AOT Office Stimulation

Become a Host Family

Welcoming a foreign exchange student into your family is a rewarding, life-changing experience. As an Aambassador host family, you’ll welcome a new family member into your home, share your day-to-day lives, and build lifelong friendships. You can introduce your family to a new language and culture and share what’s important. See your world through the fresh eyes of your exchange student and learn what matters in other cultures. All you need is a willingness to welcome someone new into your family and invite them to participate in whatever it is that makes your days memorable: a neighborhood block party, a high school basketball game, ghost stories around a campfire, or breakfast in bed on your birthday. Comment by Amanda Blair: End this sentence with something like “about your own way of life.”

Figure 1: Ambassador exchange students

As the U.S. Department of State says, “There is no typical host family: families with teens, no children, young children, children who have grown, single parents, and grandparents, all can be host families” (Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs). If you have the interest, Ambassador Student Exchange will talk to you about your participationinterests and preferences, and then help you in matching an exchange student to your family.

Select an Exchange Student

Following is an overview of the steps involved in becoming a host family, including completing the application, choosing a student, greeting the student, and then hosting the student. For more information about meeting exchange students, see

Figure 2: Steps to becoming a host family

1. Families who are interested in hosting a student meet with a local Ambassador representative.[footnoteRef:1] The representative guides the family through the application steps, which include completing an online form, hosting a home visit, participating in an interview, and authorizing a background check. [1: Representatives are often members of families who hosted an exchange student in previous years.]

2. After you are accepted into the Ambassador Student Exchange program as a host family, your local representative will send you profiles of students looking for host families in the United States. You will meet with your representative to select a student, one that will be a perfect match for your family.

3. Meet your student at the nearest international airport a week or so before the start of the school semester. At the airport and throughout the semester, an Ambassador representative is available to make sure the transition begins and continues to go smoothly.

4. While your student is living with you, they’ll be much more than a guest. Instead, they’ll be like a true member of the family. In exchange, you’ll become part of their family in their home country.

Host families report that having an exchange student is the next best thing to living overseas. Hosts see the United States through the eyes of another culture, appreciate their family customs and traditions in a new way, and gain a new family member for life (Lampur).

Get to Know Ambassador Students

Students in high schools around the world choose to be Ambassador exchange students to experience life in the United States, perfect their English speaking skills, and grow into special young adults with an expanded sense of the world. In exchange, host families enjoy the students’ enthusiasm, curiosity, and perspective. The following table outlines what it takes to be an Ambassador exchange student. Talk to your Ambassador representative for more details.

The assessments and qualities we look for are based on the success of previous Ambassador students and the international guidelines for exchange programs, which emphasize communication, independence, critical thinking, and flexibility (International Association for Student Exchange).

Meet Students

We Ambassador sponsors students to visit the United States from around the world, usually in the summer before they begin their exchange semester.

Although host families do not select students at this stage, you can meet students a few months before making a selection. These are students who want to experience life in the United States as a member of a family, school, and community. If you hit it off with a student, you can add his or her name to your invitation list.

Experts say “The key to the success of an exchange student program lies in matching qualified students with suitable families in a school willing to make a contribution to international awareness and understanding at the grassroots level” (Nunez).

Learn About Home Countries

One of the major benefits of hosting an exchange student is learning about a new culture without leaving your home. Ambassador students come from 12 countries around the world. The following pie chart shows where we find most of our students.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is eligible to host?

All types of families are encourage to apply. Families can have small children or teens living at home. They can be single adults or single parents. If your family is busy with activities and obligations, you can take advantage of your Ambassador representative, who will connect you with support resources.

What is required of host families?

Host families provide the student with room and board and welcome the student as a member of the family, not as a guest. In addition, hosts offer support and guidance as students make the transition from their home country to the United States. Students cover their own travel costs, health insurance, school expenses, and spending money.

Do host families receive compensation for hosting?

Host families are volunteers and do not receive financial compensation. The U.S. Department of State says that you can claim a flat $50 per month tax deduction as an American host family for the coming tax year.

Meet the Ambassador Team

The Ambassador Student Exchange support team is based in Chicago, Illinois, with representatives in cities, towns, and schools across the United States. The following team members train Ambassador representatives, meet and screen students, visit schools and host families, and provide support in every way they can to make sure our exchange programs are worthwhile, memorable experiences.

If you’d like to learn more about hosting an international student in the United States in your home or school, please fill in the information below. An Ambassador representative will contact you.

Index

Express interest

Select student

Meet student