Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange 2025-2026

Program ComponentsAs a Congress-Bundestag scholar, your exchange year will include:

• Placement with a carefully selected German host family
• Admission to a German high school
• Pre-departure training in the United States and orientation programs in Germany
• Meetings with government officials
• Cultural excursions to the German Bundestag and select German cities
• Supplementary language lessons upon arrival in your host community

Participants will be responsible for the following costs:

• Domestic transportation to and from the international gateway city
• Spending money for personal use
• Costs associated with obtaining a passport in a timely manner
• Costs associated with obtaining a German residence permit, or visa, as applicable

Why Apply to Become a Congress-Bundestag Scholar?

Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange (CBYX) is for motivated high school students who want to experience a culture and learn a language through a full immersion experience. Earn a competitive edge for your college applications. Learn about German culture first-hand by living with a host family and attending a German high school. Connect to an elite network of U.S. Department of State program alumni. Embark on an adventure that is unlike any other.

As a CBYX participant, you will gain new perspectives on global current affairs and German social, economic and political life. You will learn the German language through immersion in the culture at school and at home. When you return after approximately 10 months abroad, you will have a greater sense of independence, empowerment, and global citizenry. You will make friendships through a shared experience that will last a lifetime, and you will become a true member of another culture.

The program consists of three phases:

• Two months of intensive German language training
• Four months of classes in one’s academic or career field at a university, technical or professional school
• Five-month internships in one’s career field

CBYX is open to candidates in all career fields, and applicants from a broad range of backgrounds are selected for the program each year. In accordance with the public diplomacy goals of the CBYX program, the selection committee aims to select a diverse group of 75 American participants each year.

Participants are expected to act as “young ambassadors” of the United States in Germany, and to represent the diversity of the U.S. in factors including, but not limited to, career field, educational background, geographic location, disabilities, ethnicity, gender, race, religion and socio-economic status.

The CBYX program is sponsored in the U.S. by the Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, under the authority of the Fulbright-Hays Act of 1961, as amended.  The Department of State issues a grant to administer CBYX for Young Professionals to Cultural Vistas, a non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization headquartered in New York. Cultural Vistas has administered CBYX for Young Professionals for over 30 years, together with its German partner organization, the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit.

How to Apply

All applicants must complete an online application and submit all supplemental materials by December 1 for the program year beginning the following July.  A complete application consists of:

• Online application form; requiring copies of the following documents to be uploaded with your submission
  • Resume
  • Copy of official transcript showing at least the last two years of study
  • Proof of U.S. citizenship: passport or birth certificate
  • High school diploma or proof of graduation
  • Two letters of recommendation to be submitted

CBYX Scholarship Sample Timeline

• Fall: Application becomes available online
• December: Applications are due
• January – April: Selection processes
• March – May: Selection announcements
• April/May – International Departure: Pre-departure preparation
• July – September: Group international departure for Germany
• June – July (year following): Group international return from Germany and program conclusion activities

What is the history of the CBYX Program?

Initiated in 1983, Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange was created to strengthen ties between Germany and the United States through citizen diplomacy. The program was founded in celebration of the 300th year anniversary of the first German immigration to the United States. CBYX is jointly funded by the U.S. Congress and the German Bundestag, and in the U.S. is overseen by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Over 24,000 students have prepared themselves for success in an increasingly global world by participating in the CBYX program.

Alumni

U.S. Department of State’s International Exchange Alumni: All alumni of the CBYX for Young Professionals program receive exclusive membership to the U.S. Department of State’s global  International Exchange Alumni community, a dynamic and interactive networking website for past and current participants of U.S. government-sponsored exchange programs.