Attend a gap year fair.  (Click the link, find your fair, and register!)

A few good places to search for gap programs online:

• Go Overseas provides a robust list of gap year (and shorter) options 

• Gap Year Association includes a smaller list of options but allows searches for "level of supervision" which can be helpful for students who need more support.

• Go Abroad has one of the biggest lists of gap year opportunities out there.  Search for intern or volunteer abroad.  

• Jewish and Israel Gap Year Programs.  Some programs offer college credit. Other recommended Jewish programs that can't be found through the link are Kivunim and Tivnu.

Gap years that won't break the bank (because they pay you):

Americorps has many different branches and options.  Students taking on a service year volunteer work with a non-profit or public organization (how it works). Youth can earn stipends and a Segal Education Award. Learn about Americorps NCCC and Fema Corps (must be 18 before work begins) and Americorps City Year "an education focused, nonprofit organization that unites young people of all backgrounds for a year of full-time service aimed at keeping students in school and on track to graduation."  Americorps California

Health-related volunteering opportunities to get you thinking.

Looking to train for a career or build skills?  Try Job Corps!  Visit the Career and Alumni page for more ideas.

Or ... are you an inventor/entrepreneur?  Consider applying for a Thiel Fellowship.

During Dynamy Internship Year "Students receive hands-on experience with everything from internships, outdoor challenges, one-on-one mentoring, community involvement and apartment life while learning to live independently." Students at Dynamy can take college courses at Clark College.

Gap Year at SOAR:  "Participants are provided a structured environment in which they may pursue areas of interest and travel for the purpose of improving knowledge, maturity, decision-making, leadership, independence, and self-sufficiency. Participants will alternate between Residential Living  in Dubois, WY and Expeditions throughout the western United States."

Landmark TaC Year: Live on campus at Landmark College, work on your executive functioning skills, earn college credit, and develop a plan for the future.

Ingenuity Year is a Gap Year program created by the Forman School in CT.  The 2022 program explores Climate Change in Coastal Maine:  "Our gap year programming is designed to help students learn who they are as learners and as humans. We offer curiosity-based, hands-on experiences which are intellectually stimulating."

Mitchell Thames Program: "Thames at Mitchell College is a holistic college transition program for students with learning differences or students who would benefit from additional preparation to succeed in college."

Broadfutures helps connect neurodiverse young people with internships while providing them with tools to succeed.  Each intern is provided with training and paired with a mentor and a coach.

Interested in being in a city?  How about New York?  The Living City Project asks students to  "creatively address urgent challenges and opportunities facing the city."

Thoreau College Metamorphosis Gap Semester "is a full-time program for young adults seeking to challenge and develop themselves across all dimensions of their humanity."  The program encourages students to explore their role and their potential through study, labor, community, art, and nature.

Spend 5 or 10 weeks learning about Permaculture through Rising Earth Immersion at the Eco Institute at Pickards Mountain. "This is a program for anyone who appreciates being interrupted mid-sentence, to be shown a beautiful sky, or magnificent clouds, or a gecko climbing up the wall, and for anyone who loves the feeling of your hands in the soil, and anyone who feels inspired to fight for a greener, more canny, more loving world."

The Good Life gap semester or year allows students a chance to "slow down, settle in and explore big questions" in the coastal woodlands of Maine.  Students earn 10 college credits as they "partake of experiences in nature, read good books (one at a time), practice mindfulness, experiment in the creative arts, learn to forage and garden, and gain perspective on what really matters."  

Parzival Academy 's "12 week intensive gap year program offers young adults the resources and resilience needed to confidently navigate life’s challenges, while cultivating a socio-entrepreneurial spirit to serve them no matter which path they choose to take in life."

The Understory Gap Term from the Maine Local Living School offers students the chance to learn traditional and sustainable skills (processing acorns, ecological building, maple sugaring, mushroom inoculation, splitting wood, etc.), engage in academic inquiry, and connect to themselves and the earth. 

If you are interested in this kind of experience, consider investigating one of the many FOLK SCHOOLS  in the US.   Or see below for  crafts training and artistic residencies.  If you are interested in learning a Scandinavian language during your gap year, take some time to learn about Scandinavian Folk Schools.  (Norwegian folk schools with language courses.). 

The Folk School in Fairbanks, Alaska offers a week in the woods.   The Clearing Folk School in Door County, MI offers weeklong classes in the summer.  Many other folk schools ofter day classes and do not house or supervise students. One of these is Driftless Folk School in Viroqua, WI: "Located in the beautiful rolling hills and valleys of the Driftless bioregion in SW Wisconsin, we offer classes in land stewardship, natural building & woodworking, arts and crafts, organic agriculture, herbalism, wilderness skills, and more. Our aim is to make the skills and knowledge necessary for a sustainable life more widely available to the people of our bioregion and beyond."  

Omprakash combines social impact internships (online or in person) with online learning, digital storytelling, peer interaction, and opportunities for local social action.

Tivnu provides "nine months of hands-on Jewish social justice engagement. Participants create a community living together, discovering the Pacific Northwest, and exploring the link between Jewish life and social justice. All while working with Portland's cutting-edge grassroots organizations."

See STEPS or one of the gap year aggregators listed above to find more service opportunities.

