Accredited? Credit? Non-credit? What’s The Deal With Au Pair Education Requirments?

I often get questions from both host families and au pairs about the au pair program’s education requirement.  This can be somewhat confusing.  Since this topic has many “confusion points”, I am going to address these questions in multiple blog posts.  Today I’m going to specifically discuss the terms “accredited”, “credit” and  “non-credit” as they pertain to the au pair education requirement.  These words sound similar, but have very different meanings.  (That’s English for you!)

The US Department of State says that sponsors conducting an au pair exchange program (like Go Au Pair)  “shall require that EduCare au pair participants register and attend classes offered by an accredited U.S. post-secondary institution for not less than twelve semester hours of academic credit or its equivalent and that all other au pair participants register and attend classes offered by an accredited U.S. post-secondary institution for not less than six semester hours of academic  credit or its equivalent.”

Let’s start with “accredited”.  An accredited post-secondary institution is a school that has received a “seal of approval” from some agency that has been designated to do so.  In most countries, these “quality assurance” designations are granted by the government.  Interestingly, in the United States, accreditation of post-secondary schools is independent of the government and is performed by private membership associations.  As a result, there are many agencies that offer accreditation.  The Department of State does not specifically state which agency must accredit a school for it to be on the “approved list”.  So what does that mean to an au pair?  Basically as long as the school is accredited by some agency, an au pair may take a course there that will qualify for the Department of State’s requirement.  Courses offered by the local YMCA, public library, some newly-formed schools, and town recreation departments do not typically meet this requirement.  So, how do you know if a school is accredited?  In order to become accredited, a school must complete a lengthy and costly application process. As mentioned before, they do this so that they can get a “seal of approval” from some authority.  If they are accredited, they will likely advertise this fact on their website or program brochures.  Go Au Pair has a list of schools that have already been verified as accredited.  You should have received this list in your welcome packet, you can get this list from your LAR, or by contacting Go Au Pair’s Education Coordinator at educoord@goaupair.com.  If you find a school that is not on the list and you are unsure if the school you want to study at is accredited, be sure to contact educoord@goaupair.com to make sure before paying any money for classes.

The term “credit” in this case has to do with “academic credit”.  When you are attending a college or university and are enrolled in a degree program, you are required to obtain a certain number of “credits’ to earn your degree.  The au pair program does have an educational component, but it is not really an education program.  It is a cultural exchange program.  The intent of this part of the program is so that the au pair can experience life as a young American would.  But they are not here to earn a college degree, only to have a college experience.  EduCare au pairs are required to complete 12 credits, or it’s equivalent, and all other au pairs are required to complete 6 credits.  One class is typically equal to 3 credits.

In addition to traditional classes that qualify for academic credit, many colleges offer “non-credit” classes.  ESL courses are usually offered for non-credit as well as some hobby courses (like photography or art) or professional development courses (like computer software courses).  Au pairs often think that these classes do not qualify for the au pair program, but they do!  A non-credit course just means that the classes will not count towards a degree program. But since au pairs aren’t taking classes to get a college degree, these classes are perfectly acceptable.  Remember, that the Department of State said that au pairs must take “6 credits or it’s equivalent”.  They key here, is “it’s equivalent”.    If you are not sure how many credits a non-credit course is equivalent to, you can figure this out by using this formula: 12 classroom hours= 1 credit.  So, a class that meets one time per week for 3 hours and lasts for 12 weeks would be equal to 3 credits.

3 hours per class x 1 class per week x 12 weeks = 36 hours.  36 hours/12=3 credits!

I hope this clarifies some of the confusion about accreditation and college credits.  Good luck in your pursuit of knowledge.  I hope you will choose a course that is interesting and enlightening!

A New Affordable Education Opportunity!

Bunker Hill Community College recently launched a special program that was tailor-made for au pairs! The Department of State mandates that au pairs complete an equivalent of 6 credits at an accredited college in order to fulfill the educational component of the au pair program. This provides these young international visitors an opportunity to get a taste of what life is like for an American college student. Up until now, it has been virtually impossible for Boston-area au pairs to accomplish this for the $500 that host families are required to pay towards the cost of education.

ESL courses are readily available at an affordable price. However, au pairs who speak English as their native language and au pairs who are already proficient in English have traditionally had a difficult time finding interesting classes that are both accredited and affordable.

Dr. Lora Anderson Cook and her husband, Benjamin, were well aware of this problem. Co-directors of the program, Lora & Ben have over 10 years of experience developing programs in international education. Lora got involved with the au pair program when she took a job as a local counselor for an au pair agency in Washington, DC while completing her PhD in international education. During this time, Lora and Ben were co-teaching a class that prepared American students for living abroad in Zimbabwe and Uganda. She began to wonder why no one had developed a program to prepare au pairs for living in the US.

