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Prepare for a life-changing study abroad experience

Our High School Study Abroad Program

SYA has pioneered study abroad programs for high school students ever since launching in 1964. We believe education needs to integrate real-world experiences into day-to-day school life. We challenge students to take education into their own hands all while learning a new language and adapting to a different culture. After SYA, students are ready to take on the world with confidence and a better global perspective. So why not study abroad in high school when there’s so much to gain and little to lose?

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1964

SYA founded

10+

Scholarships offered

50%

Students receiving financial aid

90%

Alumni who still consider themselves moderately or highly fluent

8,000+

Alumni in the SYA community

93%

Alumni who continue to study a foreign language after SYA

124

Sending schools comprising the Class of 2023

79%

Alumni who agree that SYA strengthened their college application

France

Rennes, the capital of Brittany, allows you to experience the distinct Breton culture as you simultaneously master the French language and discover France’s place in the world.

Italy

Italy is a country of layers where ancient ruins and modern culture exist in harmony. SYA Italy will help you see how the two relate through experiential learning and interdisciplinary classes — all initially taught in English except for Italian.

Spain

SYA Spain is a study abroad program for high school students that will take you deep into the study of Spanish language and culture. Your home base, Zaragoza, is Spain’s fifth-largest city, located halfway between Madrid and Barcelona.

Co-Curriculars

Maybe you're looking to continue a particular activity or maybe you want to try something new — at each SYA campus, there is an Activities Coordinator to help you get involved!

Host Families

Host families play an integral part of the SYA experience. They foster  involvement in the community and provide an authentic means for learning about the country and culture as well as countless opportunities to develop language proficiency outside the classroom. 

Travel

Travel will take many forms at SYA — as a whole school, in smaller faculty-led groups and sometimes, independently in a small group of classmates. You'll travel not as a tourist, but as a resident of the host country in which you live.

The Latest from SYA

2022 SYA award honorees

SYA alumni, faculty and others make amazing things happen in the world. The SYA Awards Committee is pleased to announce this year's award recipients: Cheo Hodari Coker ES'89 (SYA Distinguished Alumni Award) and Margaret Conklin FR'74 (The Stephen M. Foster ES'65 Exemplary Service Award).

SYA Italy 20th

Nearly 300 SYAers gathered for the 20th Anniversary Celebration in Viterbo. SYA President Tom Hassan and Chair of the Board Holland Lynch FR’86 expressed their deep gratitude to all the faculty, staff, families and others from the City of Viterbo for their longstanding partnership. Current Resident Director Patrick Scanlon was also honored for his near 20 years of loyal service; this year he became the longest serving Resident Director in SYA’s history.

Capstone

This year, capstone projects ranged from interviewing cloistered nuns and religion professors in Zaragoza about why young women become nuns to creating a video showcasing how immigrants in Viterbo integrate into the local culture to studying the process of cheesemaking in Rennes and then actually producing cheese. There were countless exceptional projects and we are proud of our students for the ways in which they relied upon and engaged with the local resources available to them.

Goodbyes

Gretchen writes about struggling to say her goodbyes to her friends, teachers and to Rennes.