How does a person go about hosting an exchange student?
I live in MN and am interested in possibly Hosting an exchange student. Where can I go to get information? Does it cost money – does the student have money available to them while they are here?
How wonderful that you are considering opening your home to someone! I am a 5-time host mom and volunteer with Youth For Understanding (YFU). I will not pretend that YFU is the only good exchange program around, but we have had a very good experience with it. The first student we hosted was with another program (that no longer exists) and we learned a few things during that time. We then moved out of State (twice) and so had a decade gap in hosting. After we got into the position to host again, we called our school to see if they had any recommendations – they didn’t – and then did a little research. We started by calling agencies listed with the Council for Standards on International Educational Travel (csiet.org). They routinely audit programs for quality. One of the most important parts of an exchange organization is their local representative. As we live in Wyoming, many did not have one (nor seemed to care that one was needed). In the end, we ended up with YFU. I would highly recommend them. Yes, I am a volunteer for them, but I only became a volunteer after we’d hosted for 3 years. My time is very precious to me and so I won’t waste it on things I don’t feel passionately about. (Full disclosure: in the little over 1 year that I’ve been a volunteer, I’ve gotten a $15 gift card to a local restaurant, a YFU Tshirt, and a YFU sweatshirt. So I have gotten things of financial value, but I am certainly not paid.)
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I’ve put links below that you can use to get more information. You can also email me.
Financially speaking, all the host families are required to provide are room (a bed to sleep in (either in a personal room or a shared room with a host sibling of the same sex), a place to put some personal belongings (clothes…), and (of course) access to a bathroom (can be shared)) and board (3 meals a day (our kids are accustomed to making their own breakfast, getting cash in the amount of slightly more than school lunch, and then eating whatever my husband and I eat for supper), basic utilities (hot water, electricity)). The student must also have a way to get to school – if you are reasonably close to school, they can walk, bicycle, rollerblade, whatever. If you’re not, they can ride the school bus, ride with you on your way to work (what our kids do – the school is literally on my way), ride with friends, etc. Many kids in our region take the school bus until they find friends to ride with. The ‘rule of thumb’ when deciding who pays for what is: if it’s a family activity, the family pays (for example, if the family decide to go to a movie, they pay); if it’s something the student wants to do, the student pays (examples: if the student wants a new pair of jeans, if the student wants a haircut, if the student needs soccer shoes in order to join the school team, etc.).
I hope this information helps. Feel free to email me. I hope you find a program that works for you!