Teaching Students the World Inside the Classroom and Out

Ayusa works with our overseas offices and partners, who recruit students. Our offices and partners conduct extensive screening of the applicants that include personality assessments, in-person interviews, home country school and teacher recommendations, before accepting a student.

All students must:

• Be between the ages of 15 and 18
• Meet English proficiency and grade requirements
• Not have completed more than 11 years of schooling in their home country
• Undergo a medical assessment
• Have received required immunizations by the school
• Meet all Department of State regulations

All Ayusa exchange students are expected to meet the required ELTiS English proficiency score of 212. This score ensures that students can speak and read English.

Students may not be as confident in their English abilities when they first arrive or may feel overwhelmed. For most, they have never been fully immersed into an English speaking society. While it may take a little time to open up and become more confident, they will quickly find that they are capable of conversing with others.

If a student may need some extra help, Ayusa will help to find additional resources or tutoring for the student, to support the student’s academic success.

Ayusa exchange students are expected to maintain a ‘C’ in each of their classes. If students need extra help in their classes for any reason, Ayusa will help arrange tutoring or extra help for our students to help bring improve their grades.

Ayusa honors all school enrollment standards, academic and student placement criteria specified in school or district policy guidelines. Whenever possible, students should be enrolled in a standard curriculum that includes English, U.S. History, science, and math.

Ayusa students are also expected to be active participants not only in their classes but also in school clubs or activities. There is no better way to experience life as an American teenager than joining a sports team or band, participating in a Spirit Week, or volunteering with other classmates!

Ayusa works with our overseas offices and partners, who recruit students. Our offices and partners conduct extensive screening of the applicants that include personality assessments, in-person interviews, home country school and teacher recommendations, before accepting a student.

All students must:

• Be between the ages of 15 and 18
• Meet English proficiency and grade requirements
• Not have completed more than 11 years of schooling in their home country
• Undergo a medical assessment
• Have received required immunizations by the school
• Meet all Department of State regulations

Across the country, Ayusa has local Community Representatives (CR) who provide support to not only the students and host families, but also the schools. Your local CR will check in regularly with a contact at your school to ensure that everyone is having a successful experience.

Ayusa will do our best to ensure that all students receive the academic support needed. If an exchange student needs some extra help in any class, Ayusa will help find them a tutor or extra resources to ensure they are successful in class and meeting academic expectations.

American host families must go through an application and interview process, which includes a background and reference check. Each host family is interviewed in their home by an Ayusa Community Representative.

Depending on the students’ school requirements back home, their classes may or may not be credited to their coursework in their home country.  Many students come on program to enhance their educational goals and experience first-hand what life is like in an American school.  

Some countries that do accept credit for classes taken while on program are:

• Brazil
• Ecuador
• Italy
• Korea
• Serbia
• Spain
• Mexico

Students can work with their schools and Community Representatives before the end of their program to ensure their official transcripts are authenticated.

Ayusa offers a variety of activities and programs for American students!

Students can volunteer to become Student Ambassadors. Student Ambassadors partner with the local Ayusa Community Representative to befriend, support, and inform the exchange students in their school. This is a great opportunity for American high school students to volunteer and meet new people. The skills they obtain and activities they do with Ayusa exchange student and CRs look great on college applications!

Ayusa also offers study abroad opportunities to Germany and Japan! Students can go for a semester, year, or summer program and experience life abroad firsthand!  Click to learn more about the Germany programs. Click here to learn more about the Japan programs.

There are also numerous other study abroad opportunities for your students, such as below:

• YES Abroad - The U.S. Department of State's Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study Abroad (YES Abroad) program, provides competitive merit-based scholarships for U.S. citizens in secondary school (age 15-18.5) to study for one academic year in select countries.
• CBYX Abroad - The U.S. State Department funded Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange Program (CBYX) is for motivated high school students who want to fully immerse themselves in German culture by living with a host family and attending a local high school. No previous language experience is required.
• NSLI-Y - The National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y) program, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, provides merit-based scholarships for eligible high school students and recent high school graduates to learn less commonly taught languages in summer and academic-year overseas immersion programs.