By Ethan Knight, Executive Director, American Gap Association, and Sarah Persha, IECA (OR)

From all available data it is clear that gap year programs have profound impact on young people including personal growth, academic attainment, and postcollege success. The two most common reasons students cite for taking a gap year are “burnout from the pressures of getting into college” and “a desire to know more about myself.” With students increasingly reporting that the achievement bar has gone up for the most competitive colleges, forcing students into relentless performance for the sake of college acceptance, it’s no great surprise, then, that the second most common reason would represent a deeper pursuit of self alignment and personal awareness.