SCHOOL TOURS OF AMERICA, LLC
HOUSTON, TX

In 1976, charismatic social studies teacher Frank Harvey took his class on a trip from Texas to Washington, DC. Inspired by the effect on his students, Frank soon launched his own educational tour company, American Student Travel (AST). Over the next two decades, AST became the fastest growing and most respected company of its kind, taking over half a million students to the East Coast. Moreover, AST became a highly successful model for start-up companies in an emerging industry of educational travel boutiques. The hallmark of AST’s success was its personal and customized approach. The company’s educational tour planners treated clients like family because AST was a family. Frank’s son, Lance, also grew up in this family of teachers, spending two decades working in every facet of the industry. Even as AST grew, Frank maintained his personal approach: meeting teachers in Washington, DC, listening to their needs, and quite memorably, giving generous gifts of authentic political memorabilia. As the boom of the late 1990s transformed the American economy, educational tours suddenly became big business. Bankers and foreign corporations entered the picture. While do-it-yourself websites replaced traditional travel agencies, the corporations recognized the potential profitability of “educational travel.” The first company they set their sites on was American Student Travel. Over the next ten years, private equity firms, Wall Street banks and foreign investors raced to purchase dozens of the remaining tour companies. The healthy, specialized industry of educational travel was replaced by a small group of enormous conglomerate tour corporations. Corporatization - to be influenced by or take on the features of a large commercial business, especially in being bureaucratic and uncaring The investment bankers, however, underestimated the determination of the educators who had built AST alongside Frank. The pioneers of the historic East Coast tour were not interested in compromising its quality in order to deliver more destinations or an inferior product at a higher cost. In 2002, ten of the most experienced and respected educational tour specialists joined forces to form School Tours of America. By listening to teachers and rejecting the corporate tour one-size-fits-all model, School Tours of America preserved the quality of the guides and customization of the tour bookings. Most importantly, they brought back the personal educator-based approach that earned Frank Harvey’s AST such a fiercely loyal following. School Tours of America remains the original and only East Coast specialist by never aiming to be the biggest, only the best. The percentage who remain with School Tours of America. The ONLY company with an exclusive focus on the East Coast of the USA The ONLY company whose actual staff averages more than 20 years of experience in educational tours — more than double or triple other companies The ONLY company owned exclusively by American educators and tour experts with no obligations to outside investors The ONLY company to solely use nearby hotels and book all private appointments ensuring students the most tour time The ONLY company that utilizes expert master guides with extensive youth experience, maintaining a 4.8 (of 5) rating The ONLY company to offer free graduate and continuing education credits from Adams State University, not a private tour company school The ONLY company with MyTourFund, empowering students to pay for the entire trip on their own School Tours of America Terms & Conditions . Many of the scholarships must be initiated by the tour director or teacher.  We offer the gift of education envelopes that may be sent to family, friends or businesses wanting to make a trip donation.   Please contact customer service at 1.866.543.9625 or email, While you should be able to reach your child’s teachers and chaperones directly by their cell phones, School Tours of America maintains 24-hour emergency access to your child through our Tour Central Offices and through our Emergency Call Center number which is given to all parents and students prior to departure.