By Kang Shin-who
Staff Reporter
Korean students are likely to have more opportunities to study in the United States through the Youth For Understanding (YFU) program. Michael Finnell, president and CEO of YFU USA, said he will increase the number of Korean students to benefit from the program.
"Korea is the one of our biggest partners. So far, 1,140 Koreans students have come to the U.S. on the YFU program over the past 20 years. Among them, 800 were for the high school program and the rest were for the community college program," Finnell told The Korea Times in an interview at the paper's building last Wednesday.
"There are more than 1,100 community colleges in the U.S. It's a very big part of the higher education system in the country. But not many schools have international students there and many (Korean) parents are attracted by the program," he added.
The 50-year-old American has worked with the organization for 15 years and led it for eight. He visited Korea to celebrate its 20th anniversary event, which was held last Thursday.
Regarding a growing number of Korean students studying in the country, he said the organization may be part of the change, though it has not led it.
"We have volunteer families taking care of the students as their own children and (the participating students) become members of the families," Finnell said.
Over the past 20 years, YFU Korea's number of outgoing students has been three-fold that of its incoming foreign students, while YFU USA, which covers some 60 countries, accepts 2,100 students and sends 500 every year.
"We are imbalanced (in the number of incoming and outgoing students). So far, we have focused on the quality (of program), not quantity, but we will increase both," said Finnell.
Established in 1951, YFU is an international organization offering exchange programs for young students around the world to study for a summer, semester or year and stay with a host family.