This year marks the 50th anniversary of the UW-Madison Academic Year in Freiburg (AYF) study abroad program in Germany, a joint venture with the University of Michigan, Michigan State University, and the University of Iowa.
Hundreds of UW-Madison undergraduates from a wide range of majors have studied in Freiburg over the past half-century.
Every year, UW-Madison continues to send a strong student contingent who say the program is the most broadening and memorable educational experiences of their college career.
AYF is also an exchange program, inviting German students to study at UW-Madison and the three other consortium universities.
This tie is especially strong here -- Madison and Freiburg have been Sister Cities (Partnerstädte) since 1998.
Groups in both cities organize an array of activities, some of them targeted specifically at incoming students from abroad.
Each year, scholarships are granted to several UW-Madison students for their year in Freiburg, including funds from the Max Kade Foundation, the state of Baden-Württemberg, and endowments to the Department of German.