Location
Multiple Locations +17
  • Thailand
    • Chiang Mai
    • Krabi
    • Bangkok
    • Krabi
  • Australia
    • Sydney
    • Great Barrier Reef
    • Melbourne
  • Japan
    • Kyoto
    • Tokyo
    • Osaka
  • France
    • Normandy
    • Paris
  • Germany
    • Munich
    • Berlin
  • Italy
    • Bologna
    • Florence
    • Rome
  • Spain
    • Barcelona
    • Madrid
    • Malaga
    • Seville
    • Granada
  • Peru
    • Machu Picchu
    • Lima
    • Cusco
  • Costa Rica
    • San José
  • Switzerland
  • Ecuador
    • Galapagos
    • Quito
  • Portugal
    • Lisbon
  • Dominican Republic
    • Santo Domingo
  • Panama
    • Panama City
  • Netherlands
    • Amsterdam
  • Morocco
    • Tangier
  • Mexico
Length
4 - 12 weeks

Program Details

Activities
Animal Viewing City Exploring Hiking Snorkeling Surfing Swimming
Timeframe
Fall Spring
Housing
Apartment Host Family Hostel Hotel
Primary Language
English
Age Min.
18
Age Max
22

Pricing

Starting Price
18750
What's Included
Accommodation Activities Airfare Domestic Airfare Airport Transfers Some Meals Tour Guide Transportation
What's Not Included
Some Meals Travel Insurance Visa
Feb 27, 2024
Jan 29, 2024
92 travelers are looking at this program

About Program

An EF Gap Semester is perfect for students who want to live in different parts of the world while gaining valuable life skills, discovering their passions, and building community. Destinations include Europe, Asia, Latin America, and Oceania.

Combine guided travel, language and cultural immersion and service learning in different countries to build essential skills for your global career, creating a semester as unique as you. Choose from a variety of programs that best match your personal goals, travel style, and destination dreams.

With the opportunity to earn college credit and place out of language classes, students return home with an advantage as they start or return to college. In fact, we offer two first semester abroad semesters where you can gain college credit through our partner CSU. EF Gap Year is part of EF Education First. With more than 50,000 staff members and 600 offices and schools around the world, EF Gap Year offers unparalleled international support 24/7.

Video and Photos

Program Highlights

  • Travel through Europe, Latin America, Asia, Oceania, and more
  • Visit must-see spots like the Eiffel Tower, Great Barrier Reef, and Machu Picchu
  • Learn experientially and earn transferable college credit that can go towards your future college plans
  • Travel, make an impact, and come back ready for whatever is next
  • Start dates in September, January, and February

Popular Programs

Get hands-on experience all over Latin America

The Changemaker is designed for the impact-driven adventurer who wants to experience sustainable lifestyles all over the world. Travel to Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Peru, Ecuador, and the Galapagos with a cohort of motivated students.

Learn about the UN Sustainable Development goals as you travel through Latin America. Work with locals on these global challenges and explore the ecosystems and communities they are trying to conserve.

Dive into life all over Europe

The Pathfinder is perfect for the hands-on learner who can’t wait for their next step but is still trying to figure out where they’re going. Travel across England, France, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy to explore major international cities with plenty of free time. Get introduced to majors and career options (from environmental science to food to fashion and more) that will help you return home with confidence and choose your path forward.

A beautiful road in New Zealand with an impressive backdrop.

Spend four weeks getting to know the Asia-Pacific region. Experience the lush environments of Australia, get your hands dirty working with a Thai NGO on an elephant conservation project, and explore the way culture and religion connect in Japan.

EF Language Campus in Malaga

During Mosaic of Spain, you will spend semester of college living and learning in Spain with EF Study Abroad. You will attend classes at EF’s International Language Campus in Málaga, then experience curated curriculum at the University of Granada's Center for Modern Languages exploring Spain’s past, present, and future; throughout, you’ll also go on Field Excursions designed to bring learning to life in global cities like Amsterdam, Tangier, and Madrid.

