The Gap-Year Advantage Helping Your Child Benefit from Time Off Before or During College

A comprehensive guide to planning time off before or during college With college costs rising each year and increased com-petition for acceptance into college, parents and their children are looking for ways to stand out and to get the most out of an expensive education. Taking a 'gap year' between high school and college-a growing trend in the United States-or struc-tur-ing time off during college offers the opportunity for students to gain focus and discipline, learn to set realistic goals, get real world experience, and build a stand-out resume.

Karl Haigler and Rae Nelson have a combined forty years of experience in the fields of education policy and practice. Karl Haigler has served as director of the Adult Literacy Initiative for the U.S. Department of Education and as special advisor to the Governor of Mississippi on literacy issues. Rae Nelson served as associate director for Education Policy at the White House. They live in Advance, North Carolina.