'Gap Years' Can Be Smart Move for High School Seniors

"My last year of high school was kind of hard for me," says Barr, from Wayland, Mass., who says she struggled with stress and depression. So rather than jump into four more years of school work, she arranged a year-long internship program through Dynamy, an experiential education program. "I was interested in a lot of different things. But I wanted to learn more to make sure I was interested in those things. I wanted to get experience before college because learning in a class, you only get one side of a profession."

Most academically-inclined students have a narrowly-defined path set out for them. It's school for 12 years, followed by college for another four. Then faster than you can ask "where's the keg party," it's time to get a job and pay down those student loan debts. But there's no rule requiring every 18-year-old to go straight to college after high school. Every year thousands of high school graduates take a year before college to work, travel, volunteer, or just do something different.

This fall Barr is entering Simmons College, a small liberal arts school in Boston. She says she's entering her freshman year more motivated and excited to learn. "I'm more passionate about my interests. I know this stuff is awesome, and want to do the best I can in college," says Barr.

Paul Wrubel, co-founder of College Company, a San Mateo, Calif.-based firm that helps families find financing for college, says that gap years create better college students by giving them independent-living skills. "If I were running the educational system in this country, I wouldn't let students go to college unless they take a gap year," he says.

The concept of the gap year is more common in the U.K. and Australia. But it's gaining acceptance among American students, parents and colleges as something worthwhile — and not just an opportunity for slacker teens to play videogames at home for months on end. Increasingly, they're realizing taking time off between high school and college can be a valuable detour on the road to higher education — and perhaps even get you into a better school. Gap-year advocates say high school grads who take a break come into that first year of college a more mature, prepared and focused student.

So who wouldn't want to spend a few months walking along the canals in Venice, learning how to order a double espresso in Italian? Most parents, however, have to ask if it's worth taking a year off and pushing back the time their child will graduate from college and start a career. And is it worth the money they'd spend on a program and traveling expenses?

Wrubel concedes, "It's sort of a trade-off. Yes, it can end up costing you money, particularly if you go on certain programs. But it could result in a better value of college; it will enhance the quality of education for your child."

With college tuition for the 2006-07 year reaching $22,000 or more a year for private university (a 5.9% increase from 2005-06), funding your child's gap year may sound unwise. But many programs are low cost or offer a stipend or room and board in exchange for labor.