Which visa should we apply for?

[kazmar]

My boyfriend is looking to begin studying in the US. He currently lives in the UK, he doesn't have secondary school qualifications (hasn't taken his GCSE's or anything). We want him to be able to obtain a high school qualification in the US and afterward, be able to study in college (community college, just so he'll be qualified to work something more than a retail position). We don't know which visa he should apply for, a tourist visa wouldn't allow him to work and we're both on a tight budget, so he would need to work here. We don't know if he's even eligible for a student visa as he's not currently a student. I haven't been able to find out which kinds of jobs make a person eligible for a work visa. Would a minimum wage paying job be enough? What do we do?