competitive high school experience and need some time to regroup. They’ve spent the past four years of their lives focusing on pleasing other people or adding things to their resumes because of prestige and not passion. Others might be planning to attend college only because it’s the next thing to do, which is exactly why they shouldn’t go. These students need to figure out what drives them—and it cannot be their parents.
I (Ned) know the benefits of a gap year from personal experience, too. After my freshman year of college, I begged my parents to let me take time off. I knew I wasn’t ready to be there. I was getting by, which felt a far cry from thriving or feeling as successful as I knew I could be. They said no, and I struggled into my sophomore year. Then, again, I asked to take time off. This time they said yes, and I took the year to work before starting my junior year. I returned energized, focused, and—really, healed. I knew what I needed, and I was right.
As any farmer will tell you, there are benefits to letting land lay fallow. And any personal trainer will tell you that after a tough workout, it’s important to let your body rest and recover before doing the same activity again. We’re not suggesting that high school graduates spend a year doing nothing. But most would benefit from a year of doing something different.
