Gap Year College Credit PROGRAM
Photo: ARCC Gap
EARN COLLEGE CREDIT DURING YOUR GAP YEAR
GYA offers an option for gap year students on participating GYA Accredited Programs to enroll in additional coursework to earn college credit during their gap year. Students should check in with their gap year program to confirm whether or not they offer a college credit option.
GYA’s College Credit Program is centered around the gap year experience and allows students to fully participate in their gap year program, including any built-in cultural immersion, service learning, travel, etc. Courses are designed for independent study, typically requiring reflective journaling and supplementary reading during the gap year experience, plus a final paper to be completed upon a student’s return home.
All GYA courses offer credit from the University of Montana, which serves as the School of Record for GYA’s College Credit program.
WHY EARN COLLEGE CREDIT?
HOW TO ENROLL
Get accepted to a participating GYA Accredited Program, and let them know you’d like to enroll in GYA courses for college credit. They will provide you with the necessary enrollment paperwork to register for your course(s) of choice.
Select the course(s) you’d like to take from the Current Courses Offered list (the number of courses you are eligible to enroll in will depend on the length and content of your program), complete the appropriate registration forms, and submit your completed registration forms to your program contact at least two weeks prior to your program start date.
Keep an eye out for a confirmation email from GYA welcoming you to the College Credit Program and including an introduction to your GYA Instructor of Record, who will grade all of the coursework you submit for your independent study. *Make sure you keep your instructor’s contact information handy so that you can contact them if you have any questions about your coursework during your program.
Start packing and getting excited for your program to start! Review your course syllabus to make sure you have a good understanding of the course expectations and assignments to stay on top of once your program has started. You may want to select a book from your course reading list ahead of time so that you can start reading it during downtime while on your program.
CURRENT COURSES OFFERED
This course is designed to introduce students to the principles, theories, and practices of leadership development. Through a combination of theoretical frameworks, self-reflection, and practical applications to lived experiences, students will gain insights into effective leadership strategies, communication skills, and ethical decision-making. The course facilitates critical self-assessments of students’ leadership styles, and examines successful leadership qualities in various personal and professional contexts.
This course is designed to use a student’s real-world experiences as a foundation for understanding fundamental principles of communication, relationship-building, cultural development, and other group dynamics within an experiential cohort-based program. Students will engage in self-reflection and explore group dynamics in various contexts, gaining essential skills for personal and professional communication while examining the particular dynamics of a cohort-based experience in various cultural settings. Through readings, reflections, and applications to real-world examples, students will examine the roles that culture, identity, and communication play in cohort formation within personal, academic, and/or professional settings.
**ONLY AVAILABLE TO STUDENTS PARTICIPATING IN APPROVED INTERNSHIP PROGRAMS**
This internship course is designed to provide students with hands-on domestic experience in a wide range of industries (including journalism, graphic design, creative writing, marketing, finance, etc.). Interns will work closely with mentors and professionals within their chosen field and engage in various projects to enhance their skills and understanding of their assigned area of work experience and career development.
**ONLY AVAILABLE TO STUDENTS PARTICIPATING IN APPROVED INTERNSHIP PROGRAMS**
This international internship course is designed to provide students with hands-on experience in a wide range of industries (including, journalism, graphic design, creative writing, marketing, finance, etc.). Interns will work closely with mentors and professionals within their chosen field and engage in various projects to enhance their skills and understanding of their assigned area of work experience and career development.
GYA Instructors of Record
Frequently Asked Questions
In order to participate in GYA coursework to receive college credit from the University of Montana, students must be:
- enrolled in a participating Accredited GYA Program that is 3 weeks or longer in duration*
- 17 years of age or older by the start date of the program
- either currently enrolled in high school, recently graduated, or enrolled in college/university
*Note that the number of courses in which students are eligible to enroll is based upon the number of contact hours they will have during their program. 45 contact hours are required for EACH 3-credit academic course and 45 contact hours are required for every 1 internship credit earned.
