Great experience
STS was very helpful

STS Education is a leading provider of high school exchange programs, dedicated to empowering young people through educational and cultural experiences abroad. Established in 1958, the company offers a diverse range of exchange opportunities for students aged 14 to 18, allowing them to immerse themselves in new cultures while enhancing their language skills and personal development. With options available in over 20 countries, including the USA, Canada, and various European nations, STS Education caters to students seeking enriching experiences during their high school years. The company’s mission is to facilitate experience-based learning that fosters growth and self-confidence among young individuals. By participating in STS's exchange programs, students not only gain academic exposure but also develop a broader worldview through interactions with peers from different backgrounds. STS Education is committed to providing comprehensive support and guidance throughout the exchange process, ensuring that students have a rewarding and transformative experience abroad.
STS Education receives high praise from many reviewers for providing transformative exchange year experiences. Customers frequently highlight the thorough preparation and ongoing support offered by the agency, which helps students feel safe and valued throughout their time abroad.
Positive sentiments are echoed in comments about the friendly staff and the overall quality of the exchange programs, with many describing their experiences as life-changing. However, some negative feedback emerges regarding issues with host family placements and communication challenges, particularly with associated agencies. A few reviewers express dissatisfaction with the professionalism of staff, citing unresponsive or dismissive attitudes.
Summary generated with AI from recent reviews
Each source counts by its number of reviews. Only reviews written by people are scored.
| Source | Rating | Reviews | Weight | 6-mo | Fake risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Trustpilot Imported Trustpilot reviews | 4.2 | 60 | 100% | -0.6 | ● Low |
Monthly average rating from reviews written by people · latest review Aug 2025.
| Month | Average | Reviews |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 24 | 5.0 | 3 |
| Oct 24 | 4.7 | 7 |
| Nov 24 | 4.4 | 9 |
| Dec 24 | 3.0 | 2 |
| Jan 25 | 1.0 | 1 |
| Feb 25 | 5.0 | 4 |
| Mar 25 | 4.7 | 3 |
| Apr 25 | 5.0 | 4 |
| May 25 | 3.0 | 2 |
| Jun 25 | 3.7 | 3 |
| Jul 25 | 3.8 | 4 |
| Aug 25 | 5.0 | 1 |
Share of positive (4–5★) and negative (1–2★) reviews mentioning each topic · based on the 60 most recent reviews.
“We always felt that we could reach out with any question, big or small, and got quick and helpful responses every time”
Same method for every company: overall rating, legitimacy checks, the average rating of reviews mentioning each area and the 6-month trend · Education & Training.
| Company | Overall | Legit | Service | Trend | Reviews |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4.2 out of 5 (good) | 100 out of 100 | 4.6 out of 5 (good) | −6% | 60 | |
| 4.8 out of 5 (good) | 100 out of 100 | 4.8 out of 5 (good) | — | 85 | |
| 5.0 out of 5 (good) | 100 out of 100 | 5.0 out of 5 (good) | — | 57 | |
| 5.0 out of 5 (good) | 100 out of 100 | 5.0 out of 5 (good) | — | 37 | |
| 4.5 out of 5 (good) | 100 out of 100 | 4.9 out of 5 (good) | — | 25 |
Bottom line: STS Education is #5 of 5 on overall rating in this group. On service, Truka scores higher (5.0 vs 4.6).
60 reviews of STS Education. Filter by what matters to you.
STS was very helpful
Ich habe ein Semester in Colorado letztes Jahr verbracht, es war eine Wundervolle Erfahrung. Das STS-Team machte den Prozess sehr angenehm und leicht. Ich bin mit einigen anderen Austauschschülern nach New York für das Welcome Camp geflogen und es hat uns auch jemand beim Flughafen abgeholt und uns zum Hotel gebracht. Die Zeit in New York war wunderbar und cool, ich habe viele neue Freundschaften geknüpft. Ich hatte glücklicherweise keine Probleme mit meiner Gastfamilie und fand, dass wir ein perfektes Match waren. Mein local coordinator war auch mega nett und Melissa Kilaj hat mich auch noch aus der Schweiz kontaktiert, um zu fragen, wie es mir geht. Ich finde das STS eine sehr gute Austausch-Organisation ist!
Frau Mag. Philine Kowalski hat uns von der ersten Kontaktaufnahme bis zum Abflug unserer Tochter bestens begleitet und unterstützt. Jede Frage hat sie gewissenhaft beantwortet und uns dadurch die Unsicherheit genommen. Wir waren zu Beginn nicht ganz so glücklich mit der wirklich kleinen Highschool, aber wir von Frau Kowalski versprochen, war das das Beste, was unserer Tochter passieren konnte.
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Mein Auslandsjahr war für 2023/24 geplant, ich hatte einen Vertrag für Skandinavien. In erster Linie wirkte alles professionell, dennoch wurde ich zutiefst enttäuscht. Bis zum letzten Augenblick war ich naiv wie ich war davon überzeugt dass ich ins Ausland reise. Meine Eltern mussten sich ständig erkundigen, wie es denn steht und ob ich eine Gastfamilie erhalte oder nicht. Wir wurden die ganze Zeit hingehalten, anstatt uns ehrlich zu antworten das die Chancen gering erscheinen eine Gastfamilie zufinden. Ein ‚Nein’ hätte gereicht. All die Stunden in denen wir uns mit Papierkram rumgeschlagen haben sind vergeudet. Schweigen wir auch davon wie viel Zeit ich ins Dänisch lernen investiert habe. Sorry, aber STS ist nicht zu empfehlen.
I loved the trips during the exchange with other exchange students. It was wonderful to get to know so many people. Additional it was easy to contact STS before and during the exchange. This was pretty helpfull. However there is one big downside and this is the organisation. I got my placement and my date of departure 4 days before leaving. This was a quiet short time periode to get everything on place. First then they told me about some documents I have ti have before leaving. We had to stress to get everything on time. In the future STS can try to comunicate such things a little bit earlier, so exchange students can get an even better experience. But I had such a great time and I recommend to everyone out there to do a gap year, if you have the possibility.
Hei,STS er ikke så flinke med å velge koordinatorer heller, i tilleg til å ha blitt plasert i en familie hvor jeg ble hos 2 dager, valgte koordinator og også putte en annen gutt i samme posisjon som jeg akkurat hadde vert i, Koordinatoren viste at dette hjemmet var ,sketchy og derfor hadde en ''backup'' familie for hun var klar for at det kanskje ikke kunne gå. For meg er det uakseptabelt å¨plasere noen i et hjem man tenker her kan det kanskje gå. Dette ble gjort på en dårlig måte, i alle STS møter før mitt år i USA fikk jeg hele tiden vite at skoleåret kommer til å telle og mine skolegang ville forsette, men solm STS er så er dette ikke sant, jeg må nå gå 1 år om igjen her i Norge. Noe som jeg måtte ha var blant annet ''Idrett' men skolen jeg endte opp på kunne bare ha 1 utvekslingelev på hvert Lag, vi var 7 utvekslingelever på 1 liten skole, i tilleg til alt dette, så måtte vi som utvekslingelever ringe og ha møte med noen med mer ''makt'' enn vår koordinator, koordinatoren mistet retten over oss og andre foreldre måtte ta hennes jobb etter dårlig oppførsel fra henne, Jeg anbefaler virkelig utvekslingår, men gjerne fra enn annen organisasjon
This was a year of a lifetime. My story began much further back in the fall before I went when I wasn't even sure I wanted to go. I had wonderful (and patient!) guidance, and once I decided to go, everything went very quickly and orderly and never left me feeling stressed. Once in the US, I was in the best family, went to an amazing school, and can safely say this year changed my life. As parents, we experienced our daughter's exchange year as a wonderful educational, cultural, and social experience in the hands of an organisation that cared, not only before, but also during and after her stay. We can recommend STS to anyone contemplating sending their child overseas. They will go above and beyond in thinking of creative solutions (our daughter was very young when she went) to accommodate the students choosing them. Any email was answered within hours. Guidelines were clear, information easily accessible. What more could we have asked for?
I had one of the best years of my life. I met amazing people and was placed in an amazing host family who will be my second family for the rest of my life! Sts really helped me with everything and I am super grateful for that!
Had a great experience with STS. They supported me a lot and if I had a question they answered really quick. There is good communication between student, parent and organisation.
Just replying to STS reply to me. This wasn’t a perspective or opinion this was facts on the false things that were said and terrible actions taken without any proper investigation. If yall are going to make moves do it the right way and get the full story not just one side.
The past 5 months have been a very good time. I tried a new sport in my High School which was for sure one of my favorite experiences. My Hostmom, who I was very lucky with, took me to California and New York. On the weekends we always went on a little trip either hiking in a State Park or visiting another city. She tried a lot of new restaurants with me and showed me the American cuture, which is very different compared to Austrian culture. Since she knew I love horses, she looked around for a place I could learn how to ride western style. That was the craziest but also the best experience. I learned how to barrel race and made a friend for live. In my time I met a lot of great people and some of them will stay in my heart forever.
The organisation organises everything very well. They take great care of the exchange students. Every carer makes sure that everything runs smoothly. At the beginning, you have to fill out a lot of forms and do a lot of online tasks. It's really exhausting, but it's very useful. The organisation is very expensive, but very thorough and you don't have to worry, they plan everything for you. I love that in that organisation you and your hostfamily have to write a monthly report, to inform your supervisor:in, if your doing fine. It's a good way to stay in touch with your supervisor:in. All in all, it's a great organisation.
I had a great family and found friends on the first day of school. Not only the other international but also the québécois took me in almost immediately. I got to learn how to be independent and found a new person in myself. Best year of my life so far. Experiencing the topical American high school life and finding a new home in people I didn’t know 10 months ago was unbelievably for my old self. But now 10 months later I found my second family. Of course there were some rough times too but the good memories over shined those. I would recommend everyone who asks me to make that same decision as me and be able to get their horizon widened. And school was easier too so….
