Membership with the Gap Year Association
The Gap Year Association is excited to expand on its membership with this new Movement-growing membership structure. We believe that we'll be able to expedite the growth of the Gap Year Movement with more people working together in a shared vision: A semester of gap year time, with access to college credit & financial aid, for every high school graduate.
New Membership Options in the Association
The benefits of a gap year are so profound and researched, that there's every reason in the world to grow the number of students taking a gap year: it is good for the individual, their future, and society at large. But, to do this we need partners like you to add your voice to the masses, and ensure more Americans take an intentional gap year.
Gap Year Student Memberships
(Student/Alum, Individual/Parent)
Gap Year Student
[$25/year] - INCLUDES ACCESS TO EMERGING COVID-19 VIRTUAL FORUMS.
For COVID-19 gap year cohorts, prospective gap year students, students actively on their gap year, and alum of the gap year who are interested in growing the gap year movement and making it a more common part of the American educational pathway. The Gap Year Student membership is being finalized to include: an invite-only Facebook group for peer advice and community; access to regular live and recently recorded virtual meetings with experts for Q & A; discounts to services; and a generously donated e-book with stories about taking a gap year.
Parents with students should encourage they join at this level, and parents are able to ride the coat tails. For parents without a gap year student, please join at the level of Individual Gap Year Enthusiast, albeit with fewer privileges, but charging less too.
Individual Enthusiast / Parent
[$15/year] - If you're an individual (or parent without a current gap year student), and don't want to leverage the Virtual Member Meetings with Experts, nor any travel or other gap year discounts, then this is your place to join the Gap Year Movement. If you are the parent of a gap year student, save a step and have your student join as a Gap Year Student and ride their coat tails!
Gap Year Providers:
(Accredited Gap Year Programs, and Other Gap Year Providers)
Accredited Gap Year Organization
[$1,500 nonrefundable deposit] - For organizations running gap year programs who have earned the respected Gap Year Association Seal of Accreditation. Organizations must pass all required elements based on the Federally-recognized Standards. As well, graduates from programs must agree with stated outcomes based on these same Standards for a 360-degree evaluation. On every Accreditation year organizations are charged a flat rate of either $3,000 or $4,000 depending on their number of gap year students served. Accreditations are valid for 4, or 5 years depending on the discretion of the GYA. Newly accredited programs must submit a self-assessed review two years into their accreditation cycle to support compliance. When not on an Accreditation Review year, organizations are required to pay the Gap Year Organization Fee as outlined below. 50% deposit and a signed copy of the Accreditation Engagement Letter are required to start the application process. For more information, download our Accreditation Engagement Form.
Gap Year Provider
[$400/year - $2,200/year] - For gap year providers who represent a gap year program or a shorter chapter to a gap year, are in-process of Accreditation, or otherwise unaccredited by the Association but interested in affiliating to grow the movement and gain benefits of sharing our tent. Fees are billed annually, and with COVID-19 we are inviting online and other "chapters" of a gap year, provided they still meet GYA's requirements.
Note, the following are required to join as a Member Provider in the GYA:
- A logo for your organization that we can post on our Gap Year Providers web page
- A blurb that we can post on the Gap Year Providers web page
- Proof that you’ve been in business at least 2 years
• NOTE: alternatively, organizations can share a business plan and the CV/Resume of Executive Staff - Up-to-date insurance and registration documents
- A risk management plan (if content is more than online)
- A public inclusion / diversity policy (share where it is publicly available)
- Public student policies (share where they are publicly available)
- A public mission statement (share where it is publicly available)
- Publicly available Essential Eligibility Criteria (link to a great presentation at the WRMC by Catherine Hansen-Stamp & Janet Zeller)
2021 Annual dues cost:
• 0 - 50 students - $400 per year
• 51 - 100 students - $575 per year
• 101 - 200 students - $1,100 per year
• 200 + students - $2,200 per year
Here's what organizations are saying about the accreditation process:
"Just a note to say that we've gone through three different accreditation schemes this year and we've found that the GYA accreditation scheme was by far the most thorough and the most valuable to us, in terms of having us undertake a detailed critical review of all aspects of our operation.
Thank you for getting such a good accreditation scheme up and running. I'm sure GYA will have the effect of improving GAP experiences for students on any GYA accredited program.
Best Wishes,
Scott, Founder, Pacific Discovery."
"The accreditation process was a productive and positive experience for Thinking Beyond Borders. We appreciated the structured approach to reflecting upon our systems and programs. We were able to take clear steps to improve our systems and celebrate the areas where we were already doing good work. We're proud of our GYA certification, but we're also appreciative of how the process has made us a stronger organization."
Robin Pendoley, Executive Director and Co-Founder, Thinking Beyond Borders.
Educational Institutions:
(Official Gap Year Colleges, Institutions of Higher Education, and Community Based Organizations/Professional Associations)
Official Gap Year Colleges & Universities
[$2,000/year by invitation only] - For colleges and universities who use experiential learning methods, track gap year students, and possess a formalized Gap Year Deferral Policy. These colleges will also have a strong program in place for gap year graduates to integrate on campus, and scholarship monies available to gap year students recognizing leadership and global citizenship. "Official Gap Year Colleges" are proven places for gap year graduates to land successfully and may frequently be a credit-granting institution for Gap Year Providers or operate their own Gap Year Program. In the spirit of Colleges That Change Lives, this represents social-justice-oriented institutions that recognize the importance of holistic education.
Higher Education Institutions
[$350/year] - For colleges and universities either working towards a Gap Year College designation, or otherwise would like to affiliate with the GYA.
Associations & Professional Organizations
[courtesy] - For professional associations and organizations. Typically these are done as a reciprocal membership with reduced or no fees.
Sponsorship
(Business Sponsorship)
Business Sponsorship
[get creative] - For Businesses and Organizations who share our values, and are interested in connecting to Gap Year Association Members. [Contact Us for more information]
Professional Members
(College Counselors, Gap Year Counselors, IECs)
Educators
[$25/year] - INCLUDES ACCESS TO EMERGING COVID-19 VIRTUAL FORUMS.
Teachers, professors, public high school counselors, experiential educators, and any instructor of students who wants to be an informed advocate of the gap year. If you represent a Title 1 public school or have been furloughed and are facing hardship but still working with students, please use this coupon code to drop the price to $1/year: "accessgapyear".
Gap Year Consultants and Gap Year IECs
[$100/year] - INCLUDES ACCESS TO EMERGING COVID-19 VIRTUAL FORUMS & AN ONLINE LISTING.
With required membership in NACAC, HECA, IECA, or working towards credentialing as a Professional Gap Year Counselor.
Professional Gap Year Counselor
[$300/year + $100/each additional counselor] - INCLUDES ACCESS TO EMERGING COVID-19 VIRTUAL FORUMS & AN ONLINE LISTING.
Credentialed by the GYA as an expert gap year Counselor advising students and families through the gap year process and making gap year placements. Credentialing includes proof of core competencies, expertise, and signing of the Association’s Gap Year Counselor values. More information can be found by looking at the Standards to become a GYA Professional Gap Year Consultant.