School and Educator FAQs

We’re thrilled you want to become part of the American Exchange Project. Use this form to register your community as a new host town and yourself as an Exchange Manager. We’ll be in touch soon!

American Exchange Project is a two-week adventure for high school seniors that takes place in the summer after graduation. Both weeks of the program are fully funded thanks to generous donations from foundations like the Hearthland Foundation and Carnegie Corporation of New York, as well as hundreds of private donors. 

During Travel Week, students will spend time in an American community completely different from their own (think: a born-and-bred New Yorker camping in the dense forests of Oregon; a student who grew up on their family farm in Minnesota walking the National Mall in D.C. for the first time). 

During Hometown Week, students will show off the best parts of their town to peers from across America. 

From tangy barbecue in Texas to fresh-caught lobster in Maine; eye-popping Alaskan glaciers to Kansas’s great golden plains; L.A.’s glittering coastline to Montana’s sprawling ranch country, an American Exchange Project adventure will change the way students see their country, their neighbors, and themselves.

American Exchange Project was launched in 2019 as an antidote to growing divisions in our country. We’ve seen these transformative and immersive experiences encourage new connections between Americans who may have never met otherwise; foster deeper empathy between neighbors; and reignite a sense of community pride (among other benefits). Our domestic exchanges cut across geographic, cultural, ideological, racial, and economic lines, offering students the opportunity to connect with peers from different backgrounds and get a firsthand look at life beyond their bubbles.

No. Our intent is to offer students an adventure through the lens of creating a more connected America, not a particular agenda.

Yes, it really is 100 percent free—meaning everything that’s essential in order for a student to participate, from their plane ticket to their meals to their lodging, is covered. (We don’t cover non-essential items, like checked luggage or souvenirs.) There is no expense for your school or district. 

Why? Because we believe nothing should stand in the way of a young person who wants to learn more about their country and the people who call it home. 

American Exchange Project has received generous grant support from organizations like the Hearthland Foundation, the Andrew Carnegie Foundation (formerly Carnegie Corporation of New York), the Milken Family Foundation, Stand Together, and others. We also have hundreds of individual donors across the United States who are passionate about giving young adults this transformative experience. Learn more about our donors and partners here.

Early survey data from an independent university study shows that American Exchange Project students:  

• Became substantially less biased towards those who view the country through a different ideological lens

• Made an average of three new friends throughout the program

• Grew more hopeful about the future of the United States

Many of our alumni also credit American Exchange Project with exposing them to new industries, helping them form connections that later led to job and internship opportunities, and allowing them to develop a sense of independence and maturity.

“I firmly believe that this trip not only gave me a renewed sense of open-mindedness and confidence but also helped me mentally prepare for college." —Josh (Toms River, New Jersey → Kilgore, Texas)

For schools, American Exchange Project offers…

• An initiative that can improve mental health (The Anxious Generation, Jonathan Haidt), increase social mobility (“Advancing a People-First Economy,” the American Academy of Arts and Sciences), and open new civic, social, and professional dialogues among students

• A path to fostering growth and leadership at a formative time in students’ lives

• A way to improve social cohesion at school as students bond over their shared experience in the program

For families and communities, American Exchange Project offers…

• Ample volunteer opportunities in support of hometown students and traveling students (see our volunteer FAQs for more information)

• Opportunities to create lifelong bonds with traveling students through being a host family or becoming a mentor

• The chance to help us build a new civic rite of passage in America

• An outlet for highlighting local professional and service opportunities to students exploring life after high school

We can partner with any organization that serves high schoolers, including public, charter, independent, and religious/parochial schools as well as homeschool co-ops. We’re also open to partnering with third party organizations that work with high schoolers, like afterschool programs. 

If you have questions about the process of bringing the American Exchange Project to your school, email us or fill out this form.

Any high school senior at one of our partner schools who is on track to graduate can sign up for American Exchange Project.

If your school is not partnering with us yet, you can begin the process of registering your school by filling out this form.

No. All American Exchange Project meetings and activities take place outside of class hours, and Exchange Managers are neither required nor directed to bring American Exchange Project into classroom instruction. 