Since 2006, Lora and Ben have taught classes to over 1,000 au pairs in six different US cities at seven different colleges. Lora was doing some work for Bunker Hill Community College and approached them this fall to see if they would be interested in piloting a program that would offer an affordable education opportunity for Boston-area au pairs. The Au Pair Weekend Program “Learning to Live Your American Dream” was born!

Two 3-credit-equivalent courses are offered. Both courses require 5-10 hours of pre-course assignments along with 10-20 hours of post-course work. Each course takes place on an intensive weekend. The schedule is Friday night from 5:30 pm-9:45 pm; Saturday from 8:30 am-6:00 pm; and Sunday from 9:30 am-4:30 pm.

Part 1 is called “You and Your Community”. The purpose of this course is to help the au pair set and keep goals so that she can make the most of her year abroad. Each au pair is required to come to class prepared with his pre-course work completed, including a list of goals, a personal identity collage, and articles on culture and “re-entry” shock. Each au pair must also write a response to the articles, with some personal insight into her own experiences.

“Re-entry shock is something that most au pairs don’t think about,” Lora explained.

Tamara Jane Donaldson, an Australian au pair with goAUPAIR who is finishing up her year and preparing to go home said, “I kind of got depressed when she mentioned this to me. It’s something that I had not considered. I have been away for a year and most of my friends have moved on. I know it’s going to be a challenge.”

Students spend Friday evening talking about their goals, presenting their collages, and learning all about culture shock. “The personal collages are a good way for everyone to get to know each other,” Lora said.

On Saturday morning, Ben teaches an intensive course on conflict negotiation. Each au pair is given a conflict assessment to determine her communication style. Ben discusses the pros and cons of each style and trains the students on the steps to successful conflict negotiation. Through role playing exercises using real-life scenarios, he helps the au pairs put what they’ve learned into practice. (The post-class comment cards revealed that the au pairs considered this to be one of the most useful things they learned from the course.)

The class then transitions to a lesson on the history of volunteerism and the value of community involvement and why it is such an important part of American culture. There is also a workshop on cultural diversity, focusing on racial, ethnic, religious, economic, gender, and disability issues. Students are assigned to watch the movie “Crash” and must write a response to the movie. In their responses, they must talk about their experiences with diversity both here in the US and back at home.

Also on Saturday, the students have a “working lunch” where each student is given personalized instruction and mentoring on how to complete their post-course assignments. The post-course work includes keeping a journal of time spent achieving their goals. They must also come up with a plan for volunteering and becoming actively involved in their perspective communities.

The students spend Saturday evening and Sunday volunteering at various community events. They learn their roles at each event and the background of each organization during the class session on community involvement and volunteerism.

Tamara Jane Donaldson, pictured 2nd from the left along with three of her au pair classmates, volunteered to help Autism Speaks as part of her au pair course work.

After completing Part 1, students who wish to complete the equivalent of 6 hours of credit, may also take Part 2, “USA and Boston in a Nutshell”. The course follows the same schedule. On Friday night, an international buffet dinner is served. Each student must bring a traditional dish from her country. BHCC also invites American peers between the ages of 18-30 years old to participate in the course. Each student spends the evening presenting his volunteer and community involvement portfolio which was completed as part of the Part 1 post-class “homework”.

Prior to the start of the class, the students are given a copy of the USA CultureGram. Each student must obtain a copy of the CultureGram from her home country and write a paper comparing the two cultures. The au pairs present their findings and are then allowed to ask their USA student peers questions about American culture as part of a panel discussion. The evening concludes with a challenging but fun game of “USA Jeopardy” where the au pairs as well as their American peers compete and are asked a variety of questions from the USA CultureGram.

On Day 2, American holidays, rituals, and celebrations and discussed. There are also class sessions on US Politics and History, with an emphasis on events specific to Boston. Saturday evening is spent doing a historical tour of Boston. (Weather determines the venue!)

On the final Sunday of the course, au pairs are given a choice of various places to visit in Boston. Au pairs may choose from museums and historic landmarks. “We give the au pairs a choice of where they want to go so that they each have the opportunity to go some place they haven’t already visited,” Lora added.

The post-assignment work for this course includes completing field trip worksheets. Au pairs must also write a final essay in which they are asked to reflect on their goals and determine where they are in meeting those goals. If their goals have changed, they must explain why. Additionally, they must write an essay on what they learned from the course, highlighting what they enjoyed most.

For more information, or to register for this great educational opportunity, au pairs and host families can visit http://www.bhcc.mass.edu/aupair.