UMFK records of French language exchanges, immersