Council
on Standards
for International
Educational
Travel
What is CSIET?
The Council on Standards for International
Educational Travel (CSIET) is a not-for-profit organization committed
to quality international travel and exchange. It establishes standards
for organizations operating international educational travel and exchange
programs at the high school level, monitors compliance with those standards,
and disseminates information regarding international educational travel
organizations. CSIET also accepts COMPLAINTS
as well as compliments regarding specific exchange organizations.
Those comments are reviewed annually in CSIET's evaluation of youth exchange
programs.
Why was CSIET established?
With the announcement of President Reagan's International Youth Exchange
Initiative in 1982, schools and communities were encouraged to become more
involved in youth exchange programs. As this occurred, the educational
community, community volunteer groups, and sponsors of educational exchange
and travel programs realized the need for standards and a monitoring process
in the student exchange and travel field.
In response, the International Youth Exchange Office of the United States
Information Agency commissioned a study by the council of Chief State School
Officers. The study assessed the need for industry-wide exchange
standards and pointed out a number of problems and potential problems in
the exchange and international educational travel field. It indicated that
many school systems and communities felt a lack of standards in the field
and were often reluctant to encourage participation because of uncertainties
about the quality of the program. The study recommended prompt action
by the private sector to develop and implement standards for the exchange
industry.
In response to this study report, representatives of a group of educational
associations, community/volunteer-based groups, and exchange program sponsors
met during 1984 to consider and develop standards and a system of program
evaluation. As a result, the Council on Standards for International
Educational Travel (CSIET) came into being in December, 1984.
CSIET Standards
CSIET standards apply to for-profit and not-for-profit programs, long and
short duration experiences, and homestay and travel programs for U.S. high
school students going abroad and for high school students from foreign
countries coming to the United States. The CSIET
Standards cover; Educational Perspective, Organziational Profile, Financial
Responsibility, Promotion, Student Selection and Orientation, Student Placement,
Operations, Student Insurance, and Afherence to Government Regulations.
CSIET Listing
CSIET annually publishes the Advisory
List
as a service to schools, prospective international high school students,
and host families. The Advisory List provides a resource from which
prospective exchange students and/or their parents and school leaders can
confidently glean an understanding of the scope, background, and operations
of programs that have been reviewed. The Advisory List includes descriptions
of exchange organizations which, upon evaluation, were found to be in compliance
with the CSIET standards and were accepted for listing. Advisory
List organizations are listed according to one of three Categories
. These categories were designed by the CSIET Board of Directors to encourage
organizations to administer their programs according to the highest possible
standards and to permit the Evaluation Committee to accurately and fairly
reflect its conclusions. CSIET only publishes information about
International youth exchange programs that have been evaluated according
to the standards and
accepted for listing.
To Get the Advisory Listing.....
To order the Advisory List please send your request and a check for $17.50
(VA residents add 4.5% sales tax) to the
address below. For overseas orders the cost is $22.50 including postage
and handling.
CSIET
212 S. Henry Street
Alexandria, VA 22314
Phone: 703/739-9050
Fax: 703/739-9035
Email: mailbox@csiet.org