Gap years existed before COVID-19, but COVID-19 has made them more popular.
In April 2020, a poll by the Baltimore-based Art & Science Group found that about one in six graduating high school seniors reported they would likely change their plans and take a gap year.
Gap Year Association, a gap year accreditation organization, estimates that the number of students taking a gap year this fall has increased by 9% compared to 2019.
Students take gap years for many reasons, but the recent spike can be attributed to the coronavirus. Citing health and safety concerns, a desire for a “normal” freshman year, or an unwillingness to pay full tuition prices for remote learning, incoming freshman across the country have moved ahead with gap year plans, deferring college admissions for at least another year.
Is taking a gap year the right decision?
Should you take a gap year because of coronavirus too?
The answer to those questions solely depends on your circumstances. You’ll need to spend time thinking through what you’ll gain and what you’ll miss out on by taking a gap year from college.
Below, we’ll cover several important factors to consider before taking a gap year because of the coronavirus.
What is a Gap Year?
A gap year is a semester or year-long break taken by high school graduates between graduating high school and starting college.
During a gap year, students engage in experiential learning activities or fulfill family obligations—like caring for an ailing loved one.
Other gap year activities students partake in include:
- Working and saving up money before college starts
- Traveling and learning about other cultures
- Developing their world view
- Learning a new language or skill
- Volunteering full-time through a program like AmeriCorps
- Shadowing professionals to determine what major or career path to pursue
- Caring for an ailing family member
What to Consider Before Taking a Gap Year Due to COVID-19
A gap year might sound like an easy solution if you’re dreading online learning or living on campus during a pandemic. However, it’s not a decision to make on a whim.
Before taking a gap year, consider the following factors:
Your School’s Gap Year Policy
Did you know that taking a gap year could mean losing your admissions spot?
At many schools, you need to have your gap year approved if you want to defer your admissions spot. Other colleges don’t hold your spot at all.
And, colleges may not be as open to approving gap years as they were in the past because enrollment numbers are down.
Refer to your college’s deferment or gap year policy before making any decisions.
Your Financial Aid Package
While a college can choose to defer your admission, they cannot defer your financial aid package. You will need to apply for federal and state financial aid again next year.
On the surface, this might not seem like a big deal, but it can have big financial consequences.
For example, when siblings attend college simultaneously, the financial aid award for each sibling is typically more generous. Why? Because the Parent Contribution from the Expected Family Contribution (EFC) is split amongst all enrolled siblings.
Suppose your sister is a senior in college. If you take a gap year, she’ll end up with a less generous financial aid package than she would have if you had enrolled. Maybe she’ll have to take out another private student loan. When you enroll a year later, she’s no longer a student, so you’ll end up with a less generous financial aid package too.
However, if you don’t take a gap year, you’ll overlap for one year. For that one year, you might both end up qualifying for grant money or subsidized federal student loans that you otherwise wouldn’t.
Your Scholarships
Depending on your school’s policies, you might lose any scholarships or grants awarded by the college or university if you take a gap year.
For example, at the University of North Alabama, accepted first-time students lose their competitive or departmental scholarships if they take a year-long or longer gap year. These students must reapply for admission and any scholarships.
If the scholarship were the only that reason you could afford that college in the first place, is losing it worth the risk?
The Cost
Depending on your plans, taking a gap year can cost a lot of money. It could earn you a lot of money too.
If you spend your gap year working and saving, you can limit how much money you need to borrow for college. This will limit your student debt, making your financial situation more manageable after college.
If you spend your gap year living on your own or traveling (if you’re able to), it will cost you—or your parents—a lot of money. That money might be better spent on tuition.
The Opportunity Cost
Along with the actual costs of taking a gap year, you also need to consider the opportunity cost of taking one. Starting college a year later likely means graduating college a year later than you would have if you had started college “on time.”
According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), the average starting salary for bachelor’s degree candidates from the Class of 2018 was $55,280.
That $55,280 minus any money you make during your gap year is the opportunity cost of the gap year.
