What will you learn in your au pair year?
Overview of Course Options
The au pair program has an educational requirement. There are many ways to meet these requirements, here is the official Cultural Care requirement.
**online courses now accepted (contrary to what the document states)
Another local LCC has created this resource for au pairs. It is typically kept up to date and shows local and national course offerings that are popular among au pairs.
Online course options: Beginning 7/1/2023, the State Department will allow one online class per semester. Semesters are defined as: Aug – Dec (Fall), Jan -May (Spring), Jun - Aug (Summer). The spirit of the program encourages au pairs to attend in person courses when possible, and sees online courses as an option if in person courses are not available at times that work for the work schedule.
Experiential (weekend) courses
This type of course is good for au pairs who want to travel to a destination to complete their course requirements.
3 credit and 6 credit options are available.
This is the fastest way to earn credits.
University// community college courses
Auditng a course
You will not be required to do the homework or take the test, and you cannot register for labs or recitations associated with the class, but at the end you'll get a certificate that is acceptable to count toward your J1 visa requirement. You should know that you won't receive credit toward a degree or a credit that you could transfer to another university, but you should learn a lot and get a real 'on-campus' experience. The university allows auditors only if the class isn't full, and there are certain sorts of classes that are excluded - mostly participatory classes such as art, dance and language. You do need permission from the course instructor.
It may be possible to audit a course at another local college or university, but CU is the most prominent in the area. Other schools nearby: Metro State University, Front Range Community College, Naropa University, or University of Denver (DU).
Attending a university course for credit
Not recommended unless you plan to attend a US university in the future. This option is more expensive, and you need to apply to the university, be accepted, and participate fully in the course. It will allow you to have more course options and higher priority to take the courses you want, but often is not cost effective.
ESL/ Advanced English/ TOEFL course resources
This type of course is best for au pairs who want to improve their English.
3 credit and 6 credit options are available.
These courses are the most flexible with scheduling and timing. Some are done in four weeks, others can take up to three months. There are daytime, evening, and weekend options available for English courses.
If you want to prepare for the TOEFL exam, there are specific classes you can take!
Steps to Determine Your Courses
Step 1: Decide what you want to study and what type of course you want to take. Are you hoping to improve your English, do something fun, have a weekend school trip, or take a university course? In many cases a course covers three credits, and you must complete six credits total. See the overviews above for more information.
Step 2: Know your completion deadline. You can find your deadline here or here (PDF *still waiting on CC to get the updated one for arrivals past Sept 2022*). This is especially important because university courses follow the semester schedule. If you don't plan ahead, your options for courses that can help you meet your requirements are limited. Based on your completion deadline, you will know what type of classes you can take.
Step 3: Check in on finances. Your host family knows that they contribute $500 toward your educational requirements and they must provide means of local transportation to and from your classes. Some courses are much more expensive than others, so it is important to consider how much you want to spend on the educational requirement. For example, weekend courses that require travel and accommodation will be more expensive. The most budget friendly options are ESL or TOEFL prep courses or course audits.
Step 4: Check in on scheduling. There are many routes to take to meet your educational requirements. Some courses meet once per week in the evening at a local university for several months, while others meet every day of the week but only for a month or so. Other experiential courses meet only once but for several days over the weekend (and sometimes include Thursday and Friday in the course). Would you prefer to take six credits at one time (so you would take two or three courses at once), or one at a time throughout your stay.
With your host family, you should check in on what the expectations regarding their scheduling needs are. Some points to consider:
With school aged kids, daytime intensive courses may be a good option if you don't work while the kids are in school, but what happens if a host child is sick and you have already committed to the course?
For courses that meet either daily or weekly, will you have guaranteed access to a car or will your host family drive you, or will they pay your fare to take other modes of transportation?
For a weekend course, your time spent travelling to and from the course as well as your course dates are not vacation days for you, but if you take time before or after your course those days are considered vacation days.
Will you be traveling with your host family during the time that your course is running and if so how long (its ok to miss a class or two, but leaving for 2 months in the summer will mean you need to not be in classes during that time).
Some courses require computer access for virtual classes (before a weekend trip or in the event of bad weather for regular in person classes). Do you have access to a computer or can your host family provide one? If not, you can talk to your host family about helping you get setup with a library card to have access to a public computer, or ask if they have any other suggestions.
Step 5: Use the resources above about types of courses and your/ your host family needs to help you make a decision about which courses you will take to meet the educational requirement. If you have questions or need help, you can reach out to me.
Step 6: Make your decision!! Confirm the details with your host family, including their $500 contribution, agreeing on transportation to and from the courses, and putting all courses on the calendar (put the start and end time of the course so that it includes transportation, this way your host family does not accidently schedule you to work during the time you need to get to your course!)