Nope! The college credit coursework is designed to provide a lens through which to process aspects of your gap year program experience. You will participate in your program like all other students in your cohort, and will complete supplementary reading, journal reflections, and a culminating final paper for your additional college credit coursework.
There is a flat fee of $1,950 to enroll in GYA’s College Credit Program. Some program providers may charge an additional administrative fee of no more than $150. This amount remains the same whether a student enrolls in 1, 2, 3, or 4 courses (up to 12 semester credits).
You will pay your college credit fee, along with any program tuition, directly to your gap year program provider.
GYA will work individually with students using AmeriCorps Education Awards or 529 Education Savings Plans for their college credit fee and program tuition.
It depends on the amount of time you spend on the relevant experiential components of your program, referred to as “contact hours.” For internship courses, you are eligible to register for 1 credit for every 45 contact hours (hours of internship experience). Other academic courses are each available for 3 credits, requiring a minimum of 45 contact hours (hours of relevant program experience) per 3-credit course.
Yes! A major advantage of GYA’s College Credit Program is that it allows students to access 529 Education Savings Plan—not only for their credit fee, but also for their program tuition! If a student has a 529 Education Savings Plan, enrolling in a single college credit course through GYA can help them fund a large portion of their gap year expenses.
529 Education Savings funds may generally be used for program tuition and credit costs with the exception of direct travel expenses. Expenses for room and board may only be incurred for students who are enrolled in at least “half-time” academic credit (minimum of six semester credits).
GYA strongly recommends that students/families consult with their own tax professional to verify that expenses are considered qualified and allowable. If you intend to use a 529 Education Savings Plan to fund your college credit fee and/or program tuition, please alert your gap year program as soon as possible so that they can initiate the necessary arrangements with GYA and the University of Montana.
For additional information about the use of 529 Education Savings Plans, visit IRS Publication 970, Chapter 7, page 50.
Yes! Similarly to 529 Education Savings Plans, AmeriCorps Education Awards may be applied to your college credit fee and program tuition.
If you intend to use funding from an AmeriCorps Education Award for your college credit fee and/or program tuition, please alert your gap year program as soon as possible so that they can initiate the necessary arrangements with GYA and the University of Montana.
Unfortunately, gap year students are not eligible to receive federal financial aid for their gap year education.
Students will NOT receive a tuition statement tax form (Form 1098-T) from the University of Montana, nor from the Gap Year Association. For tax purposes, in lieu of a Form 1098-T, we recommend that you maintain proof of tuition payment to your program provider and documentation of enrollment with the University of Montana in the form of a student ID number and/or official transcripts.
Coursework for general education courses includes guided journal reflections, a selected reading, active participation in a program’s “contact hours” (cultural excursions, language immersion, site visits, service learning projects, service/volunteer work, etc.), and a final paper to be completed after the program. Your experiences during your gap year program will help to inform your journal entries and final paper, which is the final course assignment that you will complete once you return home.
Coursework for internship credits includes maintaining a blog, submitting a short video, and writing a final report about your internship experience. Additionally, internship courses require a mid-point check-in with your Instructor of Record, a self-evaluation, and an evaluation from your internship supervisor.
You will submit your coursework to your assigned GYA Instructor of Record, to whom you will be introduced prior to starting your program. Your Instructor of Record will grade all coursework within 30 days of the submission deadline. Once grading is complete, your Instructor will email you your course grade(s) along with their comments before submitting final grades to the University of Montana for official transcription.
Students who do not complete their GYA accredited program will be withdrawn from the college credit, incurring a “W” on their official transcript at UM. Incomplete or missing coursework will result in an assessment of “Incomplete” (I) on the official UM transcript.
The deadline to enroll in college credit is two weeks prior to the program start date. Late registrations will be granted on a case-by-case basis (depending on the length of the program) and will incur a $100 late registration fee by GYA.
Students should notify their gap year program of their desire to earn college credit prior to their program start.
