For Professional Gap Year Consultants applying to earn the trusted Seal of Accreditation by the Gap Year Association. Organizations must pass all required elements based on the Federally-recognized GYA Gap Year Standards.

There are many benefits to joining as a GYA Accredited Program, and we encourage you to visit the Engagement Letter for further understanding.  Since our inception we have yet to have an Accredited Member withdraw their membership for lack of value.

BENEFITS

• Professionalization and benchmarking using the US Department of Justice-approved Standards
• Free showcased listing on GYA Counselors web page
• Promotional use of “GYA Seal of Accreditation” on all materials
• Seal placed on all listings with partners where available (eg., GoOverseas, TeenLife, etc.)
• Free access to all GYA Webinars
• Discounts and listing status with GYA-partnered organizations. TeenLife, GoOverseas, Verge Magazine, Go Global Expo, & more …
• Attributed photos on brochures, articles, and promotional materials
• Discounts with health & evacuation insurance. iNext. STA & ISIC cards
• Access to exclusive resources for mental health, risk management, and more …
• Access to Gap Year data, trends, and expertise (eg., critical incidents, mental health, insurance)

PREREQUISITES

1. Review the current Counselor Standards of Accreditation to be sure you are ready to apply.
2. Sign & date this Accreditation Engagement Letter and submit it prior to beginning the application.
3. Using the Counselor Standards of Accreditation, and preferably via email, share evidence and citations for each standard. We need to see:
   • Each Standard, linked to evidence
   • The page number where we can find answers for each cited standard
4. Once the application is submitted, it takes around a month to receive an “Initial Assessment” which is sent back to you via email.
5. You will then respond to any questions or issues in the initial assessment and potentially provide new evidence to support our understanding of your answers.
6. Applications will be handled primarily by Association staff, who must agree as a majority that the Professional Gap Year Counselor application is approved. In the event of a disagreement, the application will be passed to an Advisory Board member for review.

Note: Consultant organizations that employ more than one consultant should complete individual applications for accreditation, however applications may cite the same materials if applicable and use the same Engagement Letter.

FEES:

$300 per year / organization with a full re-application for accreditation every four (4) years.  For consultant organizations with more than one counselor, additional counselors are charged as follows:

• Each additional counselor within the same organization = + $100/ea