Colorado State International Programs

Embark on an intercontinental journey through Colorado, Costa Rica, Panama, and Mexico. You’ll explore important issues alongside professors from Colorado State University (CSU) and the United Nation’s University for Peace while learning from local communities, nonprofits, and businesses. After the program, you can choose to continue to Colorado State with the opportunity to join CSU Honors Program or take your transferable college credit with you to the next step of your academic journey.

Scholarships

EF Gap Year Awards

EF Gap Year has awards of up to $5,000 for students in their gap year and semester-long programs. Various scholarships are available for leadership, blogging, videography, and photography. Over $50,000 of funding is available every year.

Program Reviews

5.00 Rating
based on 10 reviews
  • 5 rating 100%
  • 4 rating 0%
  • 3 rating 0%
  • 2 rating 0%
  • 1 rating 0%
  • Housing 4.8
  • Support 4.7
  • Fun 5
  • Value 4.9
  • Safety 4.8
  • Academics 0
  • Support 0
  • Fun 0
  • Housing 0
  • Safety 0
Showing 1 - 8 of 13 reviews
Default avatar
Mia
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

A Priceless Opportunity :)

During my EF gap semester, I was able to travel to some of the most beautiful places in the world, meet some of my best friends, and work on environmentally-focused projects in several different countries, all while improving my Spanish and learning new words in Quechua. I also had the opportunity to do this program under a Digital Media fellowship and my EF experience allowed me to get a taste of the life of a traveling videographer/documentarian, which I am eternally grateful for. The whole experience is one that I will happily and gratefully carry with me for the rest of my life.

What is your advice to future travelers on this program?
Be ready to be uncomfortable in the best way. While the program has plenty of locations on the itinerary that are perfect for lounging on the beach/hotel or at a spa, you will also be whisked away to the high Andes where it's very cold and showers are scarce, or deep in the Amazon rainforest where long hikes are humid and muddy. You will be in countries and communities that speak Spanish (and/or Quechua) so coming prepared to speak the language to the best of your ability will be really helpful!
9 people found this review helpful.
Default avatar
Jim
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Amazing experience!

The four week program to Costa Rica through EF was amazing! Staff from the very beginning are friendly and professional, and everything was very well organized. We weren’t just sightseeing, we were doing a lot of learning about Costa Rica culturally as well as learning about sustainable agriculture and doing service work. The team dynamic was amazing. Our tour guide and our EF team lead helped create such a great team environment. I made excellent friends that I am keeping in touch with. We all felt grateful for our chance to be there to connect with people as well as each other. Thank you, EF!

13 people found this review helpful.
Default avatar
Annabella
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

EF review

I was so worried about college and my next steps in life after I graduated high school in 2022. I decided I wanted to take a gap year and see where life takes me. In the fall of my gap year, I found EF’s website and fell in love. I decided on the European discovery since I always wanted to go to Europe especially France and Italy! I worked and saved the next few months and in April of 2023, I finally flew to London and met my fellow travelers. And I can’t put into words how amazing it was. I had a great group and tour leaders who made the experience so much better! I felt supported 24/7. It was affordable with insurance plans, a phone bill plan and great hotel/hostel accommodations! I felt safe at all times. We had amazing dinner reservations, wonderful tour guides in the cities we were at and special activities such a cheese factory, a cooking class and more!
I will be returning to EF on my next trip!

46 people found this review helpful.
Default avatar
Chloe
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

A million times yes!