All coursework is due to your Instructor of Record no later than 30 days after your program’s end date. Instructors of Record will submit grade reports to GYA within 30 days of your coursework submission deadline. GYA will submit grade reports to UM on the last business day of each month. Official transcripts will be available by the 15th day of the following month.
Upon completion of a GYA course, you will receive undergraduate semester credits from the University of Montana. “Semester” credits refer to credits coming from an institution that operates within a semester system, as the University of Montana does. Some colleges and universities operate within a quarter system instead of a semester system. Generally, semester and quarter credits will translate in the following way:
1 semester credit = 1.5 quarter credits
So, if you complete a single GYA course for 3 semester credits and would like to transfer those credits to a quarter-system school, we would typically expect them to transfer as 4.5 quarter credits.
It depends. We have seen that courses can transfer well, though a complete transfer isn’t guaranteed. The best way to verify if/how your credits will transfer is to consult an academic advisor at the institution you plan on attending.
Ideally, students will enroll in a GYA course and ask for “pre-approval equivalency” from their receiving institution. However, many smaller institutions won’t have official course equivalencies in place, which means it will be incumbent upon the student to drive the process, typically through a registrar’s office.
If students have trouble convincing an institution to accept transfer credits in this way, they can always encourage the receiving institution to contact GYA to request verification from the appropriate parties at the University of Montana that the coursework is academically sound.
When your Instructor of Record has completed grading your coursework, you will be emailed a grade report that includes your course grade(s) and instructor comments. Grades are then sent to the University of Montana (UM) for official transcription. Once this process is complete, you will be able to order your official UM transcript through a two-step process and a small administrative fee.
All student information is confidential. GYA agrees not to disclose or permit disclosure of student information, except as permitted under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, 20 U.S.C. §1232g; 34 CFR Part 99 (FERPA) and §20-25-515 of the Montana Code Annotated. GYA will take all reasonable steps to protect the secrecy of confidential information.
Students traveling abroad for their gap year are encouraged to obtain international health insurance coverage. Check with your GYA Accredited Program to see what options may be available. If your program does not offer supplemental international health insurance plans, GYA’s provider of choice, iNext, may be an option to consider.
Students who withdraw from the college credit coursework within two weeks of their program’s start date will incur a $850 cancellation fee. Students wishing to withdraw from the college credit option must notify GYA at info@gapyearassociation.org within two weeks of the program’s start date.
After the first two weeks of the program, no college credit refunds will be provided for any reason, including illness, injury, or inability to complete the program.
Good point! Earning college credit for a gap year experience isn’t for everyone—if you need to intentionally remove academics from your life for a little while, we support that choice!
For some students, participating in GYA’s College Credit Program can offer specific benefits like collecting credits they intend to transfer to a specific college or university, access to 529 plans and/or AmeriCorps Education Awards for program tuition, etc. However, other students might have no interest in adding extra coursework to their gap year experience—if that’s the case, then no need to linger on this page any longer! We wish you well on your gap year journey, and we encourage you to contact us if there are any additional resources we can provide for your gap year planning.
YES! The Gap Year Association has built a strong relationship with Portland State University through its Education Abroad Office to make courses available to students enrolled in participating GYA-Accredited programs that include international travel. The steps involve:
- Letting your program know which courses you’d like to enroll in
- Paying a flat fee of $1,700 (barring late-fees / cancellation-fees)
- Participating fully in your program
- Submitting your independent-study coursework to your GYA Instructor of Record
- Requesting your completed official PSU transcript.
It is a flat fee of $1,700/semester USD that you’ll pay directly to your program. If you choose to only take one class for 4 quarter-credits, or 4 classes, it still costs $1,700. Once registered, there is a cancellation fee of $600.
If you or your family have invested in a 529 tax-deferred college savings plan, you are able to use those funds for all qualifying educational expenses. This includes the cost of your PSU credits, as well as associated program tuition. Direct travel expenses are not eligible for payment via 529 plans.
