Our History
1981
Ayusa (Academic Year in the U.S.A.) International founded as a non-profit in San Francisco. Offices are located in the "Icehouse," a renovated warehouse near the Embarcadero in San Francisco.
1982
Ayusa begins offering J-1 visa programs as a U.S. Designated Exchange Visitor Program Sponsor.
1983
Ayusa receives a grant from the U.S. Information Agency (USIA) to expand exchanges with the Intermountain States.
1984
Ayusa becomes a founding member of the Council on Standards for International Educational Travel (CSIET). Ayusa is approved for listing by CSIET, and has been approved for listing each year since.
1985
Ayusa receives a grant from USIA to open a Regional Center in Tokyo. Asian programs begin.
1988
Ayusa launches Study Abroad programs for American students to travel to Japan and Western Europe.
1989
Ayusa Central and Eastern Europe Regional Center (AICEE) opens in Belgrade, Yugoslavia.
1990
Ayusa opens Ayusa Germany in Stuttgart, Germany.
1993
Ayusa selected by USIA to operate the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange (CBYX) with Germany.
1994
Ayusa selected by USIA to operate Freedom Support Act Future Leaders Exchange (FSA/FLEX) with the Newly Independent States (NIS) of the Soviet Union.
1996
Ayusa Germany moves to Berlin, Germany.
1997
Ayusa selected as the international youth exchange provider to Kiwanis International and Key Club International service clubs worldwide. Ayusa Andean Regional Center opens in Quito, Ecuador.
1999
U.S. Information Agency incorporated into the U.S. Department of State. Ayusa Grant programs operate under the auspices of Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.
2000
Ayusa selected by the U.S. Department of State to operate The Serbian Youth Leadership Program.
2001
Ayusa Southern Africa Regional Center opens in Johannesburg, South Africa.
2003
Ayusa awarded major grant from the U.S. Department of State to administer the Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study Program (YES), an academic year program for students from predominantly Islamic countries.
2007
With generous funding from the U.S. Department of State, Ayusa awards eight full scholarships to Seattle public school students for a four-week exchange in Rabat, Morocco.
2009
Ayusa is selected to pilot a new U.S. Department of State program, YES Outbound, sending select U.S. students to Mali, Oman, and Morocco for the fall academic semester 2009.
2010
Ayusa receives a grant to conduct the Mexico Youth Leadership Program or Jóvenes en Acción. Jointly sponsored by the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City, the Mexican Ministry of Education, and private sector companies in Mexico, 50 Mexican students participate in the pilot program.
2011
Thirty-year total: Ayusa has been recipient to more than 50 prestigious grants sponsored by the U.S. Department of State and other organizations totaling more than $75,000,000. Ayusa adopts new logo and identity and stops using acronym Academic Year in the U.S.A.