I attended the EF Gap finder as a fresh college graduate and this program was everything I could've wished it could be. Although many of my fellow travelers were recent high school graduates, we all came from many different walks of life. This program was perfectly structured to ensure we saw the many highlights that the various European cities had to offer. From seeing the Northern Lights, to taking a cruise along the Seine river overlooking the Eiffel Tower, to tasting authentic Parmesan cheese in the Parma Region of Italy it was perfect. Not only did I learn so much about all of these amazing places, I made incredible lifelong friends who I continue to keep in touch with and am making plans to see again very soon. EF took care of everything so I could sit back and enjoy my trip knowing that everything would be taken care of. The trip was a perfect combination of structured activities and free days, in which you can spend how you choose, which included for me a trip to Stonehenge and a day trip to Dresden in Germany. I would absolutely recommend this trip to anyone wanting to travel, even if they had no real prior travel experience. I would relive my gap semester again in a heartbeat.

Pros
  • Explore
  • Try New Foods
  • Meet new people
56 people found this review helpful.
Default avatar
Alex
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

European Discovery

Overall pretty good! Not the best choices with food, not a lot of variety, but other than that, everything was pretty good! Loved being able to actually go out drinking and have fun with friends, the tours were amazing, loved walking around the cities and learning about the history. The hostels we were in were pretty decent, of course theyre hostels so they're not going to be five star, but they got the job done. Great chance to make friends cus you'll be rooming with different people, its all really fun.

Pros
  • Everything is planned out for you
Cons
  • Not a lot of food variety during group dinners
64 people found this review helpful.
Default avatar
Faith
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Amazing experience

My case is a little unusual, I decided to take a gap year after already completing a year of college. I didn’t know what I wanted to do until I stumbled upon this program and knew it was something I needed to do! I met so many amazing people, not just in my cohort, but around the world. I got to learn Japanese and experience Japanese culture. I traveled through Europe for the first time, and got a chance to Australia for my internship. Even though the program was cut short due to the virus I’m so glad I got to experience what I could! If you’re considering doing this, definitely go ahead and sign up.

What is your advice to future travelers on this program?
If you’re thinking about doing something, just go ahead and do it!
138 people found this review helpful.
Default avatar
Abbie
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

A life changing experience

My gap semester was tailored to my interests and exceeded every expectation I had of living and studying abroad! I went into the semester not sure where my path after high school was headed, and left the program with a new mindset and confidence of the way I wanted my future to look! Living in a new place without your family for the first time can be a scary thing, and it was for me, but the growth that occurred because of it changed my life and I am so glad I took this opportunity to grow, learn, and see new amazing places. Leaving the program I have so much more confidence in myself as well as independence and I know I’m ready to take on this next chapter of my life! I would recommend a gap year to anyone who feels they need some time to grow and decide their next step, as well as anyone who loves to travel and see the world! I’ll never forget the places I’ve seen, the people I’ve met, or the things I’ve learned.

What was the most unfamiliar thing you ate?
The most unfamiliar thing I ate on my gap semester would definitely be raw herring in Amsterdam. My group got the chance to try it and I couldn’t pass up the cultural experience even if I knew it would taste awful (which it did) because I don’t like raw fish. Still worth it though!
141 people found this review helpful.
Default avatar
Dominic
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Best experience of my life.

If you have ever thought about studying abroad. I recommend to put aside your fear of change and long distance, to give it a try. I have always known there has been a bigger world out there but to go out and see it for myself is an experience one can barley put into words. To see how people live everyday, on the other side of a planet will give you a whole different view on life. EF gap is a program where anyone can experience the world, no matter where you come from. They make you feel like a person and make sure you are taken care of the whole time your living your best life. If one could rate EF gap higher than 10, but still keep the limit at 10, I would rate it at 100/10. EF gap taught me one thing, be greater than great. It’s one thing to stay home all your life and live your life. But it’s another thing to see the world and see how others live while you do the same. That is greater than any lifestyle one can choose from their small town in the states.

What would you improve about this program?
Would definitely improve the culture difference orientation before one leaves for the trip. It’s a whole new world over there and I fee students could be more educated before they go than I was. Not to say I wasn’t, but the fine lines, in my opinion.
141 people found this review helpful.

Questions & Answers