Future Leaders Exchange (FLEX) Program

Benefits & funding

• Round-trip travel between the student’s home city and the U.S. host community.
• One academic year with a volunteer host family, plus enrollment at a U.S. high school.
• A monthly stipend for personal and social expenses; the Poland office lists USD 200 a month plus a USD 300 allowance for school supplies.
• Medical insurance, excluding pre-existing conditions and dental care.
• Pre-departure orientation at home and a re-entry orientation after the year, then access to alumni programs and grants.
• No fees at any stage: the Romania office states that registration, testing and participation are free.
• Not covered: passport costs, spending beyond the stipend, excess baggage, phone and internet bills.

Eligibility

• Citizenship of one of the 18 recruiting countries: Armenia, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Mongolia, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan.
• Enrolled in a secondary school in that same country when applying. Eligible grades are set locally: 9th or 10th grade in Lithuania, 9th to 11th grade in Romania, the first three years of liceum or technikum in Poland.
• Age is set by a birth-date window that each country office publishes for the cycle. For 2026-27 Lithuania asked for applicants born between 15 July 2008 and 15 July 2011, Romania between 1 January 2009 and 31 December 2010, and Poland between 15 July 2009 and 15 July 2011, widened to 15 February 2009 to 15 July 2012 for applicants with disabilities. Because the windows differ by country, no single age limit is recorded in the structured fields.
• Working English at registration; the level is tested during selection (Poland uses the ELTiS test).
• Good academic standing at school.
• Able to meet U.S. J-1 visa requirements, with no more than about 90 days spent in the United States over the previous five years, and no immigration to the United States by the applicant or the family.
• Applicants who also hold U.S. citizenship cannot take part.
• Students with disabilities are encouraged to apply. Close to 400 have taken part since 1993, and some country offices widen the birth-date window for them.

Application process

1. 1
   Check the American Councils office for your country when recruitment opens in the autumn; each office publishes its own dates and testing cities.
2. 2
   Round 1: file the online application with three short essays before the country deadline (Ukraine allowed five days from starting the form, Romania ten days from the round opening).
3. 3
   Round 2: sit the online English test if invited after round 1.
4. 4
   Round 3: attend an in-person interview and English test, write further essays, and complete the full application with family documents.
5. 5
   Files go to Washington, D.C., where the selection committee makes the final decision; results reach candidates in the spring.
6. 6
   Finalists complete visa formalities and a pre-departure orientation, then travel in the summer.

Program timeline

1. 13 August 2025

   Registration opened in Ukraine for the 2026-27 year.

2. Ukraine application deadline.

   16 September 2025

3. Lithuania application deadline.

   23 September 2025

4. Romania opened its round with a ten-day application window.

   November 2025

5. Semifinal interviews and testing in country.

   January to February 2026

6. Results announced.

   April to May 2026

7. Selected students travel to the United States.

   August 2026

8. Students return home.

   May to June 2027

9. Recruitment for the next program year is expected to open.

   Fall 2026