High School in the Netherlands

Hallo!

Get a first-hand look the three principles of the Dutch school system; independence, cooperation and problem-solving on Greenheart Travel’s Dutch Language and Culture Program. As a high school study abroad or gap year student, you’ll ride a bike to your local Dutch high school, make life-long Dutch friends and learn about European art and history with the museum pass that gives you access to any museum in the country!

Greenheart Travel’s program is ideal if you:

• Love the idea of making cycling your main mode of transportation
• Love learning – history, arts, and culture are some of your favorite topics!
• Are academically independent – you might as well be in college!
• Can’t wait to embrace the Dutch language. Bring it on! (Psst! If you’re a beginner, no worries. A Dutch language course is included in your program!)

Sound like you? We thought so. Here’s the program at a glance:

• Host family accommodation provides full language & cultural immersion
• You can choose between short-term, trimester, semester or academic year lengths – short-term programs available upon request!
• Students staying three months or less can choose to be placed in bilingual schools for an additional fee (ease into the Dutch language!)
• A straightforward online application process
• Start dates in spring or fall

What do past participants say about studying abroad in the Netherlands?

“You and your team abroad truly did a wonderful job! Thank you! We greatly appreciated all the prompt and timely communications. We would recommend Greenheart Travel to others interested in pursuing student exchange travel abroad.” – Dave and Tammy Dunn, parents of exchange student in the Netherlands, Izzy Dunn.

Please note we have a very limited amount of spots for our program in the Netherlands and spots could (and do) fill before the listed deadline. If you are set on a certain start date– please apply early! 

Spring 2025 Dates

Please note we have a very limited amount of spots for our program in the Netherlands and spots could (and do) fill before the listed deadline. If you are set on a certain start date– please apply early! 

Application Deadline: September 15, 2024
Apply early and save! Apply by June 15, 2024 and save $300 off a trimester or semester program and $500 off an academic year program. 

• Trimester: January 6 – April 6, 2025
• Semester: January 6 – July 20, 2025
• Academic Year: January 6 – October 26, 2025

You’ll know your exact arrival and departure dates after being placed in a host family and in a school! Program dates vary depending on region and school placement.

Looking for a program shorter than 3 months? 2-month programs may be available on a case-by-case basis. Email travelapplications@greenheart.org to discuss your options with a Program Manager.

Arrival and Departure 

All students are required to book flights on their own. An airport transfer upon arrival is included in the cost of the program. We will provide your exact arrival and departure dates after acceptance, as well as the exact timeframes you should arrive/depart, so that you can start to search for possible flights. We require prior approval of a proposed itinerary before you purchase any flights.

Nervous about flying on your own? We recommend students and parents sitting down together to review the following resources:

• How to navigate an international airport blog
• Flying internationally video
• Webinar with tips on flying internationally

For many Greenheart Travel students their first time flying is across the world to start their exchange program! You can read our alumni experiences on our blog, such as Emily’s or Madison’s blogs on their experiences flying to Japan or Rachel’s tips on what you actually need to know about flying.

Any arrival or departure outside of your assigned window will incur $300 fee.

Program Fees for Fall 2024 – Spring 2025

• Academic Trimester: $9,890
• Academic Semester: $12,060
• Academic Year: $14,890

Packaged into the Price:

• Airport pickup upon arrival
• Host family accommodation and 3 meals per day
• High school placement and enrollment fees 
• Comprehensive medical/accident insurance
• Online Dutch language course (20 hours before arrival + 12 weeks during the program)
• 6-Day arrival orientation with Dutch local coordinators for semester and year-long students, 4-day orientation for short-term programs (sightseeing, Dutch language, cultural training, etc.)
• Certificate of Completion upon successful completion of the program for use on college applications
• Your own personal bike during your time in the Netherlands to use to get around or to school every day
• Local outings organized by your local coordinator (one per semester included)
• Museum pass valid in all museums throughout the country
• Access to Greenheart Travel Facebook groups to connect with alumni and others on your start date ahead of your program.
• Greenheart Atlas Program 
• Greenheart Travel T-shirt & other Greenheart swag

Our Support and Services: 

• Visa Assistance  upon arrival. Local staff will have already submitted your application and will take you to finish the process during orientation!
• Extensive pre-departure advice and support from your US-based program coordinators! They will be with you from your first inquiry, all the way through preparing to leave and your arrival in the Netherlands.
• Support from in-country staff upon arrival to the Netherlands.
• Online pre-departure cultural and logistical orientation before you leave.
• 24-hour in-country and emergency support for the duration of the program, including 24-hour emergency phone numbers to reach a program manager at any time.
• Opportunity to apply for a Greenheart Grant to give back to your community at home or abroad.

