The American dream has become a reality for many Italian children. Thanks to StudyAway, the new start-up in Turin that organizes cultural exchange programs in the United States, born out of the initiative of important investors such as Buffetti, Docsity, Dylog and Pigna, students will be able to live an experience abroad to allow themselves to participate in the joy of discovery and immersion in a new cultural and linguistic context It can enhance their personal and professional growth. StudyAway is set up as a solution to the growing demand for students interested in living the study abroad experience and brings together a team of experts in the international mobility sector, providing advisory, management and support services to students and families. Contrary to other facts, StudyAway offers study programs only in North America, with a level of specialization that allows it to develop strong collaborative relationships with local partners and to represent a point of reference for families. In Italy, more than 10,000 second-year students participate in various cultural exchange programs each year. Of these, nearly a third of the total (about 30%) choose to live the American Dream thanks to the Intercultural Exchange Program (J1), the program for 15-18 year olds who intend to spend one or more semesters. The school year in the United States, attending an American high school, welcomed by a local host family.
Increasing request
StudyAway was born with the goal of providing students and families with the tools to make this training path possible. – Over the years, we have registered a growing demand of students who dream of living this experience abroad and especially in the United States, even if they are partly afraid of bureaucracy, announced Eleonora Calvos, CEO of StudyAway, through the organization of accommodation and language. Precisely for this reason, we have built a team that has great knowledge of all the dynamics of international mobility, but above all lived the same experience, and thus is able to guide the students step by step in preparing the necessary documents and in the identification of family, host and school, as well as in all pre-departure practices Administration and support during stay abroad. We want to be a real reference point for families and students, so that they can better enjoy the life experience.”
Italy is the third country in the world for student visas
According to data from the US State Department and processed by StudyAway, Italy is the third country in the world in the number of visas issued to high school students, after only Germany and Spain. Referring to the “Secondary Student” program alone, in 2021, 2,870 young Italians had a period of study in the USA, i.e. 15.5% of the total of 18,486 students from all over the world. A slightly higher number compared to 2019, when 2,726 Italians left, and 2,328 in 2018. Even in a horrific year marked by the pandemic, Italians who left were 762, the second largest group. Starting this year, StudyAway offers 70 guaranteed seats and a dedicated counseling service to guide parents and students throughout the trip, providing tools for obtaining a visa and planning and managing the experience, providing a network of local partners to facilitate the search for schools and host families. Upon returning to Italy, StudyAway will also take care of assisting the student in obtaining the necessary documents for reintegration into the school. In addition, Scholarships for Partial Coverage of Academic Merit will be awarded to all students with a grade point average above 8, regardless of income requirements.
“Prone to fits of apathy. Introvert. Award-winning internet evangelist. Extreme beer expert.”
