About CIEE

CIEE: Council on International Educational Exchange is the leading U.S. non-governmental international education organization. CIEE creates and administers programs that allow high school and university students, graduates, and educators to study, teach, intern, and work abroad.

Into the postwar world of 1947, CIEE launched the next generation of study abroad programs, the first since they’d been suspended during World War II. Senators and scholars worried about how to increase international understanding and establish trust between nations. As soon as there was enough capacity aboard trans-Atlantic ships to carry students, CIEE programs began teaching.

For U.S. high school and university students, CIEE now administers over 120 Study Abroad, High School Abroad, and Gap Year Abroad programs in more than 40 host countries and Teach Abroad programs in Chile, China, Dominican Republic, South Korea, Spain, and Thailand. Educators can participate in more than 20 summer International Faculty Development Seminars, and the CIEE Annual Conference.

For international university students and recent graduates interested in experiencing life in the U.S., CIEE offers both the Work & Travel USA program and the Trainee program. CIEE Work & Travel USA is designed for overseas students to become more than tourists, experiencing life in the U.S. firsthand by working alongside U.S. citizens in temporary employment. CIEE has been designated by the U.S. State Department to administer this J-1 Visa program since 1969. During its 20 years as administrator of the Trainee program, CIEE has supported more than 50,000 participants in their endeavor to expand their knowledge and skills and to enhance their professional qualifications through training programs in the U.S. The knowledge and experience accumulated over this time, along with an enduring commitment to quality, has allowed CIEE to remain the largest sponsor in this category and an overall leader in program administration.

CIEE also offers international high school students the opportunity to attend high school in the U.S. while living with an American family through the CIEE USA High School Program. CIEE presently has over 1,400 high school students from 55 different countries living in communities throughout the U.S. on a five or ten month academic program. Host families invite students into their homes to fully participate in all aspects of family and community life, and CIEE Local Coordinators build relationships with local schools and communities by helping students to immerse themselves academically and culturally during their time in the U.S.

The CIEE iNext card provides travel insurance coverage—accident, sickness, hospital, transport, repatriation, baggage, and document - fulfilled through a partnership with Travel Guard®, the world's leading travel insurer. CIEE provides the iNext card free of charge to its educational program participants and is pleased to be able to offer the iNext Travel Card for purchase by other U.S. students and youth with plans to travel abroad.

Who could argue? We need understanding and trust more than ever today. Gain that understanding and build that trust through a CIEE program.