Additional Expenses You’ll Need to Cover (Estimates):

• Airfare to/from Netherlands
• Visa fees and expenses to travel to apply for the entry visa if required for your start date (290 euros + travel costs)
• Simple start-up costs if you need anything upon arrival ($500)
• Souvenirs, entertainment, personal travel, meals outside the home, optional school trips, extracurriculars, club sports, etc. ($300-500/month)
• Request for placement in a bilingual school (EUR 1000) (optional)

Payment Details:

• $1,500 Application Fee due by the program deadline to formally apply
• $5,000 Commitment Payment due 14 days after acceptance
• Remaining balance is due 16 weeks prior to your start date. If your program starts within 16 weeks of acceptance, the remaining program balance payment will be due at the same time as the commitment payment. 

Worried about the program fee?

Our goal is to help make travel accessible to everyone and we are here to help when you are deciding if this experience is financially do-able. Each year we offer scholarships for high school study abroad students! We also have a guide to fundraising your program fee, and many high school students fundraise in their hometown ahead of their program.

We also offer discounts for applying early (plus there are many other benefits to applying early!) for each start date and for US families that have hosted an exchange student with Greenheart Exchange.

In researching a study abroad program, you have already shown you are a leader and open-minded in your academic pursuits. These are just a few of the traits that our exchange students possess. You’re motivated to immerse yourself in another culture and flexible enough to live outside your comfort zone. You should also:

• Be between 15 and 18 years of age (at the time of your program start date, not when applying)
• Be from the United States or Canada
• Possess a high school cumulative GPA of at least 2.75/4.0
• Be in great mental* and physical health
• Have a genuine interest in becoming a part of your host family and community
• Be willing to study and learn the Dutch language

Want to wait to study abroad until after you graduate? We can also accept high school graduates on a case-by-case basis who are no older than 18 years and 6 months upon arrival into the country.

*What does it mean to be in good mental health?

Moving to a new culture and staying in unfamiliar surroundings without your normal support structure can be very stressful, even to a well-adjusted student. Sending a student with pre-existing conditions on a long-term exchange program could exacerbate whatever challenges the student was previously facing. In order to ensure the safety of our participants, we must be rigorous in our pre-screening of all high school abroad applicants.

Therefore, we may not be able to accept students who have struggled with any kind of mental illness, specifically within the last 2 years and/or are reliant on medication to address their existing mental health condition. Each student will be addressed on a case by case basis and ultimately it is Greenheart Travel’s in-country partner who holds the right to accept or decline a student based on their individual policy.

These include, but are not limited to:

• Depression
• Anxiety
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder
• Eating disorders
• Chronic debilitating migraines
• Bipolar Disorder

All students who currently experience one or more of these conditions will be required to submit an addendum to the terms and conditions as well as a letter of support from their current mental health specialist. If the student’s mental health issue has been managed (post-medication) for over 2 years, we will still require a note from his/her relevant practitioner (psychologist, therapist, psychiatrist, etc) as part of the application process.  We encourage you to discuss your specific situation with us directly, before securing these documents.

Please note that students who have been diagnosed with ADD or ADHD will not be guaranteed any academic accommodations plans by the host school abroad.

All participants will get to participate in a 6-day orientation upon arrival, in Soest, which is 45 minutes from Amsterdam Airport Schiphol and 30 minutes from the city center of Amsterdam.

You’ll have the opportunity to meet many other new like-minded and adventurous students who have also just arrived! By the end, you’ll have new friends scattered around the entire country. Orientation includes important activities and classes on what to expect on your program, language, and local culture. The accommodation is a short walk from the regionally famous sand dunes and has great facilities in a forested area.

Example Itinerary:

Subject to change.

