07/16/2025
PRESS RELEASE: [ Toledo, Ohio, July 16, 2025]--Uncle Sam Needs You! Host families for high school foreign exchange students are needed for a special diplomatic mission of the United States.
[Toledo, Ohio, July 16, 2025]—Families are needed now to host high school foreign exchange students for the 2025-2026 academic school year. Exchange students must arrive in the United States by mid-September at the latest in order to participate in the 2025-2026 school year, but before they can travel, they must be placed with a temporary welcoming or permanent host family.
So, NOW is the time interested host families need to go through the application and screening process to qualify to receive up to two of the dozens of students still on the waiting list hoping that their dream of experiencing American culture will come true for them.
Host families who reside within a 120 mile radius of Toledo, Ohio are being sought and include such cities as Toledo, Bowling Green, Perrysburg and Rossford, Ohio; Ann Arbor, Dearborn, and Detroit, Michigan and all places in between.
The American Cultural Exchange Service (ACES), one of 17 similar organizations, is a non-governmental, non-profit foreign exchange student placement provider for the U.S. Department of State and has been active in Northwest, Ohio and Southwest Michigan for more than a decade.
As an element of what is known in International diplomacy lingo as "soft power," the United States Congress established two key Department of State programs that offer high school students in certain foreign countries the opportunity to study in the United States for one academic school year in order to advance the interests of the United States by creating mutual good will and cultural understanding.
The foreign students must compete within their country to be selected to participate in this opportunity. All travel and healthcare expenses are provided by the Department of State and students are provided with a small monthly stipend to cover incidental expenses such as their wireless phone service. They are highly motivated to learn and experience American culture firsthand. As a host family, your primary investment will be providing your time, a place to sleep, meals in your home and local transportation.
The two Department of State programs are 1.) FLEX (Future Leaders Exchange Program) for high-school students from East European countries previously dominated by the former Soviet Union, or 2.) YES (Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange & Study) established in the aftermath of 9/11 for countries with predominantly Muslim populations, which mostly include Asia, the Middle East, and Northern and Southern Africa.
The YES Program Impact on Host Schools (Toledo): https://youtu.be/rbOyk7xo5CE?si=bmvNFPD7wiQPQBTj
In addition, there are other students not a part of these programs, whose families cover their expenses and may come from anywhere in the world including Western Europe and Latin America.
By opening your home, time, heart to these students as a host family for one academic school year will forever change both your and the student's life. If you wish to apply, please contact Ricky Verret, Local Coordinator, American Cultural Exchange Service at [email protected] or (419) 245-4287.
Note: The Department of State also has similar programs for American students who would like the opportunity to study abroad (https://exchanges.state.gov/highschool/).
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