It is very important that all au pairs and host families understand this.  An au pair must complete the educational requirement and show proof of completion.  Please read the following and understand that they are serious requirements direct from the U.S. Department of State:

• An Au Pair who is in his/her first year or extending for 12 or 9 months, must complete either 6 credits or 72 hours at an accredited institution.  If an Au Pair is extending for 6 months, they must complete 3 credits or 36 hours.  At the end of their year, they must get an official transcript (or letter if class was an audit) from the school and fax, mail or email a copy of this to the Cultural Care office in Boston.  
• They must show their LCC (me) the transcript as well so I can approve their flight and deposit release.  I cannot sign the release without seeing the proof.
• Once the proof has been received by the office in Boston, they will schedule the Au Pair’s return flight to their home Country
• If an Au Pair does not send this in, they will be locked out of their on line account and will not have access to their flight itinerary until proper documentation is received.

If an Au Pair is wishing to extend the following must happen:

• The education component MUST be completed by the end of the Au Pair’s 11^th month.  I would highly recommend that they have it completed by the middle of the 11^th month to be on the safe side
• All proof of completion (official transcript or letter on school letterhead) must be received by the Boston office no later than the end of the 11^th month.  If we do not have this, the Au Pair cannot extend.  

If an Au Pair does not complete the educational component he/she will lose his/her flight home and any deposit paid in the home Country.  Au pairs who do not pursue their educational requirement are also at risk of being removed from the program since they are not compliant with the regulations of their visa.  All Au Pair’s are issued a J1 visa which is a student visa.  If they do not attend school they are in violation of their visa and due to State Department regulations, will be sent home.

Au pairs have the opportunity to extend their program term through the extension program for 6, 9, or 12 additional months.  In order to extend, an au pair must be in good standing with the program including completion of the required educational requirement:

 

Not less than 6 semester hours (or their equivalent) of academic credit at a post secondary accredited institution - 22 C.F.R. Part 62.31 K (1)    

 

The Department of State regulations state that au pairs have 12 months to complete their educational component.  However, Cultural Care is required to submit to the Department of State all extension requests 30 days prior to the end of the au pair’s first year.  Based on recent clarification from the Department, all au pairs who plan to extend their program term 6, 9, or 12 months must now have their educational component COMPLETE by this deadline.  This means that extending au pairs will NOT be able to complete or take any classes in the 12^th month of their first year in order to fulfill their educational requirement.  All classes must begin and conclude prior to the end of the au pair’s 11^th month. 

 

Cultural Care Au Pair will now require verbal or written confirmation from au pairs wishing to extend that his/her course has been or will be completed by the end of their 11^th month in order to submit the extension application to the Department of State for approval. Final confirmation must be in the form of a certificate, transcript or letter from the school showing that the required credits have been obtained and this must be submitted to Cultural Care before the end of the 12^th month.  Please note that final approval of any extension application is subject to the sole discretion of the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Cultural and Educational Affairs and cannot be guaranteed by Cultural Care.   

 

We have been informed that further clarification on the educational component is forthcoming from the Department of State and we will share that information with you as soon as it is made available

 

We encourage au pairs to take steps to explore educational opportunities in their communities immediately upon arrival to the U.S.  The educational component is an important part of their program experience as well as a condition of their visa.  Fulfilling the requirement as early in the year as possible will help to keep au pairs in compliance and will leave open the possibility for participation in the extension program without complication. 

 

Please be reminded that au pairs who are not planning to extend their program term are, of course, required to complete their educational component and noncompliance with this requirement will result in forfeit of deposit and return flight.

Each year an Au Pair must complete 6 credits (also called Units) of classroom instruction at an accredited Post Secondary Institution. If credits are not offered for the class taken, the au pair may count hours and 6 credits is the equivalent of 72 to 90 hours of classroom instruction.

Courses must be taken in the classroom (or equivalent to the classroom - e.g. basketball court for a basketball class, dance classroom for a dance class).  They may not be taken online.  It is VERY important to start classes in the first semester available after the au pair’s arrival because of audit restrictions (see below).

**IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT YOU COMPLETE EDUCATION AND RECEIVE PAPERS THAT DOCUMENT YOUR COMPLETION IN ORDER TO GET YOUR DEPOSIT BACK OR EXTEND FOR A SECOND YEAR!**

***YOU MUST GET PROOF FROM ANY SCHOOL YOU ATTEND SHOWING THAT YOU HAVE COMPLETED THE CLASS OR AUDIT.  This should document must:

1) Be on the school letterhead

2) List the class name, the units and the number of class hours

3) State that you attended the class and completed the class 

Credit classes: Use your transcripts and your receipt for enrollment

Audit or Non-credit classes: Get a letter, on school letterhead; can be written by your professor; ASK THE PROFESSOR at the BEGINNING OF THE CLASS so he/she can prepare this before class ends.

 

APPROPRIATE EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS:  Our area offers many institutions in which au pairs may complete their classes.  Here is a list of some of the options:

Pierce College,                  Woodland Hills                       (818) 719-6401 www.piercecollege.com

Moorpark College,           Moorpark (Conejo Valley          (805) 378-1400

www.moorparkcollege.com

These two community colleges offer a variety of programs.  Most are available for an au pair to take without a prerequisite.  However, because au pairs are considered foreign students, the fees per unit can be $160 and up.  Therefore, it is recommended that an au pair Audit the courses (also known as taking the classes for Non-Credit).  The fees for auditing range from $15 to $26 a credit.  This is an affordable option and is fully acceptable under the Federal Guidlines.  Please note that the colleges will only accept 1 class at a time on an audit basis.  Here is a step-by-step process for requesting an audit (non-credit) class:

2.      Have the teacher sign the Audit Enrollment Form, take it back to the office and pay.

3.      IF YOU CAN’T ARRANGE AN AUDIT THROUGH THE OFFICE, GO DIRECTLY TO THE CLASS ON THE FIRST DAY AND ASK THE TEACHER.  Tell him/her you don’t have the money but you’re VERY interested.  See if he’ll allow you to audit and then go to register.

A Another local community college is:

·         Santa Monica College       Santa Monica         (310) 434-4000    www.smc.edu

However, SMC does not allow audits for their programs.  If an au pair wishes to take English as a Second Language, they DO offer that program for free!

Other Local Colleges and Universities may offer audit or Extension (adult education) programs:

UCLA – Westwood campus http://www.uclaextension.edu/index.cfm

Pepperdine – Malibu campus

California Lutheran University

Cal State Northridge

Cal State Channel Islands

Adult Schools who are properly accredited by the State Department also offer appropriate au pair classes.  If an au pair attends an adult school she/he should count the classroom hours:

Conejo Valley Adult School

1025 Old Farm Road

Thousand Oaks

CA

West Valley Occupational Center	6200 Winnetka Ave	Woodland Hills	CA

OTHER OPTIONS – WEEKEND TRAINING ON THE EASTCOAST

SPEND A WEEKEND AT ONE OF THE TWO PLACES LISTED BELOW AND EARN ½ OF YOUR CREDITS.  Occasionally one of these sites will even have a week-long training for the full 6 credits.  Check out these websites:

Silver Bay: www.culturalcare.com/silverbay
C.W. Post: www.liu.edu/cwis/CWP/aupair

STARTING SUMMER 2008, THERE WILL BE 3 CREDIT WEEKEND COURSES OFFERED ON THE WEST COAST!!!!!

San Francisco, June 27-29

Los Angeles, August

(and other cities)

CHECK OUT:  http://www.aupaireducation.com/  for more information