Study Abroad Programs

Discover the world! – Who wouldn't want that? Especially during school years, stays abroad offer a unique opportunity to catch a glimpse of other cultures or to dive into them, meet new people, learn language(s), and gain very special experiences. From Alaska to New Zealand, across Chile to Japan – in over 50 countries, organizations offer exchange programs, leaving hardly any country wish unfulfilled.

There are many ways to go abroad; here we point out some of the possibilities:

• Student exchange with the existing programs of Gymnasium Rahlstedt
  • Spain (9th grade)
  • France (9th grade)
• individual school visits abroad between 6 weeks and 1 school year during vacations or during/after 9th/10th grade
  • 12 weeks with the program of the school authority in France
  • 12 weeks with the program of the school authority in Canada
  • Voltaire – a school year with the student exchange program to France
  • a school year in the USA with the Parliamentary Sponsorship Program (PPP) (joint program of the German Bundestag and the US Congress)
  • as a participant in one of the many organizations
  • self-organized
• Stays abroad after completing school

Stays abroad can be very expensive; a big exception here are the above-mentioned government programs and the PPP. But even if you don't necessarily want to dive into life in the USA or longer into life in Canada and France, you can reduce program costs at least through various scholarships and grants.

Options here are:

• Financial support for studying abroad by the Hamburg Authority according to the following guidelines
• Foreign-BAföG for students
• Scholarships of the umbrella organization AJA and the scholarships of the seven AJA organizations (totaling over 4 million euros in scholarships)
• Scholarships of the German Fachverband High School (DFH) (coalition of commercial German organizations) and the scholarships of its member organizations
• Scholarships for certain country groups
• Scholarships for youths with migration background, especially politically and/or socially engaged youths
• ….

But one’s own wanderlust cannot only be appeased by travel; the world can also be brought home! Above all, the AJA organizations, but also many other organizations, offer young people from over 50 countries worldwide the opportunity to come to Germany. For these students, the organizations search host families all year round that enable these youths to attend a school here in Germany (at GyRa) and to live in a German family.

Further information:

Flyer of the school authority

If you are interested, feel free to approach Frau Keßler during break or after class, or by email at juliane.lehmann(at)gyra.hamburg.de.