AFS provides students with an opportunity to learn about Japan and Japanese through living with a host family, being part of a community and attending classes at a local senior high school.
Students are placed with a volunteer (non-paid) host family and go to a public/private senior high school without paying tuition. Students are expected to attend school on a regular basis, and show continued effort to their assigned school work. While most students go to ordinary senior high schools, some go to secondary schools (a combination of junior and senior high schools) or Colleges of Technology (KOSEN, a combination of senior high school and junior college which focus on engineering). In any case, students attend classes of Grade 10-12th (most likely 10th or 11th). Some private schools have religious backgrounds and students may be asked to take part in religious activities as a part of school life. In addition, 20-30% of AFS host schools are boys/girl’s schools.
Students are assigned to one of 60-70 local chapters in Japan, where they will receive regular support while on the program.