A recent methodology to track gap year students' over/underperformance of GPA was designed by Bob Clagett, former Dean of Admissions at Middlebury College. This methodology tracked the academic rating of an incoming student including everything of an academic nature that is received in the application process (grades, rigor of high school program, scores, teacher and counselor recommendations, even "fire in the belly" as demonstrated in the applicant's essays). It is usually an excellent predictor for academic performance in college.
When Clagett controlled for the academic rating and looked at the actual academic performance of students who took a Gap Year compared to their predicted performance based on their academic rating, students who took a gap year almost always overperformed academically in college, usually to a statistically significant degree. Most importantly, the positive effect of taking a gap year was demonstrated to endure over all four years.
Students who have taken a gap year overwhelmingly report being satisfied with their jobs. Upon further inquiry, Haigler found that this was related to a less-selfish approach to working with people and careers. [Karl Haigler & Rae Nelson, The Gap Year Advantage, independent study of 280 Gap Year students between 1997 - 2006]
The highest three rated outcomes of gap years is that of gaining "a better sense of who I am as a person and what is important to me" followed by "[the gap year] gave me a better understanding of other countries, people, cultures, and ways of living" and "[it] provided me with additional skills and knowledge that contributed to my career or academic major." [Haigler & Nelson, independent study of 280 Gap Year students]
Burnout from the competitive pressure of high school and a desire "to find out more about themselves," are the top two reasons students take gap years, according to a survey of 280 people who did so by Karl Haigler and Rae Nelson of Advance, N.C., co-authors of a forthcoming guidebook on the topic. [http://online.wsj.com]
For most students, gap year experiences have an impact on their choice of academic major and career – either setting them on a different path than before a gap year or confirming their direction (60% said the experience either "set me on my current career path/academic major" or "confirmed my choice of career/academic major"). [Karl Haigler & Rae Nelson, The Gap Year Advantage, independent study of 300 gap year students between 1997 - 2006]
National statistics show that half of medical school-minded students are taking at least one gap year, he says. The percentage is even higher - 60% - for undergrads at high-powered research institutions such as Johns Hopkins heading for medical schools nationwide. [The Journal Science]
A new study of more than 900 first-year students by Sydney University researchers has revealed that not only did taking a year off have a positive effect on students' motivation, it also translated to a real boost in performance in the first semesters at university. [http://www.heraldsun.com.au]
Many teenagers in other countries wait a year after high school before heading to college. In Norway, Denmark and Turkey, for instance, more than 50 percent of students take a year off before college, according to the Nordic Institute for Studies in Innovation, Research and Education in Oslo, Norway." [ http://www.desmoinesregister.com]
In 2010, young adults ages 25–34 with a bachelor's degree earned 114 percent more than young adults without a high school diploma or its equivalent, 50 percent more than young adult high school completers, and 22 percent more than young adults with an associate's degree. [http://nces.ed.gov]
About one-third of college freshmen don't return to the same institution for a second year, according to ACT Inc., an education testing company in Iowa City. [ http://www.desmoinesregister.com]
As recently as the mid-1990's, the American college-graduation rate was the highest in the world. However, in the past decade or so, the United States has fallen from first to twelfth in the percentage of its twenty-five to thirty-four year-olds with Bachelors degrees. [Paris: OECD Centre for Educational Research and Innovation Publishing, 2011, pg 40. http://www.cnesus.gov/hhes/socdemo/education/deata/cps/historical/index.html]
"College graduates ages 25 to 32 who were working full time now typically earn about $17,500 more annually than employed young adults with just a high school diploma ($45,500 vs. $28,000); those with a two-year degree or some college training earned $30,000. [Salt Lake Tribune].
"Median earnings for high-school graduates have fallen more than $3,000, from $31,384 in 1965 to $28,000 last year. Young adults with just high-school diplomas now are also much more likely to live in poverty, at 22 percent compared to 7 percent for their counterparts in 1979. [Salt Lake Tribune]
In 1961 the average full-time college student spent 24 hours per week studying outside of the classroom. By 1981 that number had dropped to 20 hours, and in 2003 the average student spent only 14 hours per week studying outside of the classroom. [Phillip Babcock and Mindy Marks, "Leisure College, USA: The Decline in Student Study Time," AEI Education Outlook, August 2010]. A separate study at the University of California found that students spend fewer than 13 hours per week studying, and 12 hours hanging out with friends, 14 hours consuming entertainment, and 11 hours using computers for fun, and 6 hours exercising. [Steven Brint and Allison M. Cantwell, "Undergraduate Time Use and Academic Outcomes: Results from UCUES 2006]
Gap year students are perceived to be 'more mature, more self-reliant and independent' than non-gap year students. [Birch, "The Characteristics of Gap-Year Students and Their Tertiary Academic Outcomes", Australia, 2007]
Taking a 1-year break between high school and university allows 'motivation for and interest in study to be renewed.' [Birch, "The Characteristics of Gap-Year Students and Their Tertiary Academic Outcomes", Australia, 2007]
88 percent of gap year graduates report that their gap year had significantly added to their employability. [Milkround graduate recruitment Gap Year survey, http://www.milkroundonline.com]
Australian students were more likely to take a gap year if they had low academic performance and motivation in high school. Yet former "gappers" reported significantly higher motivation in college - in the form of "adaptive behavior" such as planning, task management, and persistence - than did students who did not take a gap year. Furthermore, "gappers" reported a lessened instance of "mal-adaptive" behavior" as a result of their gap year. [Martin, Andrew J., Journal of Educational Psychology, "Enhancing student motivation and engagement: The effects of a multidimensional intervention," 2008]
Stats compiled and published by the Gap Year Association. www.gapyearassociation.org
Original article with this data can be found at: https://www.gapyearassociation.org/data-benefits.php#:~:text=In%20total%2C%201%2C795%20respondents%20began,year%20alumni%20completed%20this%20survey.