Monday – Welcome!

On Monday the students will arrive around noon at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport and the High School Holland team will greet the students and bring them by bus to the accommodation in Soest. In the evening we have dinner together and will give a presentation about the program and the rules of the orientation week. We will also do some games so we can all get to know each other better.

Tuesday – Tour of Amsterdam

After breakfast, we will depart to the city of Amsterdam. The program of the day in Amsterdam will be communicated later, but we can already say that it will be an instructive and fun day! In the evening we have dinner again at our accommodation in Soest. After dinner, the students have some free time.

Wednesday – Learn Dutch

This day is full of Dutch classes, in the morning, afternoon and evening! But don’t worry there are enough breaks in between for coffee and tea and also for lunch. After the afternoon class, we will have dinner followed by one more session of language training with lots of fun games to practice the students’ Dutch skills.

Thursday – Visa Processing

After breakfast, the students will start with Dutch classes again. In the late afternoon, they will have free time to do whatever they want to do. The students that need a visa will also visit the Immigration and Naturalization Authorities. In the evening after dinner, there is time to relax and the option to watch a movie.

Friday – Learn To Ride Your Bike!

After breakfast students will get a small lesson on how Dutch traffic works for biking around your new city. Every student receives a free bike on this program to use during their entire exchange program. After this lesson, we will ride our bikes and visit the city of Amersfoort. After lunch, the students will attend a workshop that prepares them for a successful program. In the evening we will plan a fun activity for all students to close the week in a spectacular way!

Saturday – Meet Your Host Families!

Saturday is a very exciting day: you will meet your host family! Host families will come to pick you up at the orientation location. This is such a great part of the week as now the adventure really starts and all of the students will go to their new Dutch home with their new Dutch family!

Fun at orientation!

See More: Photos from Orientation in the Netherlands

The best way to learn about a new culture and language is to be fully immersed in it which is why all Greenheart Travel high school abroad students live with local Dutch host families. All of our host families are volunteers and will treat you as a member of their family. By being a part of your family’s daily life, you will learn to live and speak like a local! 

Prospective host families undergo a rigorous screening process. Participants can rest assured that only suitable host families will be selected. In fact, many of our current host families have hosted students in the past, showing what an impactful experience it was.

In order to qualify as a host family, the prospective hosts must:

• Successfully pass a criminal background check
• Undergo and pass an in-person interview with program staff
• Agree to and pass a home inspection
• Attend a comprehensive host family training
• Commit to sending monthly reports to our local coordinators
• Be able to provide you a comfortable sleeping and study space and 3 meals a day

We will connect you with your host family prior to your arrival in your host country. By e-mailing and speaking with them before arriving, it will help break the ice when you finally meet in person. It will also show that you are as excited to live with them as they are to host you!

Host families have many reasons why they want to welcome you! Our host families are volunteers, meaning they don’t receive compensation for housing and feeding students during their program. Many host families love the experience of cultural exchange – they learn just as much about your country as you do theirs. Many are also former exchange students and want to return the favor, or they have children who have gone or will go to study in the U.S. Having an exchange student exposes their children to new languages and cultures.

A student meeting their host family at the end of orientation!

We’ve placed students all over the Netherlands! Some of our most common placements are in the following towns: Meldersl, Terbor, Harderwijk, Venray and Melick.

It is very unlikely you will be placed in a city like Amsterdam or Rotterdam. The majority of our families live in small to medium-sized towns outside of major cities, and it is important you be open-minded to small-town life. The Netherlands is a small country, so it’s likely you’ll get the chance to visit big cities very often.

We make it a priority to place students with host families that closely match your interests and personality, for example, if you like field hockey, we’ll do our best to find a family that also loves field hockey! For this reason, we work first to find a suitable family rather than a destination preference. We can always take requests and make them a priority, but we can never guarantee placements in any specific city or region, and we match based on compatibility with the host family.

Each student will have activities and excursions that they can choose to be a part of. Your local coordinator will organize one event per semester, so that is two events if you stay for the academic year. The national office and staff will also organize one event per semester for all exchange students (for example, a trip to Gouda), so that is another two events for the academic year. And on top of that, there is also Family Day for host families and students to come together for a fun day.

