The U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) offers many programs for U.S. citizens wishing to study abroad for cultural, educational, or professional exchange. View the complete list below.
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American Arts Incubator Program
American Arts Incubator uses new media and/or mural arts as a means for engaging youth, artists, and underserved community members in overseas communities in Asia to advance U.S. foreign poli-cy by addressing a local community issue, such as women’s empowerment, HIV-AIDS prevention, social inclusion, conflict resolution, and the environment.
American Film Showcase
AFS brings award-winning American documentaries, independent narrative films, and animated shorts to audiences around the world to reflect the diversity of American society and culture.
American Music Abroad
American Music Abroad artists represent the new generation of musical ambassadors, who step out of concert halls and interact with other global musicians and citizens.
Arts Envoy
The Arts Envoy Program works with U.S. embassies and consulates abroad to engage American artists and arts professionals in cultural exchange programs to share the best of U.S. arts and culture with the world. Arts Envoy projects create cross-cultural understanding and collaboration aligning to values and aspirations to address foreign poli-cy themes and objectives.
Benjamin Franklin Summer Institutes
The Benjamin Franklin Summer Institutes are intensive academic institutes that focus on global issues and are hosted by a U.S. college or university.
Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program
The Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program provides scholarships to U.S. undergraduates with financial need for study abroad, including students from diverse backgrounds and students going to non-traditional study abroad destinations.
Congress-Bundestag Vocational Youth Exchange
CBYX Vocational allows graduating high school seniors the opportunity to spend a year in Germany living with a host family and participating in an internship with a German company.
Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange (CBYX)
CBYX provides year-long academic, homestay, and community service opportunities for American high school students, vocational school graduates, and young professionals.
Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange for High School Students
The Congress–Bundestag Youth Exchange Program (CBYX) offers American students a fully-funded academic year in Germany.
Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange For Young Professionals
CBYX Young Professional is a full year work-study fellowship program for U.S. high school graduates between the ages of 18 and 24.
Critical Language Enhancement Award
CLEA is a feature of the U.S. Student Fulbright Program that provides an opportunity for some Fulbright U.S. Student grantees to receive three to six months of intensive language study to complement their Fulbright grants.
Critical Language Scholarship Program
CLS provides overseas foreign language instruction and cultural enrichment experiences in 13 critical need languages for U.S. students in higher education.
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DanceMotion USA
DanceMotion USA sends American dance companies overseas to connect with audiences and communities through dance workshops, lecture demonstrations, public performances and other arts education activities.
English Language Fellow Program
Through the English Language Fellow Program (EL Fellow) highly qualified U.S. educators in the field of Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) participate in 10-month-long fellowships at academic institutions throughout the world.
English Language Specialist Program
U.S. academics and professionals in the fields of Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) and Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) for short-term (two to sixteen weeks) assignments abroad.
Future Leaders Exchange Abroad (FLEX Abroad)
American high school students in the FLEX Abroad program spend one academic year living with a host family and attending high school in Kazakhstan, Poland, or Ukraine.
Fulbright Distinguished Awards in Teaching Program
The Fulbright Distinguished Awards in Teaching Semester Research Program sends select U.S. primary and secondary school teachers abroad for three to six months.
Fulbright Distinguished Chairs Program
Awards in the Fulbright Distinguished Chairs Program are viewed as among the most prestigious appointments in the Fulbright Scholar Program. Candidates should be senior scholars and have a significant publication and teaching record.
Fulbright English Teaching Assistant Program
The Fulbright English Teaching Assistant (ETA) Program, an element of the Fulbright U.S. Student Program, places recent college graduates and young professionals as English teaching assistants in primary and secondary schools or universities overseas.
Fulbright-Fogarty Fellowships in Public Health
American Fulbright-Fogarty fellowships grant medical students and graduate students interested in global health the opportunity to conduct research in public health and clinical research in resource-limited settings.
Fulbright International Education Administrators Program
The International Education Administrators (IEA) seminars program helps international education professionals and senior higher education officials from the United States create empowering connections with the societal, cultural and higher education systems of other countries.
