Outward Bound Semester & Gap Year Programs

Outward Bound is the premier provider of experience-based outdoor adventure with leadership gap year and gap semester programs for youth, teens, and adults. Outward Bound courses change lives and give you the tools to see further, climb higher and know your way. 

From 50 days to 85 days, Outward Bound Semester and Gap Year courses offer opportunities for you to develop real-world decision making, group management and leadership skills in spectacular settings that will challenge and inspire you. Our accredited Semester expeditions are ideal for gap year students or students seeking a challenging and formative experience for their off-campus semester. You will travel as a group in remote, rugged settings that will broaden your view on the world while building your skills in teamwork and leadership.

Students benefit from working with rigorously trained and motivated instructors who are specialists in their chosen field. Students participate in a progression of experiences that begin with skill building, advance to increasingly complex decision making and culminate with real leadership.

Choose from our adventure and leadership destination gap programs in Costa Rica, Ecuador, Brazil, India, Patagonia and the United States. Students emerge from Outward Bound courses with leadership skills, an improved ability to solve problems, to resolve conflicts effectively, to communicate confidently and with a desire to actively engage in service to others.