Academic term
In most countries, the academic year begins in late summer or early autumn and ends during the following spring or summer. In Northern Hemisphere countries, this means that the academic year lasts from August, September, or October to May, June, or July. In Southern Hemisphere countries, the academic year aligns with the calendar year, lasting from February or March to November or December. The summer may or may not be part of the term system.
Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange
American students who receive the scholarship usually spend 11 months in Germany. The first few weeks of the program are taken up by an Orientation and Language Seminar. The remaining ten months of the program usually see the students spread out over Germany, staying with a host family. They attend a Gymnasium, the German equivalent of high school, for an academic year. Other seminars take place over the course of the year, including a trip to the capital in Berlin, where the scholars speak, in German, to the German Bundestag.