About us

IEC programs give students the opportunity to work and travel in countries around the world.

It all began in 1989 with an almost unbelievable story: two graduates of the University of Latvia arrived in New York with eight dollars between them. Later, one of them had a strange thought: “If we managed to do this, maybe others can too.” That thought eventually grew into the International Exchange Center.

At first, it is just a summer plan: an unfamiliar city, a first job, new people. Then you realize that decisions like this change you from the inside — they help you grow up faster and see the world with your eyes wide open. IEC helps students take that step, and often one program becomes the beginning of a path to new countries, opportunities, and discoveries.

Explore the site. Choose your program. Start your own story.

Shortly before flying to America, two graduates of the University of Latvia, Edward Potapov and Edward Geller, applied for J-1 visas, stating that they were going to work at an American summer camp. To the staff at the U.S. Embassy, the idea sounded so unusual that they needed several hours to consult with Washington.

On June 27, 1989, the two Eduards arrived in New York — with little understanding of spoken English, but with the feeling that something bigger than just a summer job was about to begin.

Later, after they returned home, a thought appeared: if this experience had been possible for them, it could become possible for other students too. That is how the story of the International Exchange Center gradually began to take shape.

On June 27, 1989, IEC’s two “founding fathers” arrived in New York on J-1 visas to particpate in CCUSA program. At Kennedy Airport, they were met by an American who could hardly believe that it was really them, that they had actually arrived, and that they were not some kind of KGB agents — just two recent students who had come to work at a summer camp in Maine. Then came two and a half months of work at a camp, followed by a month of traveling by Amtrak in a great loop around the United States: from New York west along the northern route, then south, back east along the southern route, and finally north again. And only later, after they had returned home, did they come up with the idea for the International Exchange Center.

In 1990, the first three dozen IEC participants went to the United States through the CCUSA program to work at American summer camps. At that time, IEC did not yet have a network of offices or representatives, so everything went through the main and only IEC office in Riga. Future participants traveled there by train or flew in from different cities to attend an interview, get advice, and prepare for their first trip abroad. That is how the personal story of 1989 became a real path for other students — with application forms, interviews, visa waiting times, tickets, and a first independent summer in America.
That same year, in 1990, the International Exchange Center logo was created — featuring the word “EXCHANGE” composed of flags from different countries — a logo that is still used today.

IEC begins developing the Work and Travel USA program. The first participants go to the United States for the summer — to work, travel, experience another culture, and try independent life abroad for the first time.
Over time, Work and Travel USA becomes one of IEC’s best-known programs: several months of work, travel, and experience that many participants later remember as one of the defining moments of their student years.

Demand for student programs grows, and IEC starts building a network of representative offices. In the 1990s, offices begin opening in different cities so that participants can get consultations, prepare documents, and go through the process closer to home.

Demand for student programs grows, and IEC starts building a network of representative offices. In the 1990s, offices begin opening in different cities so that participants can get consultations, prepare documents, and go through the process closer to home.

You could practically study the world atlas by following the routes of IEC participants. Students could work in Cape Town, do an internship in Australia or Mauritius, volunteer in India while combining the project with camel safaris and trekking in the Himalayas, or help protect turtle nests in Costa Rica.
They could also work in China, teach in Brazil, China, or Thailand, or join the Work in France program and spend their summer in Paris, on the French Riviera, at ski resorts in the Alps, or in Brittany, Provence, and Alsace. Names that once sounded like places from books and travel guides became real destinations in a work-and-travel journey.

At the turn of the millennium, in late December 2000 and early January 2001, IEC and InterExchange held a joint workshop in New York. Representatives from different countries and cities came together to exchange experience, discuss the future of the programs, and align shared working standards.

The IEC team celebrated New Year’s Eve in Times Square, surrounded by thousands of people from around the world. For IEC, the trip marked an important stage of growth: the programs were becoming more international, the number of routes and participants was increasing, and preparing students for their trips required closer coordination between offices, partners, and host organizations.

IEC launches EXCHANGE! — an online community for Work and Travel participants, students, travelers, and everyone interested in studying, working, and living abroad.
The platform allowed users to find friends and travel companions, share stories, photos, and routes, write blogs, and book airline tickets online at special fares — to America and around the world.

By its 25th anniversary, IEC had helped more than 100,000 students take part in international programs. For many of them, it was their first job abroad, their first independent income, their first real conversation in English, and their first experience of living in another country.

Behind those numbers are thousands of personal stories: new friends, first travel routes, summer jobs, trips after the program, and the feeling that the familiar world had become much wider.

IEC develops the IEC.Study educational platform and mobile app. The platform introduces English language courses, applied artificial intelligence courses, virtual internships, and language practice with a voice AI assistant.

IEC launches the new iec.exchange portal — a digital ecosystem for program participants, students, young professionals, and anyone who wants to study, travel, build a career, and gain international experience in new formats. The portal preserves what has always been at the heart of EXCHANGE!: a participant community, stories, travel routes, and the ability to apply for IEC programs. Now it also adds new digital services for learning, travel, career development, and personal AI support.
IEC Hero — AI characters, digital companions, and video avatars.
StudyHub — an AI tutor, learning tools, and study support.
TravelHub — travel, booking, routes, and trip preparation.
IEC Career Lab — international virtual internships, career simulations.

The first Work and Travel participants are now bringing their own student-age children to IEC — a new generation setting out to gain international experience of their own.

Just like many years ago, IEC participants continue their own voyage of discovery: they work, travel, explore new countries, test themselves in real life, and return with stories that stay with them for years.