ASSIST — A Scholarship Year in America

What if you could spend one school year at one of America's best private schools, on scholarship, and come home transformed — with American teachers, American friends, and an American school on your transcript when you apply to universities?

That is exactly what ASSIST does, and it has been doing it since 1969.

What ASSIST Is#

ASSIST (American Secondary Schools for International Students and Teachers) is a nonprofit that places high-achieving international students on one-year merit scholarships at about 75 leading American independent schools. Over 6,300 students from 61 countries have done it.

The key word is one year. This is not a path to graduating from an American high school — you attend for one academic year, then return home to finish school. Occasionally a school invites a student to stay a second year, but you cannot request it. Think of ASSIST as a year that upgrades everything that comes after it.

The Scholarships#

• Sanderson Scholarship (full): the school covers full tuition plus room and board. Your family pays no tuition — but there IS a program fee, which for students applying from countries without an ASSIST office is listed at $15,000. That is a lot of money, and I will not pretend otherwise. Program-fee reduction awards exist for families who cannot pay — ask ASSIST directly about financial support before ruling yourself out.
• Lindfors Scholarship (partial): the school funds at least 50% of tuition; the family's program fee (around $37,500) covers the rest. This one is for families with some means.
• In both cases, families also cover travel, insurance, and visa costs.

For African students, one more important door: ASSIST runs the Davis International Scholars selection — the multi-year, full-need scholarships at Andover, Lawrenceville, Taft, Westminster, Emma Willard, and Milton that we covered in the last chapter, with university funding afterward. They explicitly target students from underrepresented regions, including Southern Africa, and the Davis Foundation's support changes the money picture completely. When you apply to ASSIST, indicate interest in the multi-year Davis option.

Who Can Apply#

• Students currently in the equivalent of US grade 9, 10, or 11 (most are placed into grades 10–11), roughly ages 14–18
• A/B-range grades — ASSIST is a merit program
• Proficient English, tested via the Duolingo English Test for most international applicants
• No previous US exchange year

ASSIST has national coordinators in about 21 countries — mostly Europe, plus Colombia and Southern Africa — but here is the sentence that matters: students from any other country are still welcome to apply, handled directly by ASSIST's US office. Students from partner schools in Somaliland (Abaarso and Pharo) are even exempt from the program fee.

How and When to Apply#

For direct applicants (no coordinator in your country):

1. Applications open in July–August
2. Application + transcript due December 1 (application fee: $35)
3. Three teacher recommendations + a parent statement by December 21
4. Duolingo English Test
5. Virtual interviews in January
6. Decisions in February

Apply at assistscholars.org

Is ASSIST Worth It?#

If your family can manage (or get help with) the program fee: absolutely. One year in an American classroom does three things — it makes your English near-native, it gives you teachers who can write you powerful US university recommendations, and it puts a respected American school on your record. Students come back from ASSIST years and win university scholarships that would never have happened otherwise.

If the program fee is simply impossible and no reduction is available, focus your energy on UWC and the need-blind boarding schools — those paths can be genuinely free.