Host foreign exchange students

Hosting foreign exchange students is a great way to earn money during this economic downturn and provided you can offer a suitable level of accommodation, pretty much anyone can host.
Families, single people, retired persons or couples whose children have left home can all host, provided a suitable spare room is available.

Don't expect to be able to give your student endless beans on toast and make piles of money out of him or her. Times have changed and students expect a reasonable standard of cooking and meals.
Get smart, plan. Meals which are hastily prepared are often the most expensive. Get to grips with bulk cooking and freeze, then bring one out the freezer the day before you need it.
Planning saves time and money. Every penny counts so go through your cookery books and decide what is tasty and economical. Cooking in season food is a good way of saving money too.



Most students like to have a desk to work from as many will be taking a degree or part of while staying with you so a reasonable sized room is ideal so as to be able to work in.
Your accommodation needs to be clean and dry, heated, light and well ventilated.

I say this because there have been instances in the past where I have checked accommodation only to find that I would not been happy to allow my own child to accept the room on offer.

It is important to give the student decent accommodation and furniture and somewhere you would be happy to allow your own child to stay if they needed accommodation.
The organisation you host through will most likely send someone out to check the condition and cleanliness of your accommodation.
You will also have to have a criminal records bureau check (CRB) and references taken. The person who visits you should explain the procedure and process in detail.


Finding foreign exchange students should be fairly easy and as the students often from visa required countries, (many of the shorter stay summer language students are foreign students from Europe), they will be generally linked to a college or university.
They will also be all nationalities from across the world. The Rotary Club organise students worldwide and are worth contacting.
University students are likely to stay for long periods of time, three months to two years generally as they have a specific study period or course to complete.

Foreign exchange students will generally be aged from 20 to 24 and often only need a room and breakfast and an evening meal rather than full board including a packed lunch.
The students will be quite independent and may wish to cook their own meals rather than have a meal cooked for them as with a traditional short language homestay.




Families who can offer a secure and caring environment will enjoy learning about the culture of the foreign exchange student. It is always appreciated when a host family takes the time to show their student how to use the local services; bus routes, the library, where the shops are and other day to day essentials.

Introducing your student to other students and friends will also make them feel welcome and broaden their depth of knowledge and enjoyment of their overall visit.
Being away from home, often for the first time, is quite a scary experience. A caring host family can go a long way towards making their stay a pleasurable experience rather than a daunting one.

Sitting around the table for at least an evening meal is a good way of improving your students language skills, and taking time and care to correct their language shows that you care. One of the companies who offer detailed information on hosting exchange students is www.cci-exchange.com. They are a well established company though I think they operate more in the USA than anywhere else.

When looking to find foreign exchange students to host, begin with your local college and universities. When typing into Google, try 'universities in america' or 'universities in England' for search results and see who is the nearest to you.



This is a brilliant post from an exchange student in the Philippines who went to America. It explains a lot about being a student, and how to host foreign exchange students.