We've hosted through ASSE many times and have always had a great experience. They give very thorough information on what to expect and how to have a good exchange year. Our Area Representatives (we've had a couple as we have moved or they have moved) are in contact monthly and the few times we've had any issues (teens are teens no matter what country they are from lol) have been great at giving advice. We've learned a lot about other cultures as we've hosted from 7 different countries! And in our region the larger group gets together a few times each year, letting our exchange kids hang out with other exchange students and we get to meet up with other host parents. We will continue hosting through ASSE and highly recommended them. read more

A cynical money machine - $15,000 wasted and a total breach of trust It is appalling to experience how ASSE operates as a pure money machine. We paid over DKK 100,000 to send our son on the most important journey of his life, but instead of care and responsibility, we were met with cynical assembly-line work. The well-being and human needs of the individual student are completely ignored. The biggest failure is their cold and deficient communication. There is zero coordination between the offices in Denmark and the USA, meaning vital information regarding our son never reaches the host family properly. ASSE even prioritizes sending promotional materials to the host family for future recruitment rather than ensuring the safety and well-being of the current student. Handling important messages about a child via a short, cold text message to the host family is deeply irresponsible. Furthermore, the local office in Denmark is virtually unreachable, leaving repeated calls unanswered. We are clearly not alone in this; currently, a staggering 32% of ASSE's reviews are 1-star ratings, which speaks volumes about their lack of accountability. We feel our money has been completely wasted on an organization that has lost its sense of responsibility. There are many other exchange organizations to choose from, so do yourself a favor and pick another one. Do you really dare to take the chance with your child? Stay far away from ASSE. read more

Would not recommend. This was our first time hosting and the coordination doesn't seem to be there. We were told a student needed an emergency placement and no there were no other families available and this was an unpaid placement. We spoke to the student and her local coordinator and thought we would be a great match. Because it was midway into the school year, it took a lot of legwork from myself and the local ASSE volunteer (who was really great) by getting my family approved to calling and writing letters to schools to have her accepted. After many hurdles, we finally got her accepted into local school school. But, then the next day, we were told she is being sent to another family because her region was prioritized. Even though we were the first to answer the call and made it clear we all the work we'd been doing to help her. The student was also shocked as she was told they were waiting on school approval to then, being told they bought a ticket for her and that she leaves in two days to somewhere else. They should have at least checked in about what they were doing and spoke to us about where we are at before making decisions. This was handled so poorly. The student was already having a difficult time then had to experience this whiplash. As for the student, we found out about her need to find a host family through her own postings. ASSE did not post anything public about her. This likely made her feel unsupported and in fear of being sent home. ASSE really needs to work out these kinks so not to hurt the students and waste people's time and effort. To keep the host family, the volunteer staff, and student in the dark, while they work hard to make things happen only to place the student somewhere else due to convenience, shows what their priorities are. read more

Stay away from this organisation! My son attended an exchange student program starting last September. He was repeatedly verbally abused by both host father and mother and hit by host sister for no reason (witnesses available for everything stated). When beginning of November he was informed by host mother, out of the blue, he had to pack and leave, ASSE didn't do much of all the things we had been told before signing the contract. My son had to spend 17 additional days in that (dysfunctional) family, ignored by everyone other than the other exchange student, being left on his own when all the others would go out for dinner and being addressed to only to be asked if he knew when he would leave. 7000 km away, it has been very difficult to resist the temptation to go, get him and take him back... Please, before you entrust your children to this organisation, ask for guarantees of their behaviour and reaction time in case something goes wrong... read more

We had a wonderful experience with ASSE. Our daughter spent a year abroad in Germany and it was one of the most memorable experiences in her life. There were a few hiccups on my daughter's part and the ASSE team was fabulous with their response and assistance. We had some issues with her medically and they were competent and supportive. Would recommend them 100%. Thank you for everything! read more

Great program for exchange students both outgoing and incoming. Wonderful opportunity for families to learn about other countries/cultures!

Our first experience with this company was great. We had a great student who fit into our family and shared her culture with us. The second year that we were going to host, we decided to host two, what a mistake. One girl was from Poland and the other was from the Ukraine. The Polish girl was a big problem. She thought that we should drive her an hour one way every weekend so she could go to the mall. She smoked in the house and at school,was lazy, not wanting to do anything but what she wanted to do. She would constantly complain to kids at school and the area rep that we weren't allowing her to do anything. That made life for my daughter hell in school. Luckily her friends didn't believe the girl. We had them both moved and the asse rep blamed us. I didn't expect much more than that from T.T. Once the Polish girl got placed in a new home, she got a tattoo and went through half of the graduating class males. This company is a joke and so is the area rep. read more

Avoid this program. Absolutely no support from administration. From the looks of it, both inbound and outbound. We were outbound. Money is all they are after, they don't care about the experience. Very disappointing. read more

We joined the program and hosted a high school student from Japan (2006-2007 school year). She was a delightful young girl and got along with my daughter. Both girls had fun and made wonderful memories. They both participated in music activities through the school band program. I was always impressed with how hard she studied and achieved her best even though it was not her first language. We're really grateful we did this program because we learned a lot about generosity, how to truly give and expect nothing in return. Although she lives on the other side of the world, we were able to stay in touch with her family. I highly recommend to anyone who is interested in exposing themselves or their family to a different culture. It will certainly expand their world view and open doors for new adventures. More importantly, it was a great way to practice true hospitality and a practical way to display the love of Christ. read more

Do not open your home to a foreign exchange student through this program. Just a couple hours ago, without warning (we were never even offered a mediation), our exchange student, without our permission, opened our home's front door to two strangers who were here to pick her up and take her from our home. The area reps were verbally abusive to us, would not offer an explanation, would not wear masks in our own home and finally ended up screaming, abusively, so loudly at us that neighbors looked out their doors at us - in our own home. Our exchange student had a history of pirating movies (caught and reported to us by our provider, risking our own family safety), smoking pot (at least), stealing our daughter's birth control and lying, pathologically. But somehow, we were treated as though WE, myself, my husband and my 8 and 9 year old children, were the bad guys. Finally we felt so harassed by the ASSE reps that we had to call the police. The police turned up and the reps finally left with the exchange student, leaving our family traumatized and sickened by their revolting behavior. I'm going to contact ASSE formally, the foreign affairs department and anyone who will listen to us and what we have just endured at the hands of deeply troubling, unprofessional abuse toward my family. read more

If you are planning on hosting an exchange student, do NOT choose this company. They do NOT support host families at all if an issue arises as happened in our home, even though they said at the parent meeting before the student came that they would help families resolve issues with their students before looking at moving the student to another family. An incident arose with our student and my spouse where feelings were hurt and my spouse snapped at the student out of frustration. The student spoke to our rep. about it as they were upset and so we told the rep. we planned on talking to the student to work things out, but the rep. told us to wait till they could be involved, which ended up being a week and a half later. This gave the student time to get more and more upset about what happened, complain to their parents, and then decide to go to another family without even telling us prior to the meeting. So, we go into the meeting thinking we would be coming up with a plan to resolve the issue when we were totally blindsided by the student saying they wanted to go. We have now been told, by the student NOT the rep., they will be leaving in a few days. This is has been totally devastating to us and wish we had checked out the reviews of this company before choosing it for getting an exchange student. If I could give them 0 stars, I would! read more