IUHPFL is open to Indiana high school students who are level III of Spanish, French, and German or level II of Chinese or Japanese. Over half (56%) of our students were Spanish students. The popularity of Spanish is likely because of the availability of Spanish as a foreign language option at Indiana high schools. Our second most popular language was French, with 33% of our students going to sites in France.
For the summer of 2022 we had the pleasure of hosting 133 students from 65 different high schools. Our students came from all regions of Indiana and attended a mix of both private and public high schools. Our highest concentration of students came from the Indianapolis area, Munster, Ft. Wayne, Bloomington, and the Evansville area.
Out of all of our students, 15.56% of them came from families who already speak another language at home. Some languages spoken at home include Spanish, Italian, German, and Arabic.
The most frequent language spoken at home, other than English, was Spanish. Spanish speaking households represented 57.14% of this year’s multilingual households.
We are proud to help the other 84% of students become first generation bilingual individuals!
133Indiana high school students
65Indiana high schools
6program sites
We are proud to offer our students a host of opportunities to volunteer while abroad. This year we offered activities ranging from helping the red cross spread awareness about LGBTQ+ stereotypes and issues during pride month to working at a charity market set up for Ukrainian refugees. Our Community Engagement activities not only give students a fun, meaningful way to engage with their host communities but also allow them to build deeper connections with each other.
To aid our students in the transition from life in America to IUHPFL life, we make sure time is scheduled in for our students to discuss both the positives and negatives in their lives at the moment.
We are very proud of how our teachers and students made these groups their own and tailored the time to what the students needed. Based off the responses to this year’s student exit survey, over 85% of our students found support groups helped students feel more connected to their peers and instructors. In addition, 80% of students felt support groups were a major factor in managing culture shock and 75% of students felt that the groups provided the emotional support they needed while abroad.
IUHPFL strives to impact our students’ lives beyond just improving their language skills. We aim to aid our students in preparing for college, increasing their maturity, building emotional intelligence, and many others. Every year we are delighted to hear how our students have harnessed their summer to grow as both language learners and as people. This year was no different. The following are some statistics showing how our students this year have grown from IUHPFL.
94%of students cited the Language Commitment as the most prolific factor in program success
83%of students listed their Host Families as the second most important factor
69%of students selected other program participants as their third most significant factor in their success
Overall, we can conclude that the summer of 2022 was a summer for the record books. It was our first summer post-pandemic travel shut downs, following years of zoom language education. We are proud as a program to have only 6 students out of 131 feel as if their program wasn’t as successful as it could have been. This metric shows us what we can work on so summer 2022 is even better!
IUHPFL provides an unparalleled opportunity for young adults to experience a world outside their own. They gain an understanding of other locations, languages and cultures. They make friends within the program and around the host cities. It is a safe, illuminating, giant step into the world.
This trip was a transformational experience for our son. He has grown in self-confidence, language proficiency, and vocational clarity. We are already making plans to provide this experience for his siblings. Our host family let us know she's ready for the little brother! We are grateful!
For me the structure of the program meant everything. All the great things that happened came from the structure of IUHPFL. The expectations and structure provided a foundation for all the other things to develop and grow.
IUHPFL greatly prides itself on doing our best to make sure every student who is passionate about language learning and willing to put in the work that IUHPFL commands is able to get the opportunity to participate. Because of this we make our best effort to secure as much funding for our students as possible.
For the summer of 2022 we secured $46,650 for our students. Forty of our forty three (93%) financial aid applicants received money. This is the highest percentage of students to receive funding yet. Compared to pre-pandemic numbers, the percentage of students who received funding is up 14.37 percentage points. To the left you can see our progression from 2015 on.
We are incredibly proud of our ability to assist our students!
Most of the funding provided to our students is sustained through the generosity of IUHPFL alumni. A majority of these alumni participated in IUHPFL in the 1960s, 70s, and 80s. Any alum is invited to join in fundraising, regardless of when they participated in IUHPFL.
Aside from scholarships, many students got creative with their fundraising! One student made an interest group with other IUHPFL students to brainstorm fundraising opportunities, many students got jobs, some families contacted local businesses, and others received contributions from their respective high schools.
