Summer Work and Travel: A Win-Win Situation for All
By Laura Rose, CEO, Center for Cultural Interchange
The preamble of the U.S. government’s Fulbright-Hays Act of 1961 states that its purpose is to “increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and… other countries by means of educational and cultural exchange; to strengthen the ties which unite us… to promote international cooperation for educational and cultural advancement; and thus to assist in the development of friendly, sympathetic, and peaceful relations between the United States and the other countries of the world.”
Since its inception, the U.S. Department of State has instituted a variety of cultural exchange programs to promote the objectives of the Fulbright-Hays Act, but there are none that offer a larger number of young people the opportunity to benefit more from these venerable ideals than the Summer Work & Travel (SWT) Program.
Requiring neither the support of government scholarships nor significant investments on the part of the participants, the SWT is an affordable cultural exchange program that enables some 100,000 internationally enrolled university students, many of modest means, to visit the U.S. each year on a short-term J-1 visa during their summer break. With the low program costs offset by the pay they earn in a variety of industries as seasonal support staff across the nation, these young people report having substantive experiences that permit them to return to their home countries with an invariably improved view of the U.S.
Because the jobs these exchange students perform are seasonal and primarily related to the tourist industry, the Summer Work and Travel participants satisfy a tremendous need by American employers to fill jobs in areas with comparatively low populations apart from the tourist season. Many companies attest to the fact that once they have visited their local high schools, colleges and job fairs in order to hire qualified American workers, they turn to the international SWT program to fill their remaining needs, enabling them to successfully operate their businesses each year.
Additionally, SWT program employers testify to the tremendous benefit enjoyed by their customers, American employees and their communities through the opportunity to interact positively with these international exchange students, thereby improving their own perspectives of the world.
As a means to capture the positive spirit of the students, employers and American co-workers who have the opportunity to work side-by-side, the Alliance for International Educational and Cultural Exchange, in cooperation with CCI and the contribution of several program sponsors, has created a short video to share some of their heart-warming views.
As we reflect on the laudable ideals of the Fulbright-Hays Act, we can be assured that the Summer Work & Travel program is one of its most accessible and significant contributors to its goals, providing a win-win situation for all.
