Red Rocks Community College Student Takes Gap Year With AmeriCorps

The Planet Gap Year News-USA Feed picked up an article two days ago titled RRCC students named to all Colorado academic team.

The story was about a student at Red Rocks Community College in Colorado named Kayla Jensen who was chosen as a 2008 nominee for the All-USA Academic Team, which recognizes outstanding students at two-year colleges around the country. It just so happens Kayla took a gap year before college with AmeriCorps.

I am spotlighting the article simply to illustrate the fact that students from a variety of regions in the US are taking gap years, and go on to study at community colleges as well as four-year colleges. Often, articles we see on the internet tend to be about east coast students who take a gap year and go on to study at prestigious liberal arts colleges and private universities, which are often located in the northeast. It is important for our readers and the public to know that students from a variety of backgrounds and regions of the US are taking gap years.

Additionally, several articles have popped up on the internet related to Princeton's recent decision to offer a gap year option to its incoming students. The articles are primarily written by other Ivy League schools weighing in on Princeton's announcement. I would like to provide perspective to some readers who might be asking the question: "How does Princeton's decision to offer a gap year option help students attending public colleges and universities?" I think Princeton's move is a positive development, because it will encourage colleges and universities across the US to adopt policies favoring gap year programs in the future. However, publicly funded universities and colleges, don't have the funds to develop institutionally based gap year programs any time soon. As such, students should, and will, continue to independently plan gap year options on their own.