<p>My husband’s cousin has a son going into his last year of high school in Belgium. He will start at the University of Liege in the fall of 2007. His mother is American and his father is Belgian (so I assume that the boy is a dual-national). He would very much like to do a year abroad in the US at some point during his college career. There are a million good programs for Americans who want a year in Europe but I had few suggestions of how to go about this from the other side of the pond. It is a less common phenomenom. </p>
<p>This young man does not have the financial resources to pay full price for a year in the US. I did suggest that he check and see if the University of Liege has a “sister school” or some sort of exchange program. </p>
<p>He is interested in journalism. Any ideas from those out in CC land?
Many thanks.</p>
<p>I’m in the US, but I constantly get stuff in the mail from NYU to spend a semester in New York, and they offer financial aid. Since he’s an American citizen, he would probably be eligible for financial aid. He might want to look into that- I think New York would be a good place for a journalism major.</p>
<p>Some colleges have visiting students programs whereby students from another college can spend a semester or a year there; the student should look into those. I know HYP have them. I do not know the financial implications of these programs.</p>
<p>Elleneast, if financial aid is needed, this family might be well served in checking a different type of program. Rather than focusing on attending a college (which requires to go through an extensive application’s, admission’s, financial aid discussions’ process) why not look for a program that allows the student to repeat his last year of HS in the US. </p>
<p>Since high school is cheaper -or free- and that such programs typically included families hosting the student, the expenses are minimal. Considering that the student is interested in journalism, the combination of working on the HS newspapers and, eventually, attending a local community college might be better suited for the level of English of a foreign student. </p>
<p>IMHO, this is an alternative that opens many doors and might in fact be a LOT more enjoyable than spending a year worrying about hte process and a possibly hard year in college. Being a senior in HS without the pressure of grades could be wonderful. College will come soon enough.</p>
<p>Also talk to AFS, American Field Service. We hosted a Belgian boy for a year several years ago, after he had graduated from his high school. He “repeated” senior year, this time as an American student, and had a wonderful experience.</p>
<p>I am forwarding a link to this thread for my cousin-in-law. These are great possibilities and it gives her son somewhere to start. I had not even thought of a second senior year of high school in the US. That is certainly worth exploring.</p>
<p>For high school, make sure that that attending the school for non-residents is free. When my first niece came to stay with us, it was indeed free. When my second niece wanted to do the same, the district had just passed a rule charging $10k for non-residents. Whew! For half that amount, she could have taken a year’s worth of classes at the Harvard Extension School.</p>