The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other nations, its primary duties are advising the U.S. president on international relations, administering diplomatic missions, negotiating international treaties and agreements, and representing the U.S. at the United Nations. The department is headquartered in the Harry S Truman Building, a few blocks from the White House, in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood of Washington, D.C.; "Foggy Bottom" is thus sometimes used as a metonym.
The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of the United States and other countries through the exchange of persons, knowledge, and skills. Via the program, competitively-selected American citizens including students, scholars, teachers, professionals, scientists, and artists may receive scholarships or grants to study, conduct research, teach, or exercise their talents abroad; and citizens of other countries may qualify to do the same in the United States.
The Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange is a youth student exchange program founded in 1983. The program, which is jointly sponsored by the United States Congress and the German Bundestag, funds exchange programs for German and American students through grants to private exchange organizations in both countries. The funding in the United States is administered by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the United States Department of State.
Sister Cities International (SCI) is a nonprofit citizen diplomacy network that creates and strengthens partnerships between communities in the United States and in other countries, particularly through the establishment of "sister cities" which are broad and long-term agreements formally recognized by civic leaders. A total of 1,800 cities, states, and counties have partnered in 138 countries worldwide.
The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) of the United States Department of State fosters mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries around the world. It is responsible for the United States' cultural exchange programs.
The US-UK Fulbright Commission was created by a treaty signed by the United Kingdom and the United States on 22 September, 1948. It is a non-profit organisation based in London, UK. Its aim is to foster mutual cultural understanding through educational exchange between both nations. Fulbright helps students, scholars and professionals interested in studying abroad in the US or UK through its scholarship programme and its EducationUSA advice service.
The Fulbright–Hays Act of 1961 is officially known as the Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act of 1961. It was marshalled by United States Senator J. William Fulbright (D-AR) and passed by the 87th United States Congress on September 16, 1961, the same month the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 and Peace Corps Act of 1961 were enacted.
Future Leaders Exchange (FLEX) is a scholarship student exchange program administered by the U.S. Department of State through funding from the Freedom Support Act. The program provides opportunities for high school students from Eurasia, mainly from the former Eastern Bloc, to spend a year in the United States, living with a host family and attending an American high school. In 2019 program includes Armenia, Azerbaijan, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Ukraine. The program seeks to develop the leadership abilities and cultural awareness.
The Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) Program is a United States Department of State cultural and educational exchange program which offers approximately 500 undergraduate or graduate level students from the United States the opportunity to participate in an intensive language study abroad. This nationally competitive program funds students who study one of the 15 critical need foreign languages, and is part of the National Security Language Initiative. The 15 critical languages include Arabic, Azerbaijani, Bengali, Chinese, Hindi, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Persian, Portuguese, Punjabi, Russian, Swahili, Turkish and Urdu. With an acceptance rate of less than 10%, the Critical Language Scholarship is one of the most competitive scholarships in the U.S. and the most prestigious language program for U.S. citizens.
United States cultural exchange programs, particularly those programs with ties to the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) of the United States Department of State, seek to develop cultural understanding between United States citizens and citizens of other countries. Exchange programs do not necessarily exchange one individual for another individual of another country; rather, "exchange" refers to the exchange of cultural understanding created when an individual goes to another country. These programs can be regarded as a form of cultural diplomacy within the spectrum of public diplomacy.
Ayusa is a non-profit organization dedicated to promote global learning and leadership through foreign exchange, study abroad, and leadership programs for high school students from the U.S. and around the world. The organization was co-founded by John Wilhelm and Takeshi Yokota in 1981 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California. John Wilhelm and Takeshi Yokota also founded Intrax.
The Commission for Educational Exchange between the United States of America, Belgium, and Luxembourg is located in Brussels, Belgium, with the office situated at the Royal Library Albert I. It is a not-for profit organization that is responsible for administering Fulbright grants for citizens of Belgium and Luxembourg. It also serves as the EducationUSA Advising Center in Belgium.
Cultural Vistas is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that facilitates internships and professional exchange programs and services for visitors coming to the U.S., and American students and professionals seeking experiential learning opportunities abroad. The organization is headquartered in New York City, with regional offices located in Berlin and Washington, D.C.
The Kennedy Lugar Youth Exchange and Study Programs (KL-YES) are fully-funded student exchange programs administered by the U.S. Department of State. YES includes the "inbound" program for students from close to 40 Muslim majority countries to study and live in the U.S., and the "outbound" program, called YES Abroad, for students from the U.S. to study in selected YES countries.
The Meridian International Center is a non-partisan, non-profit, public diplomacy organization founded in 1960 and located in Washington, D.C. It works closely with the U.S. Department of State and other U.S. government agencies, NGOs, international governments, and the private sector to create programs and partnership.
AFS Intercultural Programs is an international youth exchange organization. It consists of over 50 independent, not-for-profit organizations, each with its own network of volunteers, professionally staffed offices, volunteer board of directors and website. In 2015, 12,578 students traveled abroad on an AFS cultural exchange program, between 99 countries. The U.S.-based partner, AFS-USA, sends more than 1,100 U.S. students abroad and places international students with more than 2,300 U.S. families each year. As of 2022, more than 500,000 people have gone abroad with AFS and over 100,000 former AFS students live in the U.S.
The Congressional International Exchange and Study Caucus is a caucus of the United States Congress that aims to raise awareness of the importance and benefits of international exchange and study abroad programs, which enable international citizens to have meaningful exchange experiences in the United States, and Americans to have such beneficial experiences in other countries. It is co-chaired in the 114th Congress by Representatives Steve Pearce of New Mexico and Jim Himes of Connecticut.
William L. Gertz is the Chairman, President and CEO of the American Institute For Foreign Study (AIFS), a cultural exchange and educational travel company with 10 global locations, headquartered in Stamford, CT.
Elizabeth Marie Allen is an American political advisor who serves as under secretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs in the Biden administration. She previously served as assistant secretary of state for global public affairs and as White House deputy communications director during the Obama administration.
The Civic Education Workshop (CEW) is an annual, week-long program organized in Washington, DC and funded by the U.S. Department of State. The program takes place every year for select participants of the Kennedy Lugar Youth Exchange and Study (KL-YES), Future Leaders Exchange (FLEX) and the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange (CBYX) programs. The workshop gives student ambassadors the opportunity to learn firsthand about the U.S. federal system of government and other important concepts through seminars, discussions with senators and elected officials, briefings, and meetings on Capitol Hill.
