ASSIST places academically and extracurricularly excelling international students on one-year merit-based scholarships at American independent secondary schools.

This arrangement allows ASSIST to use the services of American facilities and staff overseas and has made possible the endorsement and support of international government officials.

ASSIST is able to facilitate the issuance of the J-1 visa, under which some of its students study in the United States for one academic year on Exchange Visitor status.

ASSIST was founded in 1969 by Paul G. Sanderson, Jr., then Suffield Academy’s Director of Admissions, who wanted to enrich American independent secondary schools through an international educational community.

Sanderson began with a class of 13 students and started ASSIST as an educational and cultural exchange program to bring talented young men and women to study in the United States on one-year scholarships.