Deadline: 26-Oct-23
The Office of Citizen Exchanges, Youth Programs Division (ECA/PE/C/PY), of the Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) announces an open competition for the FY 2024 (Academic Year 2025-2026) Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange (CBYX) program and outbound Congress-Bundestag/Bundesrat Staff Exchange (CBBSX).
The CBYX and CBBSX programs support the exchange of American and German young people to sustain and strengthen the American-German friendship based on the common value of democracy. The program also builds lasting personal and institutional relationships.
Purpose
- The primary objective of the program is to encourage American and German youth to learn about each other’s society and culture through educational exchange while promoting American-German friendship based on the common value of democracy. In addition, the program seeks to promote the participants’ roles as young ambassadors with influence on future American-German relations, and to promote and strengthen linkages between members of Congress and their Bundestag counterparts.
- Through the CBYX program, participants spend an academic year living and studying in the host country. The outbound CBBSX program provides round-trip airfare and related expenses for the participation of 10 American congressional staffers to participate in a two-week parliamentary exchange in Germany.
Program Components
- Administrative Component:
- One organization will be selected to implement the Administrative Component to:
- Produce and distribute CBYX secondary school scholarship and program-wide promotional materials
- Maintain a CBYX program-wide scholarship application website for U.S. applicants
- Coordinate program-wide promotional activities
- Work with ECA and other CBYX Program Organizations to coordinate the logistics for the summer program wide American re-entry workshop scheduled in 2026 for June 16-18
- Manage logistics in the amount of $90,000 (funded in the base year only) for the bilateral partner meeting with American and German CBYX Partners, currently scheduled to take place in 2026.
- One organization will be selected to implement the Administrative Component to:
- Secondary School Component:
- Up to five (5) organizations will be selected to:
- Recruit, select, and prepare American secondary school students (ages 15 to 18.5 years old as of August 1 of the program start year) for an academic year cultural and educational homestay experience in Germany
- Place and manage the wellbeing of German secondary school students for an academic year cultural and educational homestay experience in the United States.
- Up to five (5) organizations will be selected to:
- Vocational Component:
- Up to one organization will be selected to:
- Recruit, select, and prepare graduating U.S. secondary school seniors between the ages of 18 and 19 as of August 1 of the year the program will start for an academic year cultural, educational, and hands on work experience in Germany.
- Up to one organization will be selected to:
- Young Professionals Component:
- Up to one organization will be selected to:
- Recruit, select, and prepare U.S. citizens between the ages of 18.5 and 24 as of August 1 of the year the program will start for an academic year cultural, educational, and hands on work experience in Germany
- Place and manage the wellbeing of German Young Professional participants for an academic year cultural, educational, and hands on work experience in the United States
- Provide travel and administrative support in the amount of $35,000 to the U.S. delegation for CBBSX.
- Up to one organization will be selected to:
Funding Information
- Minimum Floor of Award: Approximately $130,000, pending the availability of funds.
- Maximum Ceiling of Award: Approximately $1,400,000, pending the availability of funds.
- Administrative Component: ECA anticipates awarding approximately $244,000 for this Component with an additional $90,000 funded only in the FY 2024 base year of the award for the 2026 bilateral partner meeting.
- Secondary School Component: ECA anticipates awarding approximately $584,400 per region for this Component.
- Vocational Component: ECA anticipates awarding approximately $130,000 for this Component.
- Young Professionals Component: ECA anticipates awarding approximately $929,000 for this Component and an additional $35,000 for the Congress-Bundestag/Bundesrat Staff Exchange (CBBSX)
- Anticipated Project Completion Date: February 28, 2029.
Eligibility Criteria
- Eligible Applicants:
- U.S. public and private academic and cultural institutions, exchange-of-persons, and other not for-profit organizations may submit applications for this competition. Applicants must have nonprofit status with the IRS at the time of application.
- Other Eligibility Requirements
- The following additional eligibility requirements apply to this NOFO announcement:
- Grants or Cooperative Agreements awarded to eligible organizations with less than four years of experience in conducting international exchange programs will be limited to $130,000.
- In order to be eligible to receive an award, all organizations must have a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) number.
- There is no limit to the number of Components that eligible organizations may apply for, but applicants must submit a separate proposal for each Component. Applicants can apply for a single Component (including Administrative, Secondary, Vocational, Young Professional) or multiple Components via separate proposals.
- The following additional eligibility requirements apply to this NOFO announcement:
For more information, visit Grants.gov.