A student exchange program generally could be defined as a program where students from secondary school or university choose to study abroad in partner institutions. The terms 'student exchange' and 'study abroad' are often used interchangeably however study abroad usually involves the student study full time and not in partnered institution like student going for exchange where they will be studying in the partner university of their home institution. But in some countries, an exchange student is also considered a study abroad student because they are studying in different country than their own. Student exchange program does not necessarily require the student going out of the country but it could also be an exchange program within the continent and its territory which is the National student exchange program (NSE).[1]
According to the U.S. government, foreign exchange programs exist to provide certain international cultural exchange programs designed to provide practical training and employment, and sharing of the history, culture, and traditions of participants home country citing the Q series international cultural exchange visa's specifications as provided by the U.S. department of state.
The term “exchanges” means that partnered institution exchange their student but not necessarily the students have to find a counterpart from the other institution to exchange with. No tradeoff is actually required. Two types of student exchange program are international and national student exchange program. A student exchange programs could be joined either by the secondary school or university student excluding National Student Exchange where it is design primarily for university student studying in American continent and its territory.
An exchange student could live with a host family or in a designated place including hostels, affordable apartment/house or student lodge. The cost for each program differs according to countries and institution. The participants could either apply/receive scholarship, self-funded or apply/receive loan.
Student exchanges became popular after World War II, and have the aim of helping to increase the participants' understanding and tolerance of other cultures, as well as improving their language skills and broadening their social horizons. An exchange student typically stays in the host country for a relatively short period of time, often 6 to 10 months, in contrast to international students or those on study abroad programs which can last for several years. Some students on exchange programs can receive academic credit from the country they study in.
Contents |
National Student Exchange (NSE) is a not-for-profit education consortium, provides affordable and practical opportunities for students enrolled at member campuses to study and live in a new location.[1] More than 94,000 students have participated in this program since it was founded in 1968. NSE is designed for students who are looking for chances to study in different state rather than country. This may be due to lack of interest in going overseas, or doesn’t have the chance to go or just wanting to gain experience on different culture and education but closer to home. NSE is only available in the American continent and its territories (United States, Canada, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands) where universities and colleges that are members of NSE will receive and send student for exchange. Students are not allowed to go for an exchange to non NSE members. To date, there are nearly 200 universities and colleges that have registered as NSE members. Application process, placement and pre-departure process will be coordinated fully by the home NSE coordinator. Student could choose whether to pay the tuition fees to home campus or host campus.[1] Student may only participate in the exchange for a cumulative total of time not to exceed one calendar year, defined as an academic year and a summer session.
Short term exchange program is also known as summer/intensive or cultural exchange program that focus on homestays, language skills, community service or cultural activities. Short term exchange program doesn’t require student to find counterpart from other country to exchange with. It is more on the exchange of culture between the student and host countries. High school and universities student could apply for the program from various government or non-governmental organization that organize the programs. This program could last from one week to three month and doesn’t require the student to study in any particular school or institution. The students are exposed to an intensive program that increases their understanding of other culture, community and languages.
A long term exchange is considered an exchange which is designed to last six to ten months or up to one full year. Participants are to attend high school in their host countries, through a student visa. Typically, non-USA students coming to the USA are issued J-1 Cultural Exchange Visas though some programs may use the F-1 Foreign Student Visa. Students are expected to integrate themselves into the host family, living as a natural child would, immersing themselves in the local community and surroundings, and upon their return to their home country are expected to incorporate this knowledge into their daily lives, as well as give a presentation on their experience to their sponsors. This is a hallmark of the AFS and Rotary programs. Many exchange programs expect students to be able converse in the language of the new host country, at least on a basic level. Some programs require students to pass a standardized test for English language comprehension, for example, prior to being accepted into a program taking them to the United States. Others do not examine basic language communication ability. Most exchange students become fluent in the language of the host country in which they are a new student within a few months. Some exchange programs, such as the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange are government-funded programs. Most programs do not require an actual exchange of individual students between countries. Instead the majority of exchange students are those coming into the U.S., without any American leaving the U.S. The exchange consists of the foreign student and the host parents or host family sharing culture and comparing daily life and habits while building a natural friendship that will endure beyond the actual exchange year. The focus is on improving international relations and cultural understanding.
There has been some concern about the safety of foreign exchange students due to lack of regulation of the host families and legal differences between the exchanging countries.[2][3]
Application process
Long term (10 to 12 month) exchange applications and interviews generally take place 10 months in advance of departure, but sometimes as little as four months. Ages requirements are between 15 and 18.5, older or younger cannot be classified as a foreign exchange student. Some programs allow students older than 18 years of age in a specialized work-study program. DM Discoveries in particular has work abroad programs for students older than 18 years of age and out of high school.
Some programs first require a preliminary application with fees, then schedule interviews and request a longer application. Other programs request a full application from the beginning and then schedule interviews to more completely expand on the application information. High school scholarship programs often require a set GPA of around 3.0 or higher. These programs choose their students via application and personal interview, selecting the candidates most likely to complete the program and serve as the best ambassadors to the foreign nation. Students in some programs are expected to go to any location where the organization places them, such as Rotary, and students are encouraged not to have strict expectations of their host country. Such open attitudes often make for a more enjoyable exchange. Students do make a country choice, but may live at any spot within that country.
