About

YES & YES Abroad | Placement Organizations | Other Partners

YES & YES Abroad

The Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study (YES) Program was established by Congress in October, 2002 in response to the events of September 11, 2001. The program is funded through the U.S. Department of State and sponsored by the Bureau of Educational & Cultural Affairs (ECA) to provide scholarships for high school students (15-17 years) from countries with significant Muslim populations to spend up to one academic year in the U.S. Students live with host families, attend high school, engage in activities to learn about American society and values, acquire leadership skills, and help educate Americans about their countries and cultures. YES Abroad was established to provide a similar experience for U.S. students (15-18 years) in selected YES countries beginning in 2009-10.

The first class of YES students arrived from Egypt, Gaza, Indonesia, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, West Bank, and Yemen. The program has continued to expand to accept students from the following countries for the 2012-13 academic year:

Afghanistan, Albania, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Egypt, Gaza, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Israel (Arab Communities), Jordan, Kenya, Kosovo, Kuwait, Lebanon, Liberia, Malaysia, Mali, Morocco, Mozambique, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Suriname, Tanzania, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, West Bank, and Yemen.

YES Abroad has sent students to the following countries:

Bosnia-Herzegovina, Egypt, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Mali (semester only), Malaysia, Morocco, Oman, Thailand, and Turkey with plans to add South Africa and Tunisia in 2013.

Placement Organizations

ACES, AFS-USA, AIFS/AYA, American Councils, ASSE, AYUSA International, CCI, CIEE, PAX, World Link, and YFU each host a portion of the Kennedy-Lugar YES students in communities across the United States.

	ACES American Cultural Exchange Service (ACES) is a YES family member since 2007. ACES provides high quality international educational, cultural, and sports exchange programs to individuals to promote global understanding, establish friendships and encourage world peace.
	AFS-USA AFS is a worldwide non profit organization that is a leader in international high school exchange for more than 60 years.
	AIFS/AYA The Academic Year in America program (AYA), established in 1981, is conducted under the auspices of the American Institute For Foreign Study (AIFS). The Foundation is a not-for-profit educational organization founded in 1967 with the assistance of the late Robert F. Kennedy. Its mission is to promote worldwide understanding through cross-cultural exchange.
	American Councils American Councils for International Education, an international not-for-profit organization founded in 1974, has placed students since 2001. American Councils’ placement office works solely with high school students participating on merit-based scholarship programs.
	ASSE International Student Exchange Programs ASSE’s mission is to foster international understanding through educational and cross cultural programs. ASSE is involved in placing YES students since the program's beginning.
	AYUSA International AYUSA Global Youth Exchange's programs cater to a variety of participants while sharing the common mission of creating the next generation of global leaders and world citizens.
	CCI The Center for Cultural Interchange (CCI) is a non-profit international and educational exchange organization dedicated to promoting cultural understanding, academic development, environmental consciousness, and world peace. CCI is the only U.S.-based cultural exchange organization to adopt a fully fledged environmental and social initiative called Greenheart.
	CIEE Since 1947, Council on International Educational Exchange (CIEE), pursues its mission, "to help people gain understanding, acquire knowledge, and develop skills for living in a globally interdependent and culturally diverse world."
	IRIS Iowa Resource for International Service (IRIS) is a nonprofit organization located in Iowa that promotes international understanding and peace by bringing students, journalists, business people, educators and government leaders to Iowa from Africa, Central and Eastern Europe and Asia.
	PAX Program of Academic Exchange (PAX) is a non-profit educational organization that promotes and arranges international student exchange to foster positive development of the world's young people and to support international peace, friendship and cross-cultural understanding.
	World Link World Link, Inc. is dedicated to youth development and cultural exchange around the world.
	YFU Youth For Understanding (YFU) has programs in 64 countries. Since 1951, YFU exemplified excellence in global exchange. To date, 250,000 teenagers ages 15 to 18 and their host families benefited from YFU summer, semester, or academic year exchanges.

Recruitment Organizations

	AFS-USA AFS is a worldwide non profit organization that is a leader in international high school exchange for more than 60 years.
	American Councils American Councils for International Education, an international not-for-profit organization founded in 1974, has placed students since 2001. American Councils’ placement office works solely with high school students participating on merit-based scholarship programs.
	AMIDEAST America-Mideast Educational and Training Services (AMIDEAST) is a leading American non-profit organization engaged in international education, training and development activities in the Middle East and North Africa.
	iEARN International Education and Resource Network (iEARN) is a non-profit organization made up of over 30,000 schools and youth organizations in more than 130 countries empowers teachers and young people to work together online using the Internet and other new communications technologies.
	IRIS Iowa Resource for International Service (IRIS) is a nonprofit organization located in Iowa that promotes international understanding and peace by bringing students, journalists, business people, educators and government leaders to Iowa from Africa, Central and Eastern Europe and Asia.

Other Partners

Mobility International

MI-USA fosters successful experiences for high school students with disabilities participating in the Kennedy-Lugar YES Program to study abroad at high schools throughout the U.S. Students learn how to address challenges related to accessibility and inclusion during their school year and also reflect on their disability-related experiences in the U.S.