Nols Expeditions Most adventure trips range from 16-70 days in length.  Nols offers classes in Wilderness Medicine and "Leave No Trace Master Educator Classes" for young people.  These fill up, so sign up early!

Americorps: Join Americorps Habitat for Humanity and build houses or the Student Conservation Corps to work in forests, parks, and refuges. People who work in Americorps Vista Program receive a living allowance, training, NCE for federal jobs, and a Segal Education Award (about $6495 in 2021).  

California Conservation Corps for young people 18-25.  CCC members work outdoors primarily engaging in conservation projects or responding to emergencies.  See webpage for information about pay and benefits.

Earn 16 college credits with Western Colorado's Mountain Resilience Semester.  Western Colorado is a WUE school! This program integrates "sustainability immersion experiences, exploration of alpine ecosystems, wilderness expeditions, and mountain communities."

Outward Bound offers semester (and shorter) gap experiences. "Our 30-day to 85-day courses are unique opportunities to gain real wilderness skills and develop life skills in decision-making, problem solving, leadership and teamwork."

Learning to be a ski instructor in Japan won't be everyone's ball of wax, but Project Snow offers 4-11 week courses that will get you out of the house, onto the slopes, and possibly help you find your first job....

Travel and Adventure trips require a higher level of independence and a strong ability to cooperate with a group.  The programs below offer group travel with adult leaders.  Be sure to do your own research and ask about leader to participant ratios.

Where There Be Dragons offers adventure travel summer and gap programs for youth 15-25.  Some gap programs offer college credit.

Young people in Alzar Gap programs travel, learn leadership and outdoors skills while having the opportunity to earn "outdoor industry recognized certifications."

EF offers gap year and gap semester programs which offer language study, service learning, and internships.  They also organize group travel and 4-6 wk short term programs for young adults. EF Languages Abroad offers summer language courses ranging from 2-8 weeks for students over 13.

CET offers great gap travel programs and partners with Dickinson College to give college credit.

Carpe Diem and ARCC offer intercultural education, travel, interactive learning that can earn participants college credits.

When you get accepted to Verto, you also get accepted to college.  Verto partners with colleges like William & Mary, Willamette, Bucknell, Clark, and the College of Wooster to offer a freshman year of travel and exploration.

There are a few gap programs that offer long term sailing adventures.  Seamester and Sea Education Association offer differing approaches, but both will put you on a ship out on the ocean.

See GoOverseas.com/gapyear or GapYearAssociation.org/program-search for more ideas.

Folk schools (see above) traditionally specialize in skill building in a non-graded atmosphere, but there are many more skills/crafts oriented education opportunities available in the US that can help students mature, gain independence, make new friends, explore their interests, and possibly learn a trade. Here are a few to get you started in your search.  

Adam's Forge in Los Angeles offers classes in blacksmithing.--available to day students.  You can search for classes here.  They also offer open forge time so you can hone your skills.  

Can't find a forge in your town?  Search for glass blowing,  pottery studios, or drawing classes in your area or ask for a course list at your local community center.  Don't forget that many community colleges offer great classes that can lead to gained skills or certifications (as well as associates degrees) and check out the EXTENSION COURSES offered by your local university.  There are many community studios that offer classes, private lessons,  and/or memberships such as:

Throw Clay LA, Good Dirt LA

Valley Art Studio

KT Glassblowing

Not much going on where you live?  Take a look at the list from the American Craft Council and check out some of these dedicated craft schools in the US:

Haystack Mountain School of Crafts Deer Isle, Maine. Look into the summer workshops and the open studio residency.

North Bennet St School, Boston, MA.  Trains students in traditional trades like bookbinding, cabinet making, carpentry, locksmithing, violin making, and piano technology.

John C. Campbell Folk School, Brasstown, NC.  Young adults 18-25 (and teachers) are given a discount of 15% off tuition.   So many classes in so many areas! (Chairseats, metalwork, paper art, hats, gourds, needlework, scrimshaw, spinning, storytelling, quilting, woodturning, blacksmithing, basketry, enameling, broommaking, ceramics, dance...) On campus housing is available.

Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Gatlinburg, TN. Arrowmont provides campus housing for 1 week, 2 week, and weekend workshops.  Artists in residence can earn a modest stipend while gaining access to studio space and furnished accommodations. 

Touchstone Center for Crafts, Farmington, PA Internships and residency opportunities as well as 1-5 day workshops.

American School of French Marquetry, San Diego, CA.  Want to learn traditional marquetry (decorative wood inlay)?  This here is your place.

Arkansas Craft School, Mountain View, AK.  16 week sessions. Students can study Artistic Blacksmithing, Fine Woodworking, Ceramics/Pottery, Textile/Fiber Art, or Jewelry Making

Southwest School of Woodworking, Phoenix, AZ. Classes range from one day to five weeks.

Sonoran Glass School,Tucson, AZ. Non-profit offering studio classes.  Learn glassblowing, torch work, or glass fusing...

Pilchuck Glass School, Stanwood, WA.  The campus offers accommodations and creative classes with facilities for "glassblowing, hot casting, kiln casting, coldworking, flameworking, neon, fusing, glass painting, stained glass, and printmaking as well as a wood and metal shop.

Peters Valley School of Craft in Layton, NJ has limited housing (and a meal plan) for students attending workshops and an artist residency program.