Therefore, there are 5 student events organized per academic year, and all expenses are paid for the student (including transportation costs).

Please note these are subject to change and vary semester to semester.

Example Activities and Excursions:

• Family day in June
• Local coordinator organized excursions 1 per semester
• School-organized excursions (depends on the school)
• In-country partner optional excursions and activities such as:
  • Gouda tour
  • King’s Day celebrations
  • Amsterdam (open-air museum)
  • Arnhem (cycling)

So, what about credits? 

Neither Greenheart Travel nor the host school abroad provides high school credit. All credit must be granted through your home school in the U.S. or Canada. All U.S./Canadian schools have different policies. Here’s a blog post to read more about how some alumni have transferred credits.  

In the Netherlands, we cannot guarantee your host school will provide you an official transcript. If your school will not, some host schools will provide documentation, letters, and any other materials you require upon request. You must have good behavior, attendance, and performance in order for the school to fulfill this request.  

Then, you should take this documentation back to your home school as proof of your participation in the program. Your home school is responsible for awarding you credit for this program or not.  

Before You Go Abroad

You should meet with your U.S./Canadian high school before you leave and share the general curriculum guidelines for The Netherlands with your guidance counselor and/or teachers.  

Because the curriculum will vary by school and we cannot guarantee you’ll take any specific classes, it is important that you arrange the required classes required for your graduation, such as U.S. History, before or after your time abroad.  

Greenheart Travel will be able to provide information about the general curriculum for your age level in The Netherlands, but you will not know your course schedule until after you arrive in country and start attending school.  

Access your High School Curriculum Guidelines for the Netherlands here!

Once You’re Abroad

Please keep in mind that the grading system in other countries is different than the US and most host schools will not grant grades or transcripts as it is too difficult to evaluate your work due to the language barrier. If your host school is able to award you grades, they won’t be an exact match to what you would get in the US.

However, our team of local coordinators in the Netherlands works hard provide proof of attendance and record of courses and evaluations of your performance. Many U.S. high schools of past students have accepted this for credit.

Greenheart Travel has been working with high schoolers for many years, and there are advantages of applying for this program through us:

• 33 years of experience with cultural exchange programs.
• Friendly, responsive, and professional support from your program manager.
• Connect with alumni and others on the program via our Greenheart Travel only Facebook forums, before you even leave!
• We try and make our program fees as inclusive as we can. We include things like medical insurance so you don’t run into any hidden fees down the line.
• Greenheart Atlas Program. The Greenheart Travel Atlas is a cultural training interactive guidebook alongside five videos where you will find three main topics covered: Personal/Professional Development, Cultural Understanding, & Environmental Awareness.
• Our alumni recommend us! GoOverseas.com Reviews // GoAbroad.com Reviews
• Hands-on support and personal attention every step of the way
• 24/7 emergency phone number to reach a staff member at any time
• Pre-departure “Culture Shock and Adjustment” Webinar before you leave
• Discounts for future Greenheart Travel programs
• We are a non-profit, mission-based organization
• Continued support throughout your time abroad

We also have some unique offerings to our Greenheart Travel students and alumni!

Greenheart Grants

Greenheart Grants are funds awarded to Greenheart Travel participants to use for community development projects in their host or home country. A Greenheart Grant is the opportunity to create, improve, or maintain an impactful, community-focused project abroad or at home. Grant funds could be applied to supporting women’s cooperatives, schools, community centers, or health clinics, for example. Grant winners will be featured on our website, social media, and blog. You can see our past winners on our blog here.

Greenheart Alumni Program

We created the Greenheart Travel Alumni Program to provide resources and a community to support alumni in their advancement as global leaders, and a way to celebrate and reward our participants for being ambitious, inspiring catalysts of cultural exchange!

Junior Greenheart Global Leaders Conference

Each May Greenheart offers full-ride scholarships to around 10 teen alumni to attend our annual conference in Chicago. You can see more about what Jr. GGLC is and what you could do at the conference here.

Committing to studying abroad can feel daunting, but we are here every step of the way to make the application process as simple as possible! Below are the various steps you’ll need to take to be accepted on a high school abroad program.

Have questions or want to talk to one of the program coordinators? Set up a time to have a phone call below.