International Experience, a high school student exchange organization, announced that they plan to welcome a record number of students to U.S. communities in the fall of 2015, mirroring a national trend. According to the Council on Standards for International Education Travel, more than 200,000 exchange students are expected in 2015.

As the leading English-speaking host country of foreign exchange students, the U.S. as a whole has seen an increase in high school exchange participants of about 13 percent in the past decade. This upward trend is expected to continue as a growing number of international students seek both English fluency and cultural competency to prepare for the increasingly global marketplace.Exchange student participants are between the ages of 15-18 and come from many countries including Germany, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Thailand, Montenegro and Argentina. Each student undergoes an extensive application process and is responsible for his/her own spending money and health insurance coverage. A list of current students can be found online at

http://usa.international-experience.net.To learn more about how you can experience and support cultural exchange in your own home, contact International Experience representative, Joe Bissell-Maynard at j.bissel@international-experience.net, or 517-455-7518.IE-USA is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting education and understanding through intercultural and academic exchange and is certified by the Council on Standards for International Educational Travel and strictly adheres to all U.S. Department of State Student Exchange Program regulations and guidelines.