Not everyone goes to college. And not everyone who goes starts immediately after high school.
Many students take what is called a gap year before going to college for a variety of reasons. Although the practice is more common in the United Kingdom and other European countries, interest in gap years is increasing in the United States, according to the nonprofit Gap Year.
Students can plan, early in their college admissions process, to take a gap year after high school for personal growth and development, or use this time to work and save extra money. Others may take stock of their admissions offers and financial aid and decide to try their luck in the next application cycle.
As many students and families eagerly await financial aid offers delayed due to problems in the free application process for federal student aid, taking a gap year could help give some students more time to weigh their college decision.
Whatever your reason for taking a gap year, it “could end up helping you financially…or not helping you, depending on the circumstances,” Karen McCarthy, vice president of public policy and federal relations at the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, told CNBC Make It.
If you have been accepted to a school and decide to defer your enrollment for a year, it will be up to the school to decide how your offer of admission and financial aid will be processed. In many cases, you will still need to pay a registration deposit in order to hold your place for the next incoming class.
You may also be barred from applying to other colleges if your spot is filled at only one school.
Ultimately, the decision to take a gap year will depend on your personal situation and your family’s needs, but there are a few factors to consider if you plan to attend college afterward. These three gap year scenarios can impact your tuition costs.
1. If you move to a new state during your gap year
Many public colleges offer discounted tuition to students who live in the same state. In fact, the average out-of-state tuition price of $27,091 per year is nearly three times the average in-state tuition price of $9,678, according to Education Data Initiative.
States and institutions determine what constitutes in-state residency, and you or your parents may need to live in the new state for a full year in order to establish residency. So, moving into or out of state during your gap year could potentially have implications on your tuition costs.
“If your family recently moved to the state, you would not be considered an in-state student,” McCarthy says. “But if you took a gap year around that time (when you enrolled), assuming your parents are still in the same state, then you could be considered an in-state student.”
This could end up reducing your tuition costs, or increasing them, depending on where you move and where you go to school. You could also lose state financial aid if you leave the state that originally granted it to you.
2. If your income or that of your parents changes
You must complete a new Free Application for Federal Student Aid each year you wish to apply for financial aid. Whether you apply to schools and file a FAFSA, then decide to take a gap year or not apply at all, you should fill out a new FAFSA when you’re ready to enroll, McCarthy says.
This means that if you take a gap year in hopes of receiving more financial aid, your parents’ income probably should have decreased in the year before your gap year.
The FAFSA takes into account the income of the student and his or her parents — unless the student is an eligible self-employed person — from the “previous year” to determine a student’s aid eligibility. Families completing the FAFSA for the 2024-25 school year use their 2022 income.
Students who wish to take a leave of absence for the 2024-25 school year should consider their family’s income situation in 2023, since this will be the fiscal year used to determine aid eligibility for the school year 2025-26.
If your income or other financial situation has changed in 2023 compared to 2022, your eligibility for aid may be different. The Department of Education has a financial aid estimator tool that you can use to assess the impact of income changes on your eligibility.
3. If your dependency status changes
If your personal circumstances change during your gap year, your FAFSA process may be different when you are ready to enroll. The FAFSA considers student applicants independent of their parents if they meet one of the following 10 criteria:
- You are or will be 24 years old on January 1 of the school year for which you are requesting assistance.
- You are married or separated and not divorced
- You are preparing a master’s or doctorate
- You have children who receive more than half of their child support from you
- You have dependents other than children who receive more than half of their support from you
- You are on active duty in the United States military
- You are an American veteran
- Both of your parents had died or you were placed in foster care or under the guardianship of the court at some point since you were 13 years old.
- You are an emancipated minor or under legal guardianship
- You are an unaccompanied young person, homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.
Students in any of these situations may not be required to provide their parents’ financial information on the FAFSA. Therefore, if any of these statements prove true for you during your gap year, you may receive different financial aid than you would otherwise.
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