Rotary Youth Exchange

How much will my exchange cost?

Rotary will provide the host families for your exchange and enrol you at a school for no charge. Rotary will provide you with your Rotary Youth Exchange blazer and a small monthly allowance.

The main costs you incur for an exchange are the return airfare and insurance along with the “exchange tour”. Depending on your host country, the “exchange tour” could be for 10 – 20 or more days. For European countries this is usually a “Euro Tour” while for other countries it might be a “cross country tour”. The Euro/Country tour is one of the highlights of the exchange as it brings many of the exchange students that are in that country together for the trip and it is where life-long friendships are made while at the same time seeing some amazing sights.

In addition to this your other costs will be for day to day living in your host country. Rotary is a non-profit service organisation which facilitates travel and insurance and does not take a profit on these costs. The funding of day-to-day living costs will be directly between parent and student. We provide latest estimates of costs based on information provided by returned exchange students. 

So what's the bottom line - how much does it cost?

Assuming you do not currently pay school fees in New Zealand, the extra cost above being at home is probably about $10,000

Approximate costs are:

  
*   For some countries the student must visit the countries embassy in Wellington.            
* * A Rotarian couple will accompany students (usually to the airport for their final flight).

 The cost is not paid in one sum and is spread over a year or so.

Insurance and airfare costs are payable at the end of November/early December prior to departure.

While the Euro/country tour is not compulsory, it is a real highlight of the exchange. The timing for payment will be set by the host country but is usually around April.

Language school costs where applicable will be payable in January.

The balance of the costs, not included above, will be for day to day living and will be spread over the exchange year and the extent of these costs will depend on the activities that you choose to engage in, but might be around $500 per month.

Your host Rotary club and host families will provide accommodation and meals together with schooling enrolment.

Your host Rotary club will pay a small monthly allowance that will help with some of the daily out of pocket expenses.

A $500 (Approx.) emergency fund will be required on arrival in the host country, but if unused during the year, this will be refunded at the end of the exchange.