The Junior Year in Munich
The Junior Year in Munich is America’s oldest intercollegiate study abroad program in Germany, and is officially affiliated with Germany’s top-ranked university: Ludwig Maximilians Universität München (LMU Munich).
First established 1931 as an extension of the University of Delaware Foreign Study Plan, Wayne State University sponsored the reopening of the Junior Year in Munich in 1953 as the first junior year abroad program for US undergraduates in postwar Germany. More than 4,780 students from 514 US colleges and universities have studied abroad in Germany with Wayne State’s Junior Year in Munich program.
For more than 60 years, Wayne State’s JYM program has advanced the cause of study abroad as an integral part of US undergraduate education. In addition to JYM’s time-tested academic year program, today we offer one-semester programs, internship programs, and a summer program for talented college freshmen students of German.
JYM insists on continuing the distinguished tradition of academically integrated study abroad — a program model that offers maximum opportunity for the academic, cultural, and social immersion of US students studying abroad in Germany as bonafide German university students. Our status at LMU Munich makes this possible. JYM is not a so-called island program nor an American campus abroad. Rather, the JYM program enjoys privileged status as an affiliated academic institute approved by the LMU Munich Academic Senate, and an official course of study (Teil-Studiengang) approved by the Bavarian State Ministry of Culture. Hence our name, the “Junior Year in Munich an der Universität München.”
Eligibilty
- At least two years of college German with an average grade of at least “B” or the officially documented equivalent which is acceptable to the JYM program administration and to LMU Munich.
- Above average scholastic ability (a “B” average or better)
- Approval of the student’s course of study (as indicated on the Proposed Schedule of Courses) by his/her major advisor, study abroad advisor, and by the Junior Year in Munich;
- One supportive letter of recommendation from a German faculty member
- Junior status officially documented on the transcript from the home institution prior to departure for Germany (required for registration at LMU Munich).
- If all or a portion of a transcript is on a Pass/No Pass grading system, students must include evaluation of their course work by their instructors. If the language requirement has been fulfilled on a Pass/No Pass basis, detailed evaluations of the coursework by the German language instructors are required.
Application
- The four-page application (can be downloaded from the website)
- A transcript showing coursework and grades for your first three semesters (or four quarters), or all coursework to date if you are above sophomore standing
- A letter of recommendation from your most recent German language instructor that includes his/her rank and department affiliation. (E-mail recommendations are acceptable)
- If you wish to study at the Technical University of Munich (TUM), you must apply to both JYM and the TUM.
- If you are applying for a Cultural Vistas internship, please return the “Cultural Vistas Internship Form” with your JYM Application
- If you wish to apply for JYM Scholarship assistance, please return the JYM Scholarship Application Form with your JYM Application
Deadline
- Full-year and first semester (Wintersemester) only: March of every year. Please check the website for details. (JYM has a rolling admission policy and normally already begins admitting students to the full year program in late January. Applications for the full-year and first semester only programs should be submitted after the end of the fall semester and not later than March 15.)
- Second semester (Sommersemester) only: October of every year. Please check the website for details.
