Students from any accredited American secondary school may apply to spend their junior or senior year with SYA. On rare occasion, SYA will also admit a high school graduate seeking additional academic training before entering college. Please call the home office for details. Students applying to SYA in Rennes or Zaragoza must be currently enrolled in at least level two of French or Spanish. For SYA China and Italy, however, we accept applications from students at all levels, including those who would like to begin the study of Mandarin or Latin and Italian with us.

Each year SYA has space for approximately 60 students at each one of its four schools. In recent years we have received about three applications for every two places in the program, so it is fair to say that admissions are competitive without being "impossible." Admission is based on academic record, testing, essays, teacher recommendations and an interview. Our generous, need-based financial aid program and China Merit Scholarships help us build a student body that represents America’s diversity to our European and Asian counterparts.