FLEX Future Leaders Exchange Global Program

What is the FLEX Global Program?

FLEX Global is a program that allows high school aged students from select countries to spend an academic year in the United States living with a host family and attending U.S. high school. FLEX Global builds on the legacies of the Future Leaders Exchange (FLEX) program, which has operated for over 30 years, and the Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study (YES) program, which has operated for almost 25 years. FLEX Global aims to develop a network of young leaders who understand and support U.S. culture and priorities, with a focus on entrepreneurship, technology and SI, and leadership.

FLEX Global is a highly competitive, merit-based exchange program funded and administered by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA). The program will provide participants the opportunity to spend an academic year in the United States living with a host family, attending a U.S. high school, engaging in community activities, developing leadership skills, and taking part in American Excellence enhancement activities focused on business, technology, and entrepreneurship. These young leaders will return to their countries with new skills and knowledge, where they will apply what they learned to benefit their home communities and become lasting partners for the United States.

The FLEX Global program is supported at the local level by thousands of U.S. citizens and local secondary schools that host, educate, and support students with no financial compensation.

Who organizes the program?

FLEX Global is a program of the U.S. Department of State, implemented by American Councils for International Education in partnership with AFS, Amideast, and iEARN, who conduct recruitment, selection, orientation, and travel arrangements for FLEX Global. In addition, several private, non-profit organizations in the United States receive grants from the U.S. Department of State to place FLEX Global participants in carefully selected and supportive U.S. host families, and to organize local activities for students during the year-long program.

What does the FLEX Global program provide?

Round-trip domestic and international travel (from home to the United States and back);
Monthly stipend to help students participate in social activities and buy necessary personal supplies;
Placement with a screened U.S. host family for one academic year;
Enrollment in a U.S. secondary school;
Program orientation activities including pre-program preparation and re-entry preparation;
Program activities arranged in local U.S. communities; and
Medical insurance, excluding pre-existing conditions and dental care.

What is not provided by the FLEX Global program?

Any costs associated with receiving an international passport;
Personal expenses not covered by the monthly stipend;
Excess baggage costs; and
Internet or data plans.

How does the testing and selection process work?

Students compete through English testing, proctored essays, interviews with FLEX Global staff, and a complete application. Selection—based in the U.S.— rewards merit and readiness for a year-long exchange, with English proficiency as one factor among several rather than the deciding one. Finalists must pass a medical fitness evaluation and will learn their status in spring. Selected students attend a pre-departure orientation at home in June or July, arrive in the United States in August, and return the following May–June on their assigned program end date. Visas cannot be extended or amended beyond that date for any reason.

How will I benefit from the exchange experience?

FLEX Global is a unique opportunity to live with a host family and attend a U.S. high school for a year. Participants gain firsthand insight into and appreciation of U.S. daily life and culture, share about their own countries with their host communities, and build lasting relationships with their host families as well as between the U.S. and participating countries.