By on December 1st, 2014

Become a Kaplan Homestay Family

Do you have the room in your heart and home to host an exchange student? If you would like to share your culture and life experiences while helping to nurture the goals of a foreign exchange student, then maybe you’d like to consider being a host family. Hosting a foreign exchange student requires dedication and some other requirements, but read on to learn more about the program offered from USH.

Why Kaplan?

For international students wishing to learn more about the English language and the American way of life, Kaplan International English Academy is a great opportunity to do both. Many Kaplan students reside with carefully selected families who live in the Los Angeles, CA, area. Living with a host family gives the student a great chance to make new friends, further their education and to become totally immersed in a new culture.

Homestay Family Experience

Not only is a homestay a fabulous opportunity for an exchange student, but it is also very rewarding and enriching for the host family. Being a host family gives your family the chance to meet students from all over the world, but it is also an opportunity to make a very real difference in someone else’s life. The homestay experience lets a foreign student come to America to learn English in a comfortable and relaxed environment and it can ease the homesickness by allowing the student to live with a sort of extended family.

Matching Students to a Host Family

Through the process of becoming a host, a family will be required to fill out an application and go through a background check. While the background check is done for safety precautions, the application process will allow a placement organization to determine which host family would be best paired with which student. By matching family and student as closely as possible, it makes for the best possible experience.

Unsuitable Matches

It’s always the intention of a placement organization to match an international exchange student with a family that most closely matches their own. However, there are times that a language barrier or other issues may make it necessary to find another host family for a student. While most issues between an exchange student and the family can be worked out with help from their representative, at times, it’s not possible to work out differences, and the student will be placed with another family as soon as possible.

Become a Host Family

Although it can be challenging to live with a foreign exchange student, it is also more rewarding than you could ever imagine. The process for becoming a host family is different for each organization. At USH, you will fill out an application and be connected with a staff member. Once you have gone through the initial approval process, a field rep will visit your home to make sure it’s suitable and at that time can answer any questions you may have.

After being approved by our representatives and passing the background check, your family will be matched with a student whose profile fits your criteria. We compensate host families and a check will arrive within a week or so of the student’s move-in date. Staff members are available Monday through Friday to answer any questions or provide for anything you may need.

The Rewards of Being a Host Family

Although there will be certain challenges in becoming a host family, what you are doing will enrich and touch the life of a student in more ways than you could ever imagine. If you wish to give an international student the chance of a lifetime, consider being a host family because it is more rewarding than you realize.