Exchange Student Issues Inaugural Issue

Welcome …

… to EXCHANGE STUDENT ISSUES! Exchange students come to the United States from dozens of countries, and while, in a normal year, they account for less than 1 of every 1000 students, they make a significant impact on high schools throughout the country. EXCHANGE STUDENT ISSUES will examine topics of interest to school administrators that involve the program that brings these future world leaders to the United States. Twice a month, we will look in front of and behind the scenes of why Senator J. William Fulbright said “Educational exchange can turn nations into people, contributing as no other form of communication can to the humanizing of international relations.”

Does This Surprise You?

Top Ten States Welcoming High School Exchange Students*

Which states attract the highest per school exchange students?  If you look around your school campus in OREGON you’re likely to see more international students per school than any other state in the country.  The top ten states with the most exchange students per high school are:

1. OREGON
2. INDIANA
3. MAINE
4. KANSAS
5. NEVADA
6. WISCONSIN
7. IDAHO
8. VERMONT
9. IOWA
10. ARKANSAS

What about at the District level?  You’ll find the top ten states with exchange students per school district in:

1. HAWAII
2. NEVADA
3. UTAH
4. FLORIDA
5. MARYLAND
6. IDAHO
7. NORTH CAROLINA
8. OREGON
9. LOUISIANA
10. INDIANA

*These rankings are from the 2018-2019 school year, the last full year of statistics that were not interrupted by the pandemic. 

Want to see just volume?  What were the five biggest states welcoming exchange students?

1. TEXAS
2. MICHIGAN
3. CALIFORNIA
4. INDIANA
5. WISCONSIN

In future EXCHANGE STUDENT ISSUES, we’ll be looking behind the statistics, and sharing news from Washington and around the world that impacts this important tool of our nation’s public diplomacy.  We look forward to sharing insights within our community.