Gap Year with UWP
Click here to learn more about our NEW Academic Program and university credit options for Gap Year students!
Looking for a gap year program? Want to spend 6 or 12 months traveling the world? Up with People has been offering one of the most unique gap year experiences for young people from around the world for more than four decades. The diversity of experiences available with UWP is perfect for the person who wants to maximize their Gap Year opportunity!
A gap year is often defined as a period of time when students take a break from formal education to do something that provides personal growth through travel, community service and/or internships.
“I wouldn’t be the person I am today without my gap year spent with UWP between high school and college. I’m so thankful that my entire year at age 18 was spent traveling the world.”
- UWP Alumna Juli from Minnesota, USA
For many a gap year is taken between high school/secondary school and university. Others choose to take their gap year during university or even after completing their degree and before beginning a career. UWP students are ages 18 – 29 so we can offer you a gap year opportunity anytime it suits your personal and educational plans!
In countries outside the US, students have been pursuing gap year opportunities for decades. In recent years, however, gap year participation has been fast-growing among US students as more and more people begin to recognize the value of providing young people with diverse, personal and educational opportunities to enhance their formal education.
“I did a gap year with UWP after college and loved it. Now I teach high school and six of my former students have gone right after high school. I continue to follow them and enjoy watching them grow into extraordinary young adults.”
- UWP alumna Theresa from California USA
News about Gap Year for students and parents
Here are just a few of our favorite, recent news articles about the value of the Gap Year experience.
- When opportunity knocks, students take a ‘gap year’ (The Tennessean, July 2011)
- Gap Year: A fulfilling time for high school graduates (The Denver Post, March 2011)
- Gap Year: Why your kid shouldn’t go to school in the fall (The Globe and Mail, February 2011)
- Delaying College to Fill in the Gaps (The Wall Street Journal, December 2010)
- More U.S. students taking a ‘gap year’ break (msnbc.com, November 2010)
- Why Grads Should Take A Gap Year (Harvard Business Review, May 2009)