Courageous. Impressive. Driven.
You'd have to be to spend a year in another country as a teen, wouldn't you?
You'd have to be to spend a year in another country as a teen, wouldn't you?
Each year, nearly 1,000 teenagers come to the U.S. through PAX for a semester or academic year. They attend high schools, live with volunteer host families, and change lives.
Whether they hail from Europe, Asia, Africa, or Latin America, these citizen diplomats share a common goal: a sincere desire to experience and better understand the U.S. by participating in real-life activities as a student and family member.
Most importantly, PAX exchange students are expected to be enthusiastic, involved members of their host communities and serve as young ambassadors for their home countries. Students are also expected to participate in activities with and respect the values of their host families, abide by all program rules, and engage with others in a positive manner throughout their exchange experience.
Students who come to the U.S. through the PAX program each submit a written application, pass a standardized English language test, provide comprehensive health records, receive all necessary immunizations, participate in a personal interview, and demonstrate appropriate maturity and motivation. For U.S. Government-sponsored students from the FLEX and YES programs, the selection process is especially rigorous and being chosen is a prestigious honor.
The answer varies depending on how quickly a good fit is found. PAX is always working to find the right student/host family match. In terms of “where,” the vast majority of PAX students are open to living with a great family anywhere in the country. Only a small subset adds a state or regional preference to their application.
With the help of our international partners, all students participate in a pre-program orientation in their home country. Every PAX student also attends a PAX-led local orientation upon arrival in their American host community. In addition to the overall support structure, these meetings help set students up for a successful exchange experience.
PAX students are active in all aspects of American life. They attend school, participate in extracurricular activities like sports and clubs, make and socialize with new friends, celebrate holidays and other occasions with their host families, and get together with other PAX students for enrichment activities with their PAX Coordinators. Exchange years are filled with opportunities, and each student finds those that best fit their experience.
All PAX exchange students volunteer in their host communities in some way. Some students join their host families in group volunteer activities; some join service clubs at school; others find opportunities through local organizations. PAX scholarship students go a step further—logging at least 30 hours of volunteer service and making cultural presentations.
One of the biggest opportunities for culture sharing comes in November with the arrival of International Education Week (IEW). IEW provides a chance for students to make presentations in their host school and throughout their communities, sharing their culture and talking about their countries. PAX students find that some of their most impactful culture sharing comes with engaging host families and communities in their cultural traditions. Some students cook, while others celebrate festivals, bring traditional art forms to life, or share their cultures’ rich musical traditions.
PAX provides support to students and families throughout their exchange year. Every student has a local Community Coordinator to help work through any issues they might experience with host families, school, homesickness, or anything else. You can learn more about what PAX Community Coordinators do and how they support the students in their areas here.
Within each year's cohort of impressive PAX exchange students from all over the world are teens from three scholarship programs as well:
One number for every situation, including 24-hour emergency assistance
