FLEX (Future Leaders Exchange) Program

The FLEX (Future Leaders Exchange) Program is a competitive secondary-school student exchange that places Georgian high-school students in the United States for a one-year academic exchange. Finalists are selected through a multi-stage competition administered by an independent Washington-based commission and include online application, essays, language testing and interviews. Participants receive travel to and from the United States, a monthly stipend and health insurance while in the U.S., and live with host families and attend American schools.

Round-trip travel to/from the U.S.; monthly stipend; health insurance; placement with a host family; attendance at a U.S. school; cultural exchange opportunities.

Open to Georgian general-education school students in specified grades and birth-date ranges: typically applicants in grades 9–11 (born between 2007-01-01 and 2009-07-16). Students with disabilities have alternative grade and birth-date criteria (grades 8–12; born between 2006-02-15 and 2009-07-15). Applicants must be Georgian citizens, enrolled and studying at a school in Georgia, have not lived in the U.S. for three months or more in the last five years, and have English proficiency.

Multi-stage competitive process: online application with essays and recommendations, online English test, live semifinal with interview and testing, and final selection by an independent commission.