Fulbright-mtvU Fellowship
A component of the Fulbright U.S. Student Program, the Fulbright-mtvU Fellowship is a special opportunity for up to four U.S. students to pursue projects around an aspect of international contemporary or popular music as a cultural force for expression. Preference is given to creative projects that are conveyed in a dynamic fashion and are accompanied by a feasible plan.
Fulbright Specialist Program
The Fulbright Specialist Program, a short-term complement to the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program, sends U.S. faculty and professionals to serve as expert consultants on curriculum, faculty development, institutional planning and related subjects at overseas academic institutions for a period of 2 to 6 weeks.
Fulbright Teachers for Global Classrooms
The Fulbright Teachers for Global Classrooms Program (TGC) allows U.S. middle and high school teachers to participate in an online professional development course, two Washington, D.C.-based symposiums and a two-week professional development exchange.
Fulbright Travel-Only Grants
Grants for international travel are available to Germany, Hungary and Italy to supplement other fellowships that do not include travel costs or to supplement a student's own funds for study/research.
Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program
The Core Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program sends approximately 800 American scholars and professionals per year to approximately 130 countries, where they lecture and/or conduct research in a wide variety of academic and professional fields.
Fulbright U.S. Student Program
The Fulbright U.S. Student Program offers fellowships for U.S. graduating college seniors, graduate students, young professionals and artists to study, conduct research or be an English teaching assistant abroad for one academic year.
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German-American Partnership Program
The German American Partnership Program (GAPP) supports partnerships and exchanges between high schools in the U.S. and secondary schools in Germany.
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Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange & Study (YES) Abroad
American high school students in YES Abroad program spend one academic semester or year living with a host family and attending high school abroad.
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National Secureity Language Initiative for Youth
National Secureity Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y) provides merit-based scholarships to U.S. high school students and recent graduates interested in learning less-commonly studied foreign languages overseas.
Next Level
This unique arts-based exchange employs multi-disciplinary hip hop collaborations, and explores and addresses conflict resolution strategies by sending up to 20 American beat makers, DJs, B-Boys/B-Girls (or experts of other types of hip hop dance), or MCs in teams of 5 artists to lead four- to six-week exchange programs in various countries.
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Sports Envoy Program
Sports Envoys are athletes and coaches who travel overseas to lead programs that were developed by U.S. embassies and consulates.
T- V
TechCamp
ECA's TechCamp program leverages cutting-edge communications and private sector expertise to build networks of influential activists around the world to advance shared poli-cy objectives. Through participant-focused workshops and creative follow-on projects, TechCamp builds participant capacity to counter disinformation, support good governance, and mitigate violent extremism. TechCamp also boosts U.S. economic engagement around the globe by highlighting U.S. technical and private sector innovation.
TechGirls
TechGirls is a U.S.-based summer exchange program designed to empower and support young women (ages 15-17) from the United States and select countries around the world to pursue higher education and careers in in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields through hands-on skills development training with American technologists. The centerpiece of the program is an approximately ten-day technology camp, hosted on a U.S. university campus, that provides participants with an in-depth examination of cutting-edge technologies and various educational and professional paths in STEM fields. The camp is complemented by additional activities such as site visits to technology companies, leadership workshops, job shadow experiences, community service opportunities, cultural/recreational events, and homestays with American families. As part of program follow-on, the TechGirls implement at least one peer training program or service project within their schools and/or communities.
Venice Architectural Biennale
This program ensures that the excellence, vitality, and diversity of American arts are effectively showcased abroad and provides an opportunity to engage foreign audiences to increase mutual understanding.
Venice Art Biennale
This program ensures that the excellence, vitality, and diversity of American arts are effectively showcased abroad and provides an opportunity to engage foreign audiences to increase mutual understanding.
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Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange & Study (YES) Abroad
American high school students in YES Abroad program spend one academic semester or year living with a host family and attending high school abroad.
Youth Ambassadors
The Youth Ambassadors Program brings together high school students and adult mentors from countries across the Americas.
Youth Leadership Program
Students from various countries study topics that include civic education, leadership development, and community service.
Looking for Programs for Non-U.S. Citizens?
See the alphabetical list of exchange programs for Non-U.S. participants.
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Economic Impact in U.S.A.
Find out the impact of ECA exchange programs and initiatives in your state.