Ah, those Ivy Leaguers. Sometimes, it seems like those smarty pants get all the breaks. But where Princeton University is concerned, incoming students may quite literally find more breaks in their collective futures.The vaunted New Jersey university is reportedly pondering a new program that would assist about 10 percent of each incoming freshman class in putting college off for a year in order to travel the world volunteering or working in service-oriented capacities. Students who chose to defer their studies won’t receive school credit, nor will they pay tuition.

But since Princeton students can already defer admission for a year, it stands to reason that the program will offer participating students some additional support. Financial aid from the university for living and travel expenses is rumored to be part of the deal, but the details have yet to be determined. The school hopes to have the program in place for the 2009-2010 academic year.

Taking a gap year for travel before entering college is common practice in many countries outside the United States, and, though it’s not the right move for everyone, those who do take time off to work and travel in other countries often return home with life experience that trumps anything one could learn in a classroom. Except, of course, for subjects like James Joyce. You do actually need a classroom for that. But personal experience has taught me that living and working abroad not only offers students perspective on the privileges of U.S. living, but also engenders them with a thirst for seeing and exploring the world in the years to come.

This entry was posted on Friday, March 21st, 2008 at 4:22 am and is filed under Student Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.