For 35 years, Maryland-in-Nice shaped generations of Terps who learned French in France. As student needs evolved—with more double majors seeking credits beyond French and growing demand to study alongside French peers—and as post-COVID support and housing challenges emerged, Education Abroad (EA) and the School of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures (SLLC) began searching for a program that could offer deeper immersion and broader academic options.
Beginning Fall 2026, EA and the French department within SLLC will open a new chapter with Maryland-in-Aix. Maryland is joining an existing Big Ten consortium program led by Indiana University and UW–Madison, which provides key infrastructure—including a full-time French coordinator and a physical center in Aix—that enables UMD students to access three universities: Aix-Marseille Université, Sciences Po Aix and the Service Universitaire de Langues.
Designed around choice, immersion and support, Maryland-in-Aix gives students multiple pathways to live and learn in Aix-en-Provence. Participants may live with a host family or choose student apartments while still connecting with French families through weekly meal exchanges. On the academic side, students can directly enroll in courses alongside French classmates at the partner institutions. A dedicated on-site team and program center in Aix provide everyday guidance—from housing logistics to navigating local systems—so students can focus on language, culture and community.
The program welcomes a range of language levels. Learners who are still building proficiency can follow an intensive French track, while intermediate-high and advanced students can step into mainstream courses in disciplines such as government and politics, sociology, art history and more—all in French—with academic advising to help map selections to degree goals. This structure makes Maryland-in-Aix especially valuable for French/Government & Politics double majors, who can pair their language studies with political science courses at one of France’s premier institutions, Sciences Po Aix. To set everyone up for success, Maryland-in-Aix includes a required seminar that, as Hannah Wegmann, French professor and undergraduate advisor, describes it, is “a crash course on how to survive in the French university”—from writing conventions to classroom culture.
Life in Aix makes learning stick. Structured opportunities—language partners, program-led excursions and curated community connections—help students build relationships with local peers and explore the region. Daily life in walkable, student-friendly Aix makes practice natural: open-air markets, theaters and neighborhoods that look like the canvases of Paul Cézanne are all part of the learning environment. With Marseille just a short ride away and train service across southern France, students can access a broader cultural landscape while keeping Aix as their home base.
It’s not just about using the language. [Study abroad] is the most efficient and authentic way to learn it.
Maryland-in-Aix builds on a longstanding tradition of global learning in the French major. Nearly all French majors spend time abroad, often completing half their degree requirements overseas. “It’s not just about using the language,” Wegmann says. “It’s the most efficient and authentic way to learn it. Many of our students go abroad as minors and come back as majors.”
Applications are open now for Fall 2026. Whether just beginning to build confidence in French or ready to dive into advanced coursework abroad, students will find a thoughtfully supported path in Maryland-in-Aix—an evolution of Maryland’s legacy in France and a fresh invitation to make Aix-en-Provence their classroom.