No. Your students could be sent to any one of our host towns, and the same goes for their fellow travelers. We rarely, if ever, send students from the same school to the same travel destination—the idea is for every participant to meet as many new people as possible.

No. American Exchange Project takes place in the summer after graduation.

A teacher or administrator at your school must serve as an American Exchange Project Exchange Manager.

Exchange Managers are responsible for guiding home and traveling students through the Hometown Week exchange. This is a part-time role that comes with a stipend.

If your school isn’t one of our partners yet and you’re interested in becoming an Exchange Manager, help us bring American Exchange Project to your school by filling out this form.

Students embark on a two-week adventure: One Travel Week away in another state, and one Hometown Week welcoming visiting students to your town.

Scheduling for Hometown Week is dependent on an Exchange Manager’s availability as well as the timing of unique, community-wide events that happen in your town.

Yes, Exchange Managers receive a stipend that is commensurate to the number of students they recruit to participate in American Exchange Project. 

The responsibilities of an Exchange Manager follow the cycle of an academic year:  

• In the fall, Exchange Managers will be onboarded, receive training, and recruit host families and students

• In the winter, Exchange Managers finalize student sign-ups and receive additional training (airfare training, safety training, etc.)

• In the spring, Exchange Managers will coordinate travel logistics for their traveling students, work with their home students to build a Hometown Week itinerary, and solicit in-kind donations for their Hometown Week 

• In the summer, Exchange Managers lead their home and traveling students through Hometown Week 

American Exchange Project National Staff is always here to help you be as successful as possible. Throughout the year we provide both virtual and in-person trainings around recruitment, safety, and airfare purchasing; ample support on promoting the program in your school and community; materials for soliciting in-kind donations from businesses, restaurants, and other organizations; and more. 

In the summertime, our Operations staff is reachable 24/7 via a hotline to offer support around medical issues, flight cancellations, and anything else that may come up on exchange. 

“I feel a lot of support from the organization…I believe the compensation is more than fair for the work that I do.” —Peter Glahn (Exchange Manager, American Fork, Utah)

Being an Exchange Manager is a one-of-a-kind opportunity to:

• Be a guide to students on a coming-of-age adventure that’s been shown to broaden their friend groups

• Build close-knit relationships between a group of students beyond the classroom

• Enhance your skills in leading constructive dialogue with others across lines of difference

• Develop a deeper knowledge of the people, places, and history of your community

• Make the magic of student milestones happen—like their first trip out of their hometown, first swim in the ocean, or first time seeing a cow

• Be part of a community of like-minded educators from across the United States who care wholeheartedly about young people and creating a more connected America

“[My week with] American Exchange Project was the most impactful week of my seven-year teaching career.” —Bekah Lejarde (Exchange Manager, Cleveland, Ohio) 

No. Educators from all subject areas; guidance counselors; and administrators have all served as Exchange Managers in the past. We’re also open to parents, community leaders, and adults who regularly volunteer with high schoolers being Exchange Managers. If you have questions about who is eligible to be an Exchange Manager, email us.

No. An Exchange Manager is on call in every town to receive traveling students and orchestrate their Travel Week. In return, home Exchange Managers guide both their students and visiting students for the Hometown Week exchange.

Student sign-ups have two parts:

• Interest Form: Students first fill out a short interest form with their name, their contact information, and the contact information for a parent or guardian. Filling out this form will connect the student with their local Exchange Manager and keep them updated on important information. 

• Sign-Up Form: When sign-ups officially open, students will fill out a longer form to provide information around summer availability and previous travel experience. This helps our team match students to the best Travel Week town for them.

Our student sign-up form prompts students to answer a variety of questions around their past travel experience. We use these answers, along with statistical factors like the geography and population size of their hometown, to match them with a town that’s completely different from where they grew up. 

• Throughout the fall and winter, students will build community with your school’s Exchange Manager and their fellow participants. They will have a one-on-one conversation with their Exchange Manager about the summer ahead, take part in fun team-building activities, and work on the itinerary for their Hometown Week. These activities will all be coordinated through the school’s American Exchange Project Committee, a planning committee open to all students at your school and led by the Exchange Manager.

• In the spring, your school hosts a celebration during which students open a letter revealing their Travel Week destination and Hometown Week dates. The Exchange Manager can collaborate with the administration on how to best recognize participating students from your school: Some of our schools host school-wide assemblies to announce where their students will travel; others hold a smaller celebration. You can get a peek at some of those celebrations here.

• Leading up to their travel in the summer, students will have mandatory pre-trip conversations over Zoom with their travel town’s Exchange Manager, the other students in their travel group, and their host family.

Each school’s Exchange Manager makes the final decision about who can travel with us. A few of the things they consider include:

• Who signed up first? Travel slots can be first come, first served. 

• How many host families does their town have? The more traveling students each town can host, the more students from each town can travel. 

• Has each student completed the requirements to participate? There are important mandatory activities throughout the year that participating students are expected to take part in, like planning the Hometown Week itinerary and attending any required meetings. Prospective participants should be active attendees to these events.

In the spring, your school’s Exchange Manager will host an epic celebration during which your students will open a letter revealing their Travel Week destination and Hometown Week dates. (Parents also receive a confirmation email with locations and dates.)

Here’s a peek at what those celebrations feel like.

Hometown Week will take place during one of American Exchange Project’s summer sessions, usually between mid-June and late July. Specific Hometown Week dates are primarily determined by the Exchange Manager’s availability, but an Exchange Manager should also take itinerary activities into account when selecting Hometown Week dates (i.e., does the rodeo always come to your town during a certain week? Does your city host a huge Fourth of July celebration?).

The safety and well-being of our participants is our primary operating principle and our foremost concern, and we take great pride in our reputation for approaching every exchange with caution and responsibility. We reevaluate our safety protocols year over year and are working to adjust and improve them continuously.

Our exchanges are held to the  strict safety and security standards set by our Chief Operating Officer, who brings more than 30 years of operational experience to the organization. Every Exchange Manager goes through mandatory safety, risk management, abuse and harassment prevention training, and crisis response training courses. Each exchange itinerary is reviewed for potential risk and ultimately approved by a member of the Operations Department. Throughout the exchange, the Operations Department communicates with Exchange Managers around relevant weather alerts, national news updates, and airline updates.

As we state in our organizational values, we are obsessive about the details of our work and are dedicated to its improvement—safety first, and adventure right behind it. We care deeply about making sure that each exchange participant has a positive experience, and our safety protocols are in service of supporting that goal.

Absolutely. While younger students can’t set off for Travel Week until their senior year, there are lots of other ways for them to get involved and be part of the adventure. Freshmen, sophomores, and juniors can help the school’s American Exchange Project Committee all year by finding host families and contributing ideas to the Hometown Week itinerary—plus, they might be able to join the Hometown Week group for activities in the summer.

We ask Exchange Managers to fill two additional volunteer roles in order to create a community team:

• Community Leader: Community Leaders are often plugged in with local businesses, other volunteer organizations, or even local government. They leverage their relationships in the community to solicit in-kind donations (like tickets to events or meals), arrange special events or tours, and more. 

• Host Family Coordinator: Host Family Coordinators help Exchange Managers find families who are able to open their homes to visiting students during Hometown Week. A great Host Family Coordinator has connections within places of worship, civic and social clubs, or other social networks, and is comfortable reaching out to families to secure sleeping arrangements for travelers. 

The number of students who can participate from your school is dependent on the number of host families your Exchange Manager is able to find. Families who are interested in getting involved should first and foremost consider becoming a host family in order to give as many students as possible the chance to travel.

If a family is unable to host, you can head to our volunteer FAQs to learn about other ways they can contribute.

Yes. We want American Exchange Project to be accessible to as many students as possible, and community challenges around hosting should not prevent any student from participating. We work with towns on an individual basis as needed to find solutions for hosting issues. Email us to learn more about alternate accommodations.

We encourage families with participating students to host a traveler or travelers if they’re able, but it’s not required in order for your students to participate.

Use this form to nominate the teacher’s community as a new host town and your contact as an Exchange Manager.