Anfangs schien noch alles schön und gut, die ersten Monate verliefen gut und wir hatten nichts zu bemängeln. Doch allerdings ist die Kommunikation innerhalb der Organisation und vor allem zur amerikanischen Partnerorganisation extrem konfus, so dass wir nach einiger Zeit mit verschiedenen Nachrichten von verschiedenen Personen bombardiert wurden, weil es zu einer absoluten Fehlkommunikation zwischen den verschiedenen Ansprechpartnern gekommen war. Das endete darin, dass die Gastfamilie einen völlig verfälschten Bericht bekommen hat und durch dieses Missverständnis unsere Tochter fast die Familie wechseln musste, obwohl sie sich überhaupt nichts hat zu Schulden kommen lassen. Nur durch sehr viel Mühen unsererseits und vor allem unserer Tochter wurde das Missverständnis geklärt. STS war hier wenig hilfreich. Das scheinen mir völlig veraltete und unkontrollierte Strukturen zu sein, die überall für Panik, Ärger und verletzte Gefühle sorgen, weil zu wenig mit Bedacht und mit Hinblick auf den Schüler gehandelt wird. Von der deutschen Seite von STS bin ich mehr als enttäuscht, da hat man das Gefühl, dass lediglich der finanzielle Aspekt im Vordergrund steht, aber das Menschliche spielt hier nur eine kleine Rolle!
Our son spent his year abroad between July 23 and April 24 through STS with the Classic program in New Zealand. We found STS to be very professional, approachable and helpful in all questions. There were several meetings for students and parents ahead of our son's departure so we all felt very well prepared and questions could be answered. He was placed in a smaller town on the North Island with a very nice family, everything fell into place straight away, so there were no difficulties such as changing the host family or anything similar. We see the random assignment of the school and the host family as a blessing, because otherwise we might have chosen a larger city where he would not have experienced all the beautiful things that he could now take with him. The college he went to was great too. At the end of his stay we as his family picked him up in New Zealand with a stop in Indonesia on our way back to Germany and STS was very helpful in rebooking his return flight. In case our younger daughter plans to go for an exchange year in the future our choice would be STS all over again.
I was an exchange student with STS in the schoolyear of 2000-2001 and went from the Netherlands to the USA. I left on august 18th 2000, which was too late to attend the Welcome orientation days in New York, but i still had an amazing year which couldn't have been better than the way it turned out. Beforehand STS had an information night and i also needed to do an interview in English. Afterwards i eventually got accepted and they found me a host family 2 weeks before i left. I was placed in the small town of North Fond du Lac, Wisconsin and had a blast. Even now, 23 years later, still so many memories and mutiple times i visited after my exchange year for reunions, weddings and also friends and host family members that have visit me here in my country. Its a year in a life but you take it with you for the rest of your life. Im also still in touch with my area representative, Calla Kuehl, who was someone from another organisation that was my go to person when i had questions of things that needed being taken care of. She is the best. Its been an amazing experience and if you have the chance to take it, please do! You'll love it.
My exchange semester with STS was the best experience of my life! STS helped me with everything and prepared me for my time abroad. I stayed in Canada for 5 months and I loved it. I met so many amazing people from all over the world, made friendships that will last even after my time in Canada and I tried lots of new things. Also I couldn't imagine a better host family. I would 100% recommend everyone, who has the opportunity, to study abroad! It is something you will never forget and you learn a lot. Not only was I able to improve my language skills but also to grow as a person. I appreciate everything I got from that semester! Thank you STS!
Unsere Tochter war im Schuljahr 2021/22 in Texas und es war eine sehr gute Erfahrung für sie. Leider hat die erste Gastfamilie nicht gepasst. Die lokale Koordinatorin hat sie und ihre spanische Gastschwester dann übernommen und von da an hat alles super gepasst. Es war so wie wir es uns vorgestellt haben, ein aktives Familienleben, ein ausgefüllter Schulalltag mit vielen neuen Eindrücken und vielen neuen Freunden!
My exchange was, without a doubt, the best experience in my life so far. I recommend one to every young person I meet since the experience. I came out of the exchange, a more confident, empathetic, and overall happier person. I am very grateful for the opportunities that received and I thank Sts for allowing me to partake in having a cultural exchange.
STS Education is a leading provider of high school exchange programs, dedicated to empowering young people through educational and cultural experiences abroad. Established in 1958, the company offers a diverse range of exchange opportunities for students aged 14 to 18, allowing them to immerse themselves in new cultures while enhancing their language skills and personal development. With options available in over 20 countries, including the USA, Canada, and various European nations, STS Education caters to students seeking enriching experiences during their high school years. The company’s mission is to facilitate experience-based learning that fosters growth and self-confidence among young individuals. By participating in STS's exchange programs, students not only gain academic exposure but also develop a broader worldview through interactions with peers from different backgrounds. STS Education is committed to providing comprehensive support and guidance throughout the exchange process, ensuring that students have a rewarding and transformative experience abroad.
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