It’s unlikely your gap year earnings will come close to that $55k. The Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that high school graduates earned 40% less on average than Bachelor’s degree holders in 2019.
By delaying the start of your career, you’re also delaying your future raises, future promotions, and future earnings, including retirement contributions, compounding interest, etc.
Your Health
Living and learning on a physical college campus means that you’re using shared spaces, shared surfaces, and shared equipment. You’re waiting in lines for food, opening doors, sitting at desks, and walking in hallways that thousands of others do too. You may even be sharing bathrooms and laundry facilities with dozens of others too. While you can stay safe on college campuses during the coronavirus, nothing is guaranteed.
If you fall into the category of being at increased risk for severe illness from the coronavirus, living and learning on campus proves extra risky.
While many schools offer all online or hybrid education models for the 2020-2021 school year, not all do.
If you’re concerned about your health and your chosen college or university doesn’t have online classes for you to take, taking a gap year makes sense. You could use your gap year to take some online classes at another institution and wait until your college reopens campus safely or offers online courses.
Your Family
High unemployment rates, continued layoffs, and a turbulent stock market are just some of the economic effects of the coronavirus. If your family’s financial circumstances have changed from COVID-19, a gap year might make sense.
Maybe you need to stay home and work to help support your family. Perhaps daycare isn’t an option for your family, so you need to help younger siblings with online schooling when your parents work remotely or on the front lines.
Talk to your family about what it would look like if you left for college or what it would look like if you stayed.
Your Ability to Learn Remotely
Adjusting to college-level learning is hard enough for many incoming freshmen. Adjusting to remote college-level learning while living at home can be even harder.
If your college is starting fully remote or plans to switch to remote learning in case of an outbreak, you must evaluate your ability to work remotely.
First, evaluate how well you’ll be able to learn in an online learning environment. Have you done this type of learning before? Did it work, or did you struggle? Can you make it work moving forward?
Then, evaluate the physical space where you’ll be working.
Is there a quiet spot in your home to work? Is your family prepared to give you the space and time you need to attend online classes and complete assignments?
Is your home’s internet fast enough? If not, is there somewhere else you can go to complete assignments and stream classes?
Your home situation and your learning style are unique to you. Only you can determine if you’re capable of successfully completing college classes remotely.
If you think it’d be a struggle, consider taking a gap year until classes resume in person.
What You Hope to Gain
Maybe you’re considering taking a gap year because you don’t want to pay full-price tuition for remote learning. Maybe you don’t feel safe attending classes on campus. Or maybe your family needs help with childcare.
Those might be the “whys” that are swaying your decision, but you need to think beyond those reasons.
You need a plan for your potential gap year before you can make an informed decision.
Planning a gap year looks different now than it did before. Gap years taken amidst the global COVID-19 pandemic are far from normal. Out-of-state travel—let alone international travel—might be difficult, depending on your current state’s travel restrictions. Structured gap year programs can’t operate as they used to. Even finding an internship is more difficult as many employees are still working from home.
However, just because the availability of gap year options has changed, doesn’t mean that what you stand to gain has. A gap year taken during the coronavirus crisis can still yield the same positive results as one taken in years prior.
Ask yourself what you want to gain from your gap year experience and then work backward to make a plan that’s suitable for coronavirus America. Factor the benefits of your plan in when deciding if you should take a gap year.
What you hope to gain might include:
- Feeling more confident in your choice of major and career
- Learning skills that will help you land internships or a future job
- A sense of purpose and appreciation for community
- Better study and time management skills
- Better coping and stress management skills
- More money in the bank to limit how much money you need to borrow
- Finding yourself and what you want to do with your life
Should You Take a Gap Year Because of Coronavirus?
Taking a gap year is a big decision, especially if it wasn’t your original plan when you applied to colleges and graduated from high school. As you go about deciding what to do, make sure you’re aware of your school’s policies, the effect it will have on your financial situation, and your ability to cope with attending school during the pandemic. Weigh the pros and cons of all the factors, make your decision, and then contact your school to let them know.
