German American Partnership Program, Inc. (GAPP)

GAPP exchanges are rooted in long-term school partnerships and so become part of the communities in which the schools are located. Mutual short-term exchanges take place in regular intervals between German and US schools. Groups of 10-20 students visit their partner community for at least 2 weeks and stay with the families of their exchange partner during this time. Each year more than 7,000 students cross the Atlantic under the GAPP umbrella. These short-term exchanges are supported by Germany’s Foreign Ministry as well as the US Department of State. Students traveling with GAPP may also apply for need and merit-based individual scholarships funded by the Joachim Herz Foundation and Max Kade Foundation. Once a short-term exchange has been established between partner schools, individual students may also spend a semester or a full academic year at their partner school.

School partnerships:

• Provide and maintain civic and social exchanges and foster personal contacts between secondary school students and their teachers in the partner countries
• Promote language instruction at US high schools
• Deepen the participants’ understanding of the host country’s culture and way of life
• Establish a foundation for international and intercultural understanding as well as lifelong friendships
• Break down existing prejudices and stereotypes

The German American Partnership Program (GAPP) was founded in 1972 at the Goethe-Institut Boston as a not-for-profit-organization promoting the exchange of young Germans and Americans. The primary goals of the exchange program are to foster the study of world languages (English and German), to increase intercultural awareness and understanding, as well as to provide early access to global literacy skills. 

GAPP, Inc. works with the Goethe-Institutes in the US to promote the program and provide teacher training. Since 1982, GAPP, Inc. partners with Germany’s Educational Exchange Service (PAD) in Bonn. PAD was founded in 1951 with the goal of promoting international exchange between secondary schools.

For students in Germany, who attend a school with an established, on-going, and reciprocal short-term exchange with an American high school, GAPP, Inc. can facilitate the J-1 visa process and has designation from the US Department of State to issue Form DS-2019. The GAPP Coordinators in Germany select and prepare the students, who in most cases have visited the US host communities within the short-term program; the American GAPP Coordinators at the visiting high school act as local representatives for the German exchange student. The student is responsible for their travel costs, personal expenses, and insurance fees as well as for the visa and SEVIS fee and an application fee for DS-2019 to the German American Partnership Program, Inc.