Student Leaders Exchange

SLE to China, 2007

Exchange to China
Since 2004, the National Committee has been selecting twelve U.S. Presidential Scholars to participate in the yearly U.S.-China Student Leaders Exchange. (Presidential Scholars is a designation annually conferred upon 141 American graduating high school seniors nationwide by the U.S. Department of Education; for more, see www.ed.gov/programs/psp.)

For the young American participants, the heart of the program is a two-week study visit to China during the summer between high school and college. Americans participants learn about China's successes and challenges and have unusual opportunities to meet and exchange ideas with their Chinese counterparts as a consequence of home stays throughout most of the program.

The China SLE was seriously one of the defining experiences of my life thus far, if not THE defining experience. It had a perfect balance of tourism, education, fun, academics, discussion, international experience, and free time to see the country through the eyes of a resident…. Just, WOW.

Exchange to the United States
Since 2007, the Student Leaders Exchange has also been bringing twelve outstanding Chinese senior high school students to the United States for two weeks.

The U.S. visit includes many of the same types of activities enjoyed by the students' American counterparts: homestays, student-student interactions, university and high school visits, traditional sightseeing, etc. The program also includes a community service component.