Mind the Gap (Year): College Delay, Time Use, and Postsecondary Pathways

• In Event: Postsecondary Opportunities and Trajectories

Abstract

Recent research suggests that delaying college significantly reduces degree completion, indicating the importance of understanding why students put off college. Students may delay because of finances, academics or personal development. Recently, the latter category has become more visible in the popular media as American students have begun to explore the “gap year”. However, a year off between high school and college is very different for students who must work to earn money for school and students who takes a year off to travel abroad and volunteer. Our goal is to examine why different students put off college, how different delayers spend their time in the year between high school and college, and the implications of this for eventual college completion.

Authors

• Stefanie A. Deluca, Johns Hopkins University

• Anna Rhodes, Johns Hopkins University

• Robert Bozick, RAND Corporation