Deadline: 15-Oct-20
The U.S. Embassy & Consulate in Kazakhstan has announced the 2021-2022 Future Leaders Exchange Program (FLEX) for high school students provides high-school students a chance of free training in the US for one year.
In 1992, then-U.S. Senator Bill Bradley cosponsored, together with U.S. Congressman Jim Leach, the historic legislation providing for the FLEX program. Funding was approved by the United States Congress to extend a hand of friendship from the people of the United States of America to the people of the countries of the former Soviet Union and has since expanded to other countries.
FLEX is fully funded by the United States government and administered by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) of the U.S. Department of State. The program provides competitively selected secondary school students with a scholarship to spend a year living in the U.S. with a volunteer host family, attending a U.S. high school to foster understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries around the world.
Benefits
- The FLEX program offers students an opportunity to learn about the people and culture of the United States.
- FLEX participants are also young ambassadors who teach Americans about the people and culture of their countries.
- Students gain an appreciation for and develop sensitivity to other cultures, experience personal growth, and independence, and become better prepared for an increasingly interdependent world.
- Students form strong ties with their American host families and U.S. communities, building relationships that often last a lifetime.
- Many alumni attend prestigious universities upon their return home, and later find exciting jobs that use skills learned during their stay in the United States.
The FLEX scholarship provides the following:
- Round-trip domestic and international travel (from home to the United States and back)
- Monthly allowance to help students participate in social activities and buy necessary personal supplies
- Placement with a selected and screened U.S. host family for one year
- Enrollment in a U.S. secondary school
- Program orientation activities including pre-program preparation and re-entry preparation
- Program activities arranged in local U.S. communities
- Medical insurance, excluding pre-existing conditions and dental care
Negative Effects
Students who are interested in this program should consider the possible negative effects of this program:
- Will I have to repeat a year of school after returning home?
- Will I be home too late to take final school examinations/university/institute entrance examinations?FLEX students return to their communities in late May and June.
- Will my university or institute defer my admission if I have already been accepted?
- Will I be required to serve in the military upon return?
- Will I be eligible to graduate with honors/receive a gold medal at my home school?
Eligibility Criteria
- The FLEX scholarship competition is merit-based and open, at no cost, to applicants who meet the following requirements. Students with disabilities are invited to participate in the competition.
- FLEX finalists include approximately 20 students with disabilities each year.
- Selected students with disabilities meet the same criteria as other participants in the program.
- Students may only apply once to the program during a given recruitment cycle.
Eligible applicants must:
- Meet the grade/age requirements
- Be enrolled in a secondary school at the time of application
- Have an academic standing of good or better
- Have previously studied English and demonstrate English language ability at the time of registration
- Meet U.S. visa eligibility requirements
- Be a citizen of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine or Uzbekistan, and be able to receive an international passport in the country where they apply to the program.
For more information, visit https://kz.usembassy.gov/future-leaders-exchange-program-2021-2022/