7 Academic Gap Year Programs Because Learning is ALWAYS Cool

Let the world be your new classroom.

Take classes on your gap year—it’s a great way to stay focused while taking a break from a typical academic track. ☆

A lot of people have an incredibly limited idea of what a gap year can be. They picture young people blowing every penny of their parents’ hard-earned savings on a flight to Thailand, only to spend the entire trip sipping cheap drinks on the beach, getting eaten alive by mosquitos in the jungle in an attempt to ‘find themselves’ (but really all they find is a semi-constant POUNDING headache from partying so hard every night). If you listened to these people, you would quickly become convinced that the whole gap year experience is little more than a self-indulgent hiatus in developing your future. Right?

Wrong! For every backpacking trip designed for aspiring hedonists (and there’s certainly nothing wrong with travelling just for the fun of it), there are loads of other gap year options that give a little more drive and purpose to your time away. These will see you arrive back home with loads of valuable knowledge and skills tucked safely under your belt, as well as all the warm memories and great stories that come with spending time abroad. 

For now, we’re going to focus on academic gap year programs, and explore all the reasons you should consider going abroad to study. We’re pretty sure we can convince you it will be one of the best decisions you could ever make!

Here’s our shortlist of awesome academic gap year programs:

• Winterline Global Education
• TEAN: China—Semester in Shanghai
• Semester at Sea: Global Study Abroad on a Floating Campus
• CISabroad’s Semester in Hawai’i
• IES Abroad Berlin—Language & Area Studies
• AIFS Study Abroad in Madrid

Why consider academic gap year programs?

You can study in some really baller locations, like the University of Oxford in England

By this point in your life, chances are you’ve been in some form of education for a LONG time. Even if you have lofty academic goals and recognize the importance of continuing your education at a higher level, it’s not uncommon to be getting a little bit sick of it by now. What you need is a big change to your learning routines that will show you new ways to learn, get you excited about education again, and offer a fresh perspective on everything you thought you knew. Student gap year programs do all of that and much more. 

First of all, there’s the change of environment. Gap year college programs are available all over the world, from Italy to China to India to Argentina and beyond. There are SO MANY choices! Spending time abroad isn’t just about pursuing your academic goals, but also gives you the chance to experience new cultures and languages (to pick up a few choice phrases along the way to impress your friends and family back home). Being somewhere new and exciting, outside of your normal routine, learning on your gap year alongside new people in the exciting, hands on, experiential way offered by academic gap year programs is guaranteed to recharge your batteries. Even if you opt to take classes on your gap year, the environment is so stimulating, the bell will ring to signal the end of class before you know it. 

Not only can gap year courses help you learn a huge amount while you’re overseas, but they will keep you inspired for a long time after you go back home.

Top academic gap year programs

1. AIFS Study Abroad in Madrid

Fancy spending a year or a whole semester living in Madrid, Spain, studying by day and soaking up the culture by night? Of course you do! AIFS gives you the opportunity to earn up to 15 credits while studying abroad at internationally-renowned Universidad Nebrija. There are several academic programs available, including Hispanic Studies, Spanish Plus, and Spanish Language, with options for classes to be taught in Spanish or English. You’ll live in a homestay, with loads of opportunities to soak up everything Spain’s amazing capital city has to offer alongside locals who know all the hottest spots. 

• Where: Madrid, Spain
• Focus: Languages, history
• More program info

2. IES Abroad Berlin—Language & Area Studies

Ready to take your German language skills to the next level? There’s no better way than living in Berlin, the centre of German business, culture, and politics. You have the option to stay for a semester or an entire academic year, and study at a range of Berlin universities including Humboldt-Universitat zu Berlin and Freie Universitat. There are even options to take part in internships to broaden your international work experience. Plus, you get to live in one of the greatest cities in the world and live like a local to enjoy everything it has to offer.

• Where: Berlin, Germany
• Focus: Languages
• More program info

3. CISabroad’s Semester in Hawai’i

You probably don’t need an excuse to head to Hawai’i, but this program combines everything these amazing islands have to offer—pristine beaches, astounding landscapes, unique culture, and more—with the opportunity to study at Hawai’i Pacific University in tropical Honolulu. HPU is one of the most diverse universities in the world, situated right at the heart of things in Oahu, so you’ll meet all different kinds of people to study alongside as well as enjoy a luau, try your hand at surfing, or just lie on the beach in between classes. Bliss. 

• Where: Hawai’i, USA
• Focus: Numerous
• More program info

4. Semester at Sea: Global Study Abroad on a Floating Campus

Why go abroad to study in one country when you could study all over the world—literally! This unique academic gap year program gives you a complete semester spent aboard a state-of-the-art floating campus passenger ship, which will circumnavigate the globe while you stay (exact destinations vary depending on which semester you choose to study there). Sponsored by Colorado State University, all participants in Semester at Sea receive academic credit and gain world experience like no other. This is a proper academic adventure!

• Where: United States, India, China, Morocco, and many more.
• Focus: Numerous
• More program info

5. TEAN: China—Semester in Shanghai

China is one of the most exciting countries in the world to visit, and this program gives you the chance to live at the heart of it by spending a complete semester in futuristic Shanghai. You’ll study at Fudan University, one of the most prestigious in the country, with your choice of over 120 courses, all available in English. The program houses you in an apartment with a local student to offer the most immersive experience possible, so you’ll have the inside line on everything Shanghai has to offer, as well as opportunities to make field trips further afield to enjoy the myriad wonders of China.

• Where: Shanghai, China
• Focus: Numerous
• More program info

6. Winterline Global Education

9 months. 10 countries. 100 skills. This might just be the best gap year ever. You’ll be in a new place every single week, learning new real-world skills to prepare you for college, a career, and life. One week you might learn to scuba dive, the next how to build a house; how to launch a business and then how to make authentic Thai food. Look at it this way: you’ll travel the world, meet exciting new people, and come home with a massive range of new skills and a fresh perspective on what you should do next. You’ll basically be James Bond. If that doesn’t convince you, nothing will. 

• Where: Multiple destinations
• Focus: Numerous
• More program info

7. Carpe Diem Education

Want to get college credit on your gap year? Look no further than Carpe Diem Education—based out of Portland, Oregon, all program participants have the option of getting Portland State University credits for various courses around the world. Coursework on-program includes activities like interviewing locals, writing daily in a journal, and potentially leading your own classroom or guiding your travel group in an activity. Once you return, you'll submit a few essays and voila—a leg up in your future college career.

• Where: Central America, South America, Spain + Morocco, India, Southeast Asia, South Pacific, East Africa
• Focus: Numerous
• More program info

Browse ALL the Study Abroad Gap Year Programs Out There

Don’t let that noggin get soft!

How's this for a study break?!

Experiential learning on a gap year just makes sense. The above selection is a TINY sample of the gap year college programs that are available to help you take your education in new and exciting directions, all while getting to travel the world and see new places. Wherever you want to go, whatever you want to study, you’ll find a program that will seem like it was tailor made for you.

You’ve spent a huge amount of your life in formal education. So why not get out there, put it to the test, and see how far you can push yourself in a fresh environment? Academic gap year programs offer a logical next step for your education alongside all the advantages of traveling—new knowledge, new people, new experiences—meaning you get the life long memories as well as returning home with something brilliant to put on your CV and make you stand out from the crowd. Invest in your brain, and it will pay you back for the rest of your life.

Find & Compare Academic Gap Year Programs with MyGoAbroad

This article was written with help from GapYear.com. Check them out for even more inspiration to take the leap and go abroad!