As long as students register by the semester deadline for college credit, they are eligible to use 529 funds through PSU. These deadlines as follows:
Spring: February 15
Summer: May 15
Fall: August 15
Students will receive an invoice with their PSU ID number and will have the funds sent directly to PSU.
PSU’s academic calendar operates on a quarter system, meaning there are four 10-week terms offered each academic year: fall, winter, spring, and summer (as opposed to a semester system, which offers two 15-week semester terms—fall and spring—and an abbreviated summer term). Full-time enrollment for most colleges is typically considered 12 or more semester-credits, or 15 or more quarter-credits.
The basic requirements for each course include a daily journal, required reading, active participation in a program’s “contact hours” (cultural excursions, language immersion, site visits, service learning projects, service/volunteer work, etc.), and a final paper to be completed after the program.
Your experiences during your gap year program will help to inform your journal entries and final paper, which is the final course assignment that you will complete once you return home.
GYA coordinates a team of independent instructors who are approved by PSU, and who have been verified to carry the appropriate degrees, qualifications, and abilities to teach the course subject matter. A student will be assigned one of these “Instructors of Record” who is determined based on the student’s course selections.
You must register for courses through your GYA-Accredited Program at least two weeks prior to the start of your program departure. Cancelling enrollment once you’ve registered for your courses will incur a charge of $600.
Students wishing to use 529 Tax-Deferred College Savings funds must register for college credit by the following deadlines:
- Winter/Spring term: February 15
- Summer term: May 15
- Fall term: August 15
All coursework must be submitted to your GYA Instructor of Record by the following deadlines:
- Winter/Spring: June 5th
- Fall: January 5th
- Summer course deadlines will vary depending on program dates. Specific deadlines will be communicated directly to students on a case-by-case basis.
Students are expected to submit coursework to their Instructor of Record by the deadlines listed above. Following their initial submissions, students will be expected to respond to questions and feedback from their instructors until final grades are given. Any/all requests for exceptions must be communicated to and approved by your Instructor of Record.
Potentially. Many students apply for college admission, then defer their acceptance. In some cases, the terms of their deferral may include no allowance for credits, a limit on the number of credits earned, and/or not formally matriculating at another institution. We advise students to communicate clearly and directly with the admissions office or registrar at their college/university PRIOR to enrolling in gap year college credit courses to ensure that their credits will transfer as desired.
We recommend the following steps when navigating deferred admissions and college credit during a gap year:
- Consult GYA’s list of college deferral policies.
- If needed, try to negotiate with your institution to make an exception for a high-quality gap year, citing GYA research and external metrics for amazing gap year outcomes. Make the case that a gap year was needed, will propel you successfully through academia in less time to greater effect, and that a semester of credit was required to make it a cost-effective choice.
- Check in with your institution’s financial aid office to make sure you know how a deferral might affect any financial aid and/or scholarships you plan to use.
- Students are STRONGLY discouraged from accepting admissions to multiple universities, as it is unethical to make commitments to any institutions you don’t intend to attend.
It depends. We have seen that courses transfer well, though a complete transfer isn’t guaranteed. The best way to verify if/how your credits will transfer is to consult an academic advisor at the institution you plan on attending.
Ideally, students will enroll in a GYA course and ask for “pre-approval equivalency” from their receiving institution. However, many smaller institutions don’t yet have course equivalencies in place, which means it is incumbent on the student to drive the process, typically through the registrar’s office. If students have trouble convincing an institution to accept transfer credits in this way, they can always encourage the receiving institution to call the Education Abroad office at Portland State University to confirm with an administrator at the college that everything is academically sound.
When your Instructor of Record has completed grading your coursework, you will be emailed a grade report that shows your grades and Instructor comments. Grades are then sent to PSU for official transcription, which can take anywhere from 2 to 6 weeks. Once this process is complete, you will be able to order your official PSU transcript through a two-step process and a small administrative fee.