Spend a semester traveling, learning and serving abroad. These gap year programs are for students ages 17–22.
Not sure which fits? Browse all gap year programs.
Gap Year Semester Programs
- Country
-
- Fiji Islands
- Program name
- South Pacific Service and Ocean Skills
Explore the South Pacific
- Duration
- 77 days
- Ages
- 17-22
- Price
- $20,990 + airfare
Flights to and from the program aren't included.
Flight options include: Chaperoned Group Flight, Independent Flight with Support, or Self-Managed Airfare. You'll choose with your advisor after enrolling.
- Departures
- Dates coming soon
- Countries
-
- Costa Rica
- Peru
- Dominican Republic
- Program name
- Spanish Immersion and Service
Hone your Spanish in three Latin American countries.
- Duration
- 78 days
- Ages
- 17-22
- Price
- $17,645 + airfare
Flights to and from the program aren't included.
Flight options include: Chaperoned Group Flight, Independent Flight with Support, or Self-Managed Airfare. You'll choose with your advisor after enrolling.
- Departures
- Dates coming soon
- Country
-
- Thailand
- Program name
- The Land of Smiles: Gap in Thailand
Thailand's beaches, forests, and elephants
- Duration
- 40 days
- Ages
- 17-22
- Price
- $13,000 + airfare
- Focus
- 64 service hours
Flights to and from the program aren't included.
Flight options include: Chaperoned Group Flight, Independent Flight with Support, or Self-Managed Airfare. You'll choose with your advisor after enrolling.
What Is a Gap Semester Program?
A gap semester program is a structured program of about three months, taken in place of a term of school, usually after high school or during college.
A gap semester gives you much of what a gap year offers in less time. You travel, serve and learn for one term, then return to school or move on to work, study or another program for the rest of the year. Rustic Pathways gap semesters run about 11 weeks and are for students ages 17 to 22.
Where Can I Do a Gap Semester Abroad?
Rustic Pathways gap semesters run in Latin America and the South Pacific.
- Spanish Immersion and Service: 78 days in Costa Rica, Peru and the Dominican Republic, with a homestay of about a week in each country.
- South Pacific Service and Ocean Skills: 77 days in Fiji, with surfing, scuba diving and a week-long homestay in the rural highlands.
For a shorter option, The Land of Smiles: Gap in Thailand is a 40-day gap block in Southeast Asia.
Can a Gap Semester Include Volunteering?
Yes. Both Rustic Pathways gap semesters include community service alongside travel and learning, which makes them diverse gap semester programs: service, language, adventure and homestays in one term.
On Spanish Immersion and Service, students work on local projects in each country, including water access and sanitation projects in rural communities in the Dominican Republic. On South Pacific Service and Ocean Skills, service may include agricultural, educational and public health projects in Fiji. See all gap year volunteer programs.
Which Gap Semester Programs Are Best?
The best gap semester program is the one that fits your goal, your budget and the support you want. Compare 3-month gap year programs on:
- How long you spend in each place.
- Whether you live with a host family.
- How much service and language study the schedule includes.
- Who leads the group and what support is in place.
- What Program Tuition covers, and what you pay separately.
To compare a semester with other formats, read the types of gap year programs.