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Education Dive
Colleges adapt gap year programs as coronavirus limits options
Schools that offer programs are modifying the experience and even going virtual to keep them running during the pandemic.
Natalie Schwartz
June 10, 2020
This fall, more than a dozen recent high school graduates will gather
in northern Wisconsin to spend nearly a year considering their life's
purpose at HoneyRock, the site of a Christian gap year program run by
Wheaton College. Called Vanguard, the program takes students into the
remote Northwoods, where miles of forests and sparkling lakes offer the
chance to learn horsemanship and rock climbing.
Although the coronavirus pandemic has forced many businesses and
colleges to remain closed, the program will be held this year. Colleges
nationwide are likewise pushing to resume in-person operations, though
some plan to stay virtual through the end of 2020.
Incoming traditional-age students, however, don't seem keen on starting
their college careers online. Several recent polls suggest they're more
likely to forgo enrolling this fall if their preferred institutions
don't reopen in-person.
"Students generally want to return to campus if it's possible, and
they'll tolerate restrictions if they're back on campus, like taking
their temperature when they go in a building, social distancing, living
in a hotel," said Rick Hesel, principal of Art & Science Group, a
higher education consultancy. "And if they can't be, I think then we're
going to see pretty serious consequences."
Among those is the possibility that more students will take a gap year
or gap term. Although most colleges allow students to defer their
enrollment, many also offer their own gap year programs or partner with
organizations that sponsor them.
An April survey of nearly 1,200 college-bound high school students
found that 17% no longer plan to attend a four-year school full-time in
light of the pandemic, according to Art & Science Group. Of those,
about one-third plan to take a gap year or defer enrollment until
spring. And several recent media reports and other surveys suggest
students are seriously considering it as an option in lieu of more
online classes.
These predictions have some college officials concerned, fearing they
won't be able to fill their seats in the fall. "If (those) students
take a gap year, that's a fraction of students that won't enroll and
won't pay tuition," Hesel said. "It will add to the financial problems."
Interest in Wheaton's gap year program, which can cost up to $18,300,
has spiked. Usually, Vanguard draws around 15 students, but officials
are expecting 20 this year, with the ability to accommodate more, if
needed.
Its remote location could be driving some of the interest as the
pandemic continues, said Charlie Goeke, Vanguard's program's manager.
"A rural, less-dense population setting in northern Wisconsin kind of
mitigates some of the risks of being an in-person program," he said.
But the coronavirus still complicates elements of the program. Goeke is
unsure whether students will be able to take scheduled trips to Costa
Rica and Chicago. Another concern is how to spread out students at the
camp while maintaining a sense of community.
Like Vanguard, many gap year programs are grappling with the same
challenges as higher education institutions. That includes whether it's
feasible — or even advisable — for them to operate in-person. Even if
students choose to design their own gap year or use the time to work,
the pandemic severely limits their options.
In turn, colleges are changing their policies around deferment, such as
by being more flexible with the deadline for students to commit to
taking a gap year. And those that run their own programs are notifying
students that they may have to adapt events or go virtual if there's a
second wave of the virus.
"A fact of life is that things don't usually turn out how we expect
them," said Sarah Smith, director of the University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill's Global Gap Year Fellowship, which is limiting students
to domestic placements this fall. "That's part of a gap year in a way,
so I'm glad we're able to move forward and offer this experience to our
students."
Preparing for uncertainty
Georgia Tech officials are among those unsure what the fall term will
look like. A 31-page memo from Georgia's public university system says
all of its institutions are planning for an in-person semester, though
classes may transition partly or entirely online if the coronavirus
crisis worsens.
More students than usual are inquiring about taking a gap year before
enrolling at Georgia Tech, though that hasn't yet translated into more
committing to do so, said Rick Clark, Georgia Tech's director of
undergraduate admission.
Duke University, in North Carolina, was seeing a similar trend until
recently. Now, it looks like more students than usual will take a gap
year.
Last month, Duke's president announced the university plans to reopen
in the fall and end the semester before Thanksgiving, though he
stressed that local, state and federal guidelines could ultimately
prevent students from returning to campus.
Christoph Guttentag, Duke's dean of undergraduate admissions, suspected
students were waiting to see how the fall term shakes out. "Until they
have a sense of what that will be like, they're not going to make a
commitment," he said in May.
"Students generally want to return to campus if it's possible. ... And
if they can't be, I think then we're going to see some pretty serious
consequences."
Uncertainty around fall plans has led admissions staff at some
universities to change how they approach conversations with students
considering a gap year and to be more flexible with deadlines.
"We've been telling kids, 'Hey, let's hold off'" on making a decision,
Clark said. "'Why don't you just wait and see a little bit here?'"
Georgia Tech will likely be more flexible when students ask for a gap
term past the deadline, while Duke is giving students until late July
to rescind their commitments to taking a gap year.
The pandemic is changing how students plan to spend their gap years.
Although mission trips and other service-learning opportunities are
usually popular, the coronavirus and the economic turmoil it has caused
are leading more students to consider working or focusing on bettering
their mental health, sources interviewed for this story said.
Gap terms, rather than a full gap year, are also seeing more interest.
That may be because colleges are more confident they'll be able to
reopen campus in the spring of 2021.
Shorter gap times could be especially important for international
students, who may want to attend a U.S. institution in the fall but
cannot because of travel restrictions. In a recent survey of 599 U.S.
higher education institutions, 40% said they're letting international
students defer enrollment.
Switching up plans
Some colleges are pulling back on their gap year programs in light of
the pandemic. Tufts University canceled its programs, which focused on
service-learning abroad. And Duke suspended its scholarship, worth up
to $15,000, for its ongoing program.
Others are adapting their offerings.
UNC-Chapel Hill admits 21 gap year fellows annually. They can either
design their own program or join Global Citizen Year, a company that
places them into an international apprenticeship with a social sector
organization.
But the night before officials planned to offer this year's cohort
admission to the program, Global Citizen Year suspended its in-person
programming because of the pandemic. It has since launched an online
offering, which UNC-Chapel Hill officials are weighing whether to offer.
"Things don't usually turn out how we expect them. That's part of a gap year in a way."
For now, the university plans to pair students with a domestic
nonprofit for the fall term and send them abroad come spring. The
university also decided to limit the program to 10 students this year.
However, it may be harder for the students to stretch their $8,000
stipends in the U.S. than it would be in some other countries,
UNC-Chapel Hill's Smith said.
Meanwhile, Champlain College, a private institution in Vermont, is
making the most of the moment. In roughly a month, officials there
created the college's first gap program, which will be virtual and
debut in the fall term.
Over 15 weeks, students will take a credit-bearing module on
well-being, watch live lectures on subjects like machine learning and
design thinking, and wrap up the semester with a five-week virtual
internship. They'll also have the option to add another course to their
slate, bringing the semester total to six credits, and they will have
priority consideration for admission into the college.
The program costs up to $6,800, though certain students who are
admitted to Champlain's bachelor's degree programs could qualify for
federal financial aid, according to the website. Officials there view
the gap program as a way to strengthen their student pipeline amid the
pandemic, though they plan to continue it after the crisis abates.
"It's not a replacement for our on-campus experience or online
programs," said Lisa Bunders, Champlain's vice president of enrollment
management. "It's just another way to offer our education to students
across the country."
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