Gap Year
A gap year typically falls between these two major life stages for most students who take one.
What is high school and college?
This is the application portal that lets high school seniors apply to multiple colleges at once using a single form.
What is the Common App?
This is the degree you earn after completing a two-year college program, and it can lead directly to a job or transfer to a 4-year university.
What is an Associate's Degree?
Instead of studying general subjects, trade schools train students for one specific job like this skilled profession that involves wiring homes and buildings with electricity.
What is an Electrician?
The U.S. military is made up of five branches — Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and this fifth branch that focuses on space operations.
What is the Space Force?
This popular gap year option sends young people to a foreign country to live with a host family and contribute to the local community as a volunteer.
What is a Service/Volunteer Program Abroad?
This federal form must be filled out every year to find out how much financial aid, grants, and loans a student qualifies for.
What is the FAFSA?
Two-year colleges are commonly called this, named after the communities they are designed to serve and stay affordable for.
What is a Community College?
Trade school programs are typically much shorter than a 4-year degree, usually lasting anywhere from this range of time.
What is 6 months to 2 years?
Before officially joining a branch of the military, recruits must pass this standardized test that determines which jobs they qualify for.
What is the ASVAB?
Many colleges allow students to delay their start date by one year through this formal process so they don't lose their acceptance offer.
What is Deferring Enrollment?
This is the term for the total yearly cost of attending a college including tuition, housing, meals, and fees before any financial aid is applied.
What is the Cost of Attendance?
This agreement between a community college and a 4-year university guarantees students can move their credits over and continue toward a bachelor's degree.
What is an Articulation/Transfer Agreement?
Before working independently in most trades, graduates must spend years working under a licensed professional through this type of on-the-job training program.
What is an Apprenticeship?
This military benefit pays for college tuition, housing, and books so service members and veterans can earn a degree after serving.
What is the GI Bill?
Research suggests that students who take a structured gap year often arrive at college with more of this quality that helps them stay committed to their studies.
What is Motivation/Direction/Maturity?
Living on campus in one of these during your first year is a common way to meet people and get involved in college life.
What is a Dormitory/Residence Hall?
Community college tuition is significantly lower than most universities, making this one of the biggest reasons students choose the two-year path.
What is Affordability/Cost?
Trade school graduates in fields like plumbing, HVAC, and electrical work often earn one of these state-issued permissions that proves they are legally qualified to do the job.
What is a License/Certification?
All new military recruits must first complete this physically and mentally demanding training program before taking on any official role.
What is Basic Training/Boot Camp?
This is the biggest risk most parents and counselors warn students about when considering an unplanned or unstructured gap year.
What is Losing Momentum/Never Enrolling in College?
This is the term for when a student switches from one college to another, often after completing a year or two.
What is Transferring?
Some students earn this type of short credential at a community college — shorter than a degree — that proves they have specific job-ready skills in a focused area.
What is a Certificate Program?
This is the term for the skilled trades shortage happening across the U.S. as older workers retire and not enough young people are entering fields like welding and construction.
What is the Skills Gap?
Rather than enlisting as a regular soldier, some college graduates enter the military at a higher rank through this program offered at many universities.
What is ROTC (Reserve Officers' Training Corps)?