Most programs expect the prospective exchange student to demonstrate some ability to speak the language of the country they choose. However, requirements of ability to communicate vary: the organization in the home country of the student (the country to which the student has applied) often makes this decision. The home country organization will then have a partner organization in the country of the student’s choice. Students accepted for the program may or may not be screened by the organization in their home country. Partner organizations in the destination country each have differing levels of screening they require students to pass through before being accepted into their program. For example, students coming to the U.S. may be required by a U.S. partner organization to submit as little as the recommendation by the organization in their home country (who also collects a fee from the student) OR the U.S. partner may require student applicants to submit detailed application materials such as previous school report cards, and letters from their school teachers and administrators in addition to the original standardized English fluency exam papers. The U.S. agency may then accept or decline the applicant. Some U.S. organizations also have Rules of Participation requirements. Almost all U.S. organizations cannot allow an exchange student to drive an automobile, for example, due to liability costs that would cause program costs and thus fees to be out of reach for most students. Some organizations require written contract standards for personal behavior and grades, while others may be less rigorous. Frequently foreign parents will choose a program based on the lowest cost, which can result in a student participating in a program without a supervisor for the student living close enough to check on the student's well-being frequently. Programs provided by agencies that provide compensation for Representatives are more likely to retain local Representatives to assist and guide the student and remain closely aware of the student's well-being. Thus a program that pays its Representatives is more likely to have Representatives available locally as well as activities for the students.
Programs vary depending upon program length, country, content and other factors. Most program costs include insurance and other risk management components, especially health insurance. Students going on university exchange could pay tuition fees on home campus or host campus, but most of the time it is paid to home campus. Long term exchange program for university student often comes with Scholarship that covers most of the expenses including flight ticket, accommodation and daily necessities. Secondary school exchange program often provided with scholarship but most of the time it is self-funded by their parents.
A host family is a volunteered family that welcomes student from different place or countries to stay with them during the exchange program period. This is particularly arranged for secondary school student and cultural exchange programs. The family often doesn’t receive any payment for hosting but the students are responsible for their own financial spending this include school fees, uniform, text books, internet and phone calls. A host family could come in many different forms including retired couples, or family units with or without children. Host families have the responsibility to at least provide a room, meals, and a stable family environment for the student. Of course there is the natural possibility that problems may arise while living with any host family. In this case, most exchange programs allow for a switch of families.
In each family, it is usually required to have one parent who is at least 25 years of age. The families that have been selected are well prepared to experience new culture and give a new cultural experience to the student. A student could live with more than one family in an exchange program to expand their knowledge and experience new culture.
University student going on exchange program could choose either to live on campus or off campus. Living on campus will require them to compete with other local students for a place. Living off campus is a popular choice among student going for exchange because they would like to be independent and learn new culture on their own. Universities that host student exchange program do have special assistance for the student to seek accommodation (see the university websites and search for international student accommodation, different universities have different arrangement for accommodation). Universities in Asia particularly, have on-campus housing for the international student that is on exchange or studying full time. So, they don’t have to seek other accommodation outside the universities. Living in shared house, student lodge or apartment/hostels often come with 6 or more month contract depending on the length of stay in a particular institution or countries. Personal budget and lifestyle preference should also be taken into consideration before making an arrangement for accommodation. Students are advice to search for accommodation as soon as they receive their acceptance letter and student visa. Student should also have a backup plan if the house they are interested in is unavailable. Temporary accommodation such as backpacker motels or hotel is available for renting until student are able to find a permanent place to stay. Student could also arrange for a homestay if it is available in that particular country. Homestay is similar to Host Family but student have to pay them for the daily necessity that the family will provide for them this include room, food and others.
1. Educational
2. Personal
3. Long-term
Study abroad could contribute to both of the “host countries” and the “sending countries”.
For “host countries”:
For “sending countries”:
Very often the term "youth exchange" (often associated with student exchanges) is used also for international youth meetings. This is true in Europe, for example, for the "Youth in Action Programme" of the EU. Such activities are not student's exchanges per se, but meeting where groups of young people (age 15-30) form different countries live together, engage in activities planned and implemented by them, and learn about each others culture while discussing of different topics of social interest. In Europe the amount of such project is relatively high; the budget for this programme, which also includes other types of projects such as volunteering abroad, training courses and youth initiatives, for 6 years (2006–2013) is of almost 1 billion Euros. It involves all the EU countries as well as EuroMediterranean countries, Balkan area and East Europe and Caucasus, even if a smaller budget is reserved for them.
Intercambio is what Cultural Exchange Programs are called by students in Latin American countries, as well as in Portugal, Spain and Italy.
Cultural Exchange Programs began at the beginning of the 20th century in the United States with the aim of promoting world peace through the interaction of people with different cultures and customs.
After the Second World War, young people who had worked as volunteers removing the injured from the lines of conflict realized that the fears, anxieties and aspirations of people from many different countries were indeed very similar.
They also realized that the cultural immersion experienced by them during the war in a different country allowed them to learn about life and customs of other nations, thus establishing emotional ties with these different people. These youngsters then created the "new concept" of "cultural exchange" as a mechanism for international exchange of knowledge of the other and of itself and, especially, peace.
At the end of the decade of 1940 the first Intercambistas - Cultural Exchangers - started to get out of their parents home for an unforgettable international experience in their lives. Through the interaction with different beliefs and values it is possible to fully understand and respect one another culture and assess its own much more, this being the essence of this fascinating experience, the Intercambio Cultural.
Learning a new language, meeting other cultures, lives, participate and interact with people... are just some of the benefits of this unique and enriching experience that will remain for a lifetime in the memory of all new Intercambista, the student traveler. And often the people that also received.