Airport Pickup

AES provides free airport or hotel pickup for incoming students before the semester begins. If you arrive in Portland before the arrival and check in date for the semester, make plans to stay in a hotel. Be sure you make reservations before you arrive!

List of Hotels

Please pick me up!

Housing

There are several great housing options for AES students:

Many international students choose to live with an American host family. If you are interested in a homestay, contact ANDEO-International Homestays. ANDEO is a non-profit organization that finds American homes for international students. The monthly fee includes meals.
AES students may also rent a house or apartment off-campus. The AES office can send you a list of local apartments to get you started with your search.
Many AES students live on campus with American undergraduates. The residence hall rooms all have high-speed data lines and private phone lines: all halls have lounges, laundry facilities and kitchens.

Wherever you live, it's good to know that the Lewis & Clark campus is located in a quiet residential neighborhood in Portland, Oregon. Portland is a safe, secure place to live, work, and study. According to crime statistics released by the FBI in October 2005, Portland is one of the safest cities in the United States. AOL Travel and Leisure has also ranked Portland as the safest city in the USA.

Things to Bring

Weather in Portland can be hot in the summer and cold and rainy in the winter; bring clothes for both seasons. Students wear informal, casual clothes; both men and women wear blue jeans to class. You may want to bring traditional national clothing from your country to wear at the International Fair in March or on special occasions.

You may want to bring special spices and coffee and tea from your country; the residence halls have small kitchens where you can prepare simple dishes.

"Most people might say, school is the safest place. Others might say family is the safest, but what if you could find both things in a same place? And what will you call that? Being in the AES program was more than just studying for me. I lived the most wonderful time of life, beside wonderful people, younger and older, lovely teachers and so on. This moment has been noteworthy, and it will still be so for my entire life. AES is all I can recommend to everyone who like me, wish to have a home and a school in one place.

All the best to the future generations of AES,

Romeo Umulisa, Rwanda

"My name is Dolkar and I'm from Tibet. Lewis & Clark is a private, four-year institution enrolling about 1,750 students from the United States and other nations. The college has good services for international students, such as friendship families, conversation groups, international student club, annual international fair, movies, concerts, dance and sports teams. Lewis and Clark offers a great English program which has courses focusing on improvement of language skills and other subjects, for example, computers, and library skills. I recommend this college to you!"

Dolkar Tsering, Tibet