Spring Break Options for College Students

Ready to Have Some Fun?

Already dreaming of Spring Break?? As surely as the sun rises traditional or alternative Spring Break happens each spring across college and university campuses everywhere.

An Old Fashioned Spring Fling

You know what we mean by traditional: skimpy bathing suits, beach, sub-tropical weather, MTV-style parties and all-night clubbing. If this is the weeklong escapade you're after you will no doubt have not a speck of trouble finding the right spot. All roads lead to a few very popular spots. Scads of websites market exclusively to Spring Breakers. They can offer you deeply discounted hotel rooms, beachfront access, cheap flights and transportation, as well as tickets to the hottest parties and clubs in whatever town is "hosting."

Traditionally hot destinations for Spring Break have included Ft. Lauderdale and Daytona Beach, both all but ruined for the occasion. See, Spring Break can break a place; making it necessary to move the party on. So where's the current hot Spring Break ticket?

Spring Break or Bust

In the last few years THE Spring Breaks have been staged in Mexico and Jamaica. Mexico-bound students are choosing between Rosarito Beach, not far south of San Diego, or tropical Cancun. Both feature big name musical acts and celebs usually known to the MTV or VH1 crowd. Jamaica's big Spring Break town is currently Negril.

Alternative Spring Break

There's a new movement afoot for a lot of college students. Alternative Spring Breaks were once observed by only a small percentage of students. Others, who didn't head home, hit the beaches in swarms. Today new waves of students are heading off to Spring Break not with their swimsuits and sunscreen but with their work clothes.

If you're interested in being where this decade's popular crowd is heading for their Spring Break look to community service projects. College students are gearing up for work with Habitat for Humanity and hurricane clean up, still following behind the Katrina debacle.

The New Market

While MTV's Spring Break has made a living off of the images of a good old-fashioned beach romp, the newest focus is their growing population of civic do-gooders. According to USA Today the numbers of college students seeking alternatives to the beach break are growing. Turned on by the visual images and stories that were spawned from Katrina's wrath, college kids are motivated to help.

Many campuses even participated in programs that hosted displaced students from the Gulf Coast area, which may have been instrumental in bringing the experience home to many.

Finding an Alternative Project

You can have just as much fun, combined with a worthwhile cause joining a group of your friends on an ALT Spring Break.

Breaking for a Cause

MTV's "ASB," short for Alternative Spring Break, introduces their new partnership with the United Way. MTV's ASB hooks college students up with the latest and "hottest" alternative break ideas. Students can choose from hurricane relief in the Gulf to other on-going projects scattered throughout the country, they'll even help you plan a "do-it-yourself" project you can do with some friends.

Break Away is a national organization uniting colleges and universities by welcoming all students seeking alternatives to the old-school Spring Break.

Professional Experience

Other alternative programs like that through the University of Michigan give college students options for short-term, high-intensity internships. For the week of Spring Break students are placed into the professional world for a snapshot glimpse of their future work environments.

Social Awareness and Activism

Stanford's ASB program is designed to encourage students to become more engaged as participants in social dialog. By taking part in focused "trips" ASB students are challenged to confront familiar stereotypes and social issues that affect everyone.

There will always be a Spring Break; what you make of it is up to you.