Competition for Future Leaders Exchange program started

The Future Leaders Exchange (FLEX) Program is a competitive scholarship opportunity for eligible secondary school students to spend an academic year in the U.S.

Created in 1992 by the United States Congress, FLEX is a year-long, fully funded exchange program for secondary school students to travel to the United States for one academic year. Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State and now in its 25th year, the FLEX program has provided scholarships to over 27,000 secondary school students from Europe, Eurasia, and Central Asia. The program promotes mutual understanding between citizens of Lithuania and the United States. Each scholarship recipient will live for one year as a member of a U.S. host family and study in an American high school. Secondary school students with disabilities are invited to participate in the competition, and approximately 20 become finalists each year.

“After the FLEX program, the whole world changed for me,” one FLEX alumna says. “I met so many people in America, heard a lot of different opinions. I learned and tried many new things during this year. If you are unsure about participating in FLEX, I definitely recommend you do this. Broaden your mind, learn, try, enjoy, and share your culture.”

Through FLEX, students from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Ukraine have the opportunity to learn about the people and culture of the United States, and are also young ambassadors who teach Americans about the people and cultures of their home countries. Students gain an appreciation for and develop sensitivity to other cultures, experience personal growth and independence, and become better prepared for adulthood in an increasingly interdependent world. Students form strong ties with their American host families and U.S. communities, building relationships that often last a lifetime.

Competition for the FLEX program 2018-19 is open to all secondary school students in Lithuania who:

- have Lithuanian citizenship;

- are born between 15 July 2000 and 15 July 2003;

- are currently enrolled in grade 9 or 10;

- study English in secondary school;

- meet the requirements for receiving a U.S. visa and have not spent more than 3 months of the last five years in the U.S.

For more information on the application process, please visit http://discoverflex.org/. Application can be completed at https://ais.americancouncils.org/flex/. Please note the deadline for applications is October 17, 2017. 

About American Councils

American Councils for International Education organizes recruitment, selection, orientation, and travel arrangements for the FLEX program. Founded in 1974, American Councils is an international non-profit organization working to improve mutual understanding between countries, exchange ideas among individuals, and enhance collaboration through education. It designs, implements, and supports innovative programs in the United States, Europe, Eurasia, the Middle East, Asia, and Africa. Over the past 40 years, American Councils has become one of the premier U.S. international education and training organizations. It administers more than 30 exchange and training programs, including several U.S. government programs for secondary school students, university and graduate students, teachers, and professors.