NWSE Alumni

30 Years of NWSE

Since 1987, NorthWest Student Exchange has provided thousands of high school students, host families, high schools, and other program participants with educational and international cultural exchange experiences that have created life-long personal relationships and expanded their career and networking opportunities.

This page is a place for NWSE alumni to re-connect over your time in the NWSE community and explore career networking opportunities with other alumni. Please join our community if you have been involved with NWSE as a participant, host family, coordinator, or team member, and share your professional endeavors and accomplishments with us.

Share your Story or Photos!

Networking Opportunities

We all do our own things, know different groups of people, and have our own unique experiences. This means we all have something valuable to contribute to the NWSE Alumni network.

See what fellow NWSE Alumni are up to and join our new NWSE LinkedIn Group! It’s a place for our Alumni to reconnect over your time in the NWSE community, reminisce about your exchange, talk about the future, and explore potential career and business opportunities with other NWSE Alumni.

Who should join? Former NWSE students, host families, coordinators, and team members. Share your professional endeavors and accomplishments!

Join Today!

NWSE’s Next Exchange Student!

Encourage others to have the same amazing experience you had. Maybe you’ve heard from other families, friends or students who are interested in our high school exchange program?

Your NWSE Team is now accepting applications for our Direct Placement program. This program is designed for students who already know a family in the U.S. who would like to host them. Students begin classes in Fall 2018.

If you know a student who would like to study abroad and has a host family in mind, please let us know. We will contact them and help them put their plan into action!

For each participant that successfully comes to the U.S. through your referral, we will provide you with a $175 Thank You reward – or we will donate that amount to a nonprofit organization of your choice.

Contact Us

Faces of 30 Years

We’re all NWSE Alumni, but the worlds we live in are all very different, and each one of us has their own unique story and experiences. Meet participants of the past 30 years whose lives were influenced by the time they spent abroad as an exchange student.

View Stories

Giving Back

To maintain a diverse student population, we try to make the NWSE experience financially accessible to deserving and talented students from all backgrounds. Consider supporting an extraordinary student today by donating to the NWSE scholarship fund.

Donate to NWSE

Gain U.S. Work Experience

For NWSE alumni looking for ways to return to the U.S. as an intern in their specialty field of study or work, check out the J-1 visa Intern, Trainee, Teacher, and Summer Work Travel programs of our partner organization Center for International Career Development (CICD)!

Learn More


 

Submit Your Story or Photos!

We’re all NWSE Alumni, but the worlds we live in are all very different, and each one of us has our own unique story and experiences. By telling us about all the achievements and milestones in your life, you will inspire others. Let us know, for example, when you start (or finish) college, when you get married, or when a future NWSE alum joins your family. We want to hear when you win an award, publish a book, or get a great new job.


  • Your Story/News/Comments and any contact information you would like published with your note.
  • Drop files here or

“[My host family and I] had directly a good connection to each other. I feel now I have another family in America… We had a great relationship with a lot…

Lisa from Germany

“What I love the most about my exchange in America is my host family. I will definitely come back to America to see them and all my friends. The food, school,…

Sol from Spain

“[NWSE’s] choices of school, the host family, and the coordinator were great! My exchange experience supported by NWSE was valuable and memorable. I would like to recommend NWSE as an…

Namiki from Japan

“I think the greatest reward I got from my exchange was not only the better English skills but also every experience and lesson I had learned. It changed myself and…

Nawaporn from Thailand
Read More