Article Archive

Yard Work

If you like fresh-cut grass and a little dirt under your nails… After getting permission from your parents, go door-to-door in your neighborhood and offer to wash windows or cars,…

Guest Chef

If you don’t need a sous chef to make a meal… Offer your cooking skills to families that might find they don’t have enough time to cook a meal at…

Create a Cookbook

If you are well organized… Ask you friends, family, classmates, teachers, etc. to submit their favorite recipes to you for inclusion in your cookbook. Spend some time thinking about how…

Master of the Kitchen

If you can channel your inner Gordon Ramsay… Make a list of the items you are able to make. You could sell cookies, pies, cakes and brownies, or go bigger…

Host an Internationally-Themed Dinner

If you are good in the kitchen… Host an internationally-themed dinner party where you make a cuisine from your future host country! If you prefer getting some help rather than…

Cooking for Cash

If you are a party planner… Organize a school-, church- or community-wide spaghetti dinner, ice cream social, salad bar, omelet or pancake breakfast, etc. When setting the price of each…

Approach Charitable Organizations

If you are good at making connections… Charitable organizations are usually comprised of business owners and well-connected people in your community. Charitable organizations will most likely be able to either…

Local AFS Fundraising

If you are a people person… Ask your local AFS area team volunteers about raising funds collectively. With the assistance of the volunteers, organize event(s) with other local AFS students…

Parents Night Out

If you enjoy babysitting… Offer one night (several nights) or a full Saturday / Sunday for parents to let you watch their kids. This fundraiser works at any time during…

Care Package Campaign

If you are creative, crafty, and caring… Compile a list of care package themes and the desired contents for each package to sell to people who want a gift for…

Silent Auction

If you have retail connections… Host a silent auction using donated items as a stand alone event or in conjunction with another fundraiser.Invite your friends, family, and members of the…

Corporate Sponsorships

If you are a go-getter and like talking to new people… Brainstorm (with your parents) a list of local businesses you could ask to sponsor you. Be prepared to explain…

Sponsorship Letter

If you know a lot of people that live far away… Write a letter introducing yourself, why you are fundraising, your motivations to study abroad and details about AFS. There…

Mass Email Campaign

If you have oodles of contacts in your address book… Using email is a great way to get the word out, however, it’s not enough to send out one email…

Food For Funds

If you have friends and family that like to eat at restaurants… Visit a few restaurants, coffee shops and bakeries in your town and speak with a manager about whether…

Airplane Ticket Giveaway

If you know someone with lots of reward miles… Ask a family member or a family friend who travels a lot to donate his/her frequent flyer miles for a domestic/international…

Email Newsletter

If you laugh in the face of deadlines… Sell subscriptions to a personal newsletter about your experience while you are on program. Determine how often you can write the newsletter…

Art Auction

If you are tight with some artists… Ask your artist friends or local artists in your community to help you create art. You could also create the art yourself. You…

Etsy Shop

If you have an entrepreneurial spirit… Etsy.com is similar to eBay, but for individual people selling their own art, crafts, jewelry, or vintage items. You can sign up for an account…

Skeins of Yarn

If you know how to knit or crochet… Create knitted or crocheted items, such as scarves, bags, socks, or hats to sell as a fundraiser. Ask your friends and fellow…

I’m With the Band

If you know a good band or singer… Ask the band or singer to perform at your fundraising event. Find a location, start preparing and advertising a couple months ahead…

Art Fundraiser

If you have an eye for design… Many stores (i.e. Walgreens, CVS, Rite Aid, etc.) offer photo services where you can use your own photos to create personalized coffee mugs,…

How Studying Abroad Can Make You Brave

Studying abroad can seem a little scary. You’re far from home in unfamiliar surroundings. You’re dealing with the language barrier and adjusting to new cultures. You’re disoriented and maybe experiencing…

Chain of Diversity

Goal: Participants will discover and recognize the many ways in which they are similar and are different from others in the group, as well as the ways in which each…

Building Global Competency in the Intercultural Classroom

Overview: The purpose of this activity is to introduce U.S. students to the world beyond their classroom borders through the bounty of hosting international students. An introductory exploration of culture…

14 Ways to Say Thank You Internationally

Goal: Known as the official start of the holiday season to many, the American secular holiday of Thanksgiving has been a long tradition that brings together family and friends from…

Goal 9: Build resilient infrastructure, promote sustainable industrialization and foster innovation

Sourced from the UN: Investments in infrastructure – transport, irrigation, energy and information and communication technology – are crucial to achieving sustainable development and empowering communities in many countries. It…

Goal 8: Promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment and decent work for all

Sourced from the UN: Roughly half the world’s population still lives on the equivalent of about US$2 a day with global unemployment rates of 5.7% and having a job doesn’t…

Goal 7: Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy

Sourced from the UN: Energy is central to nearly every major challenge and opportunity the world faces today. Be it for jobs, security, climate change, food production or increasing incomes,…

Goal 6: Clean Water and Sanitation

Sourced from the UN: Clean, accessible water for all is an essential part of the world we want to live in and there is sufficient fresh water on the planet…

Goal 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls

Sourced from the UN: While the world has achieved progress towards gender equality and women’s empowerment under the Millennium Development Goals (including equal access to primary education between girls and boys), women…

Goal 4: Quality Education

Sourced from the UN: Obtaining a quality education is the foundation to creating sustainable development. In addition to improving quality of life, access to inclusive education can help equip locals…

Goal 3: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages

Sourced from the UN: Ensuring healthy lives and promoting the well-being at all ages is essential to sustainable development. Significant strides have been made in increasing life expectancy and reducing…

Goal 2: Zero Hunger

Sourced from the UN: It is time to rethink how we grow, share and consume our food. If done right, agriculture, forestry and fisheries can provide nutritious food for all…

Goal 1: End poverty in all its forms everywhere

While global poverty rates have been cut by more than half since 2000, one in ten people in developing regions are still living with their families on less than the…

Goal 12: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns

Sourced from the UN: Sustainable consumption and production is about promoting resource and energy efficiency, sustainable infrastructure, and providing access to basic services, green and decent jobs and a better…

Goal 14: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources

Sourced from the UN: The world’s oceans – their temperature, chemistry, currents and life – drive global systems that make the Earth habitable for humankind. Our rainwater, drinking water, weather,…

Goal 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts

Sourced from the UN: Climate change is now affecting every country on every continent. It is disrupting national economies and affecting lives, costing people, communities and countries dearly today and…

Goal 15: Sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, halt and reverse land degradation, halt biodiversity loss

Sourced from the UN: Forests cover 30.7 percent of the Earth’s surface and, in addition to providing food security and shelter, they are key to combating climate change, protecting biodiversity…

Goal 16: Promote just, peaceful and inclusive societies

Sourced from the UN: The threats of international homicide, violence against children, human trafficking and sexual violence are important to address to promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development.…

Goal 17: Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development

Sourced from the UN: A successful sustainable development agenda requires partnerships between governments, the private sector and civil society. These inclusive partnerships built upon principles and values, a shared vision,…

Goal 10: Reduce inequality within and among countries

Sourced from the UN: The international community has made significant strides towards lifting people out of poverty.  The most vulnerable nations – the least developed countries, the landlocked developing countries…

Goal 11: Make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable

Sourced from the UN: Cities are hubs for ideas, commerce, culture, science, productivity, social development and much more. At their best, cities have enabled people to advance socially and economically.…

YES Departure Dates

Note all students will arrive to D.C. on either the Tuesday or Wednesday of their travel week, depending on which departure orientation they will attend. This may mean that some…

Ramadan Facts

What is Ramadan? The Muslim fast of Ramadan (rahm-ah-dahn) falls in the ninth month on the Islamic lunar calendar and is the month during which Muslims observe fasting (sawm in…

100 Volunteer Hours

One important characteristic of the exchange programs sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, is an emphasize on volunteerism. The spirit of volunteerism has always been the main highlight of…

YES and FLEX Host Family Money Matters

YES and FLEX Student Stipend The YES and FLEX scholarships provide all YES and FLEX students with a monthly stipend of $125 per month, beginning with the first month of…

Tracking claims with GMMI

Balance Billing The claims administrator, GMMI, negotiates with medical providers to reduce their costs even after they have provided the medical service. Medical providers often agree to forgo part of…

Aussie Kiwi Haere Scholarship

The Aussie Kiwi Haere Scholarship is now available for students interested in studying abroad to Australia or New Zealand.

AFS Robbie Robinson Scholarship

Local scholarships for students attending The Barea Midpark High School in Ohio.

Maine Global Explorers Scholarship

Local scholarship for students from Maine.

DelMarPA Year Scholarship

Local scholarships for students from DelMarPa Area Team

DelMarPA Global Prep Scholarship

Local scholarships for students from DelMarPa Area Team

The Felicia Buell Study Abroad with AFS Scholarship

The Felicia Buell Study Abroad Scholarship will award one (1) student from any high school in Washington County, Ohio or Williamstown High School in Williamstown, WV, $5,000 to participate in…

Helen “Peggie” Miller Scholarship

$5,000 need and merit-based scholarship for semester and year program students

True Peace Scholarship

Local scholarships for students from Nevada and California

Silver & Gold Area Team Scholarship

Local scholarships for students from Nevada and California

Greater Los Angeles Area Team Scholarship

The Greater Los Angeles Area Team Scholarship is made possible by the generosity of volunteers, individual donors, and foundations in the Los Angeles area. Scholarship Type: Need-based Scholarship Value: Ranges from partial…

Bonnie Jernigan Memorial Scholarship

Local scholarships for students from the Massachusetts Bay Area Team.

Michigan Area Team Scholarship

Students living in Michigan, applying for any of AFS’s study abroad programs, are eligible to apply for a local need- or merit-based partial scholarship.

Catherine Scully Scholarship

Students living in the capital city of Springfield, Illinois are encouraged to apply for this merit-based scholarship.

AFS Foundation of Greater Milwaukee Scholarship

Local scholarships for students from Wisconsin.

Orca Scholarship

Up to $2,500 study abroad scholarships for students of Washington.

AFS Vancouver/Battle Ground Chapter Scholarship

$500 - $1,500 local scholarships for students in Washington.

Friends of Greater Cincinnati Scholarship

Local study abroad scholarships for students from the Greater Cincinnati area.

Linda Jackson Straus Scholarship

Up to $2,500 study abroad scholarships for Talawanda High School students from Oxford, Ohio.

Finland-U.S. Future Leaders Scholarship

Full study abroad scholarships for students from Washington, D.C. to study abroad in Finland.

Elita Hawley Scholarship

$30,000 in study abroad scholarships for students from Central California counties.

Kirby Capen Study Abroad Scholarship

$1000 study abroad scholarships for students from Connecticut and New York.

Sharon Lage Study Abroad Scholarship

$1000 or more study abroad scholarships for students from Connecticut and New York.

NYC Metro & Hudson Valley Area Team Scholarship

$1000 or more study abroad scholarships to study abroad for students from Connecticut and New York.

Colorado Rockies Area Team Scholarships

Scholarship to study abroad for a year or semester for residents of Colorado.

CBYX

Full, merit-based scholarship program of the U.S. Department of State to serve as a “youth ambassador” for an academic year home-stay program in Germany.

NSLI-Y

Full, merit-based scholarship program of the U.S. Department of State to study critical languages in an overseas immersion environment.

YES Abroad

Full, merit-based scholarship program of the U.S. Department of State to promote mutual understanding between people of the United States and people of countries of strategic importance.

Yoshi Hattori Memorial Scholarship

Full, merit-based scholarship to study abroad for a year in Japan.

AFS Returnee Maggie Kane founds pay-what-you-can cafe, A Place at the Table

Many AFS Exchange Students lead impactful lives after their time abroad opened their minds and taught them to collaborate across typical divides. They think globally, then act locally. One AFSer,…

Q&A With AFS-USA’s Alumni Relations Intern: Molly Kisner

Molly Kisner is AFS-USA’s Alumni Relations intern, an AFS Returnee (U.S. to France, 2010), and she is completing our fall internship program this week. She studied French literature and Japanese…

Let Your Astrological Sign Decide Where You Study Abroad

The mystical art of astrology is almost as old as human civilization. Its staying power has not faded in our data-driven times. If anything, astrology is making a comeback in…

Influential Black Americans Who Lived Abroad: What They Learned “From Another Place”

In honor of Black History Month, we’re highlighting influential Black Americans whose experiences studying, teaching, and living abroad shaped their perspectives, lives, and careers. Historically, many Black Americans, including those…

Studying Abroad in the 1960s

Thanks to the generosity of George Gabb, the AFS Archives recently acquired an oversized scrapbook filled with black and white photographs, letters, newspaper clippings, small brochures, cards, tickets, luggage tags,…

My Multigenerational AFS Family

It’s 2018 and I’m sitting in my grandmother’s sunny Ohio kitchen. We just went to two estate sales and are on our way to a quilting expo. She’s a consummate…

Snow Tubing Fun

Sparkling, sunny, snow tubing fun! Pacific Cascades Douglas County Chapter organized a day of winter sports fun at Diamond Lake on January 12th.  Snow shoeing and tubing under bright sunny…

Protected: Turkey Semester and Year Visa Guidelines

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Protected: Colombia Semester and Year Visa Guidelines

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Turkey Semester and Year Visa FAQ

What type of visa do I need? You will be applying for a Visa for Turkey. How do I apply for the visa? You will send your passport and additional…

Colombia Semester and Year Visa FAQ

Protected: Thailand Summer Visa Guidelines

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Thailand Summer Visa FAQ

STEP 1: What type of visa do I need? You will be applying for a Non-Immigrant Visa category ED before your departure. For year and semester programs, AFS-Thailand will assist…

Protected: Thailand Semester and Year Visa Guidelines

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Thailand Semester and Year Visa FAQ

STEP 1: What type of visa do I need? You will be applying for a Non-Immigrant Visa category ED before your departure. For year and semester programs, AFS-Thailand will assist…

Protected: Switzerland Semester and Year Visa Guidelines

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Switzerland Semester and Year Visa FAQ

What type of visa do I need? You will be applying for a three-month Study Visa for Minors before departing to Switzerland. You will need to apply for a Student…

Protected: Sweden Semester and Year Visa Guidelines

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Sweden Semester and Year Visa FAQ

What type of visa do I need? You will be applying for a Student Residence Permit. How do I apply for the Residence Permit? Students under the age of 18 should…

Protected: Spain Semester and Year Visa Guidelines

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Spain Semester and Year Visa FAQ

What type of visa do I need? You will be applying for a National (Type D) Student Visa for Spain. How do I apply for the visa? You must apply…

Protected: South Africa Semester and Year Visa Guidelines

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South Africa Semester and Year Visa FAQ

What type of visa do I need? You will be applying for a Temporary Residence Permit/Visa for Studies-Minor for South Africa How do I apply for the visa? You must…

Protected: Serbia Semester and Year Visa Guidelines

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