Research Blog #6: Visual


Notes:

This is one of the visuals I plan to use for my oral presentation, and it is an important albeit circumstantial piece of evidence in support of taking a gap year. One of the main arguments against taking a gap year is the income you miss out on by delaying how long it takes to finish a bachelor's degree. However, this graph shows that in most colleges, students typically finish their four-year degrees in 5 or 6 years, rather than 4. There are many potential factors for why this is, but one of the core reasons behind this trend is that students enter college severely underprepared to finish on time. Students often don't commit to a major in their first year, and take more credits than they really need to graduate. Switching majors isn't uncommon among students, and in general many students fall behind in their major because they aren't prepared for the course load/curriculum.
 
 Ideally, a gap year could alleviate some of these issues. Engaging in meaningful identity work can help students stay on the college pathway towards social mobility/reproduction, and hopefully finish their bachelor's degree sooner than most students. From this perspective, a gap year could potentially save money in the long run, since you won't have to pay for another year's worth of tuition costs.

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