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Take A Year On – Top Gap Year Resources

The Take A Year On: Gap Year Resources Directory is a curated collection of platforms and databases designed to help students transform a gap year into an active period of skill-building, international service, research, or professional growth.

Who Should Use it:

This resource is ideal for undergraduate students, graduating seniors, and alumni who are taking time before entering graduate school, law school, or medical school, or those who want to gain international work experience before starting full-time employment. Whether you are looking for structured teach-abroad initiatives, gap year fellowships, global volunteer programs, or industry internships, this directory connects you with reputable program providers.

How to Use it:
  • Explore Global Volunteer & Teaching Programs: Utilize databases like GoAbroad and Go Overseas to filter gap year opportunities, language immersion courses, and paid teach-abroad placements.
  • Search Social Impact & Non-Profit Roles: Access Idealist to identify short-term community engagement roles, internships, and service projects tailored to post-grad growth.
  • Research Funded Global Internships: Leverage Cultural Vistas and Interstride to search for structured international internships, policy fellowships, and cross-cultural exchange programs.
  • Consult Gap Year Planning Standards: Review program accreditation, funding advice, and financial aid planning through the Gap Year Association framework.
Why it’s Helpful:

Rather than treating a gap year as a passive delay, taking a year “on” allows students to build critical global competencies, gain relevant field experience, and strengthen graduate school or job applications. Consolidating top gap-year databases into one hub helps students navigate reputable programs, secure funding, and intentionally design a meaningful transition year.

Resources:

Thinking about taking a gap year? Whether you just feel like you need a year before beginning your career or are taking a break before pursuing advanced study, don’t take the year “off” — take the year ON! Use that year to learn, develop skills, and build experience to prepare you for your next steps!

Idealist – idealist.org

  • Database for jobs, internships, volunteer opportunities, events, and organizations
  • With more than 120,000 organizations and 1.4 million monthly visitors to its English and Spanish (idealistas.org) sites.  Idealist helps people move from intention to action all over the world.

Interstride – Access at web.interstride.com

  • Search for jobs, internships, and volunteer opportunities by specific industry and country (also contains information for international students about H1B Visas)
  • Country guides that include information about what industries are prominent, top companies that are hiring, how to network and cost of living

Cultural Vistas – culturalvistas.org

  • Non-profit organization that promotes global understanding and collaboration through internships and exchange programs
  • Cultural Vistas offers a variety of internship programs that range in duration and location. Examples include 1-3 month internships with the German Parliament, 8-week internships in Argentina and India, and customized internships in Brazil, Chile, France, and Ireland (many of these programs are funded).

Go Overseas General Database – gooverseas.com

  • Database for internships, studying, volunteer, and GAP Year opportunities in major regions of the world

GoAbroad – goabroad.com

  • Find a variety of travel resources and programs, such as their Volunteer Abroad, Teach Abroad, and GAP Year tools to help you identify international opportunities that are best suited for you

GAP Year Association – gapyearassociation.org/gap-year-programs.php

  • The Gap Year Association provides a variety of resources to assist gap year students, including a list of programs, advice on planning your gap year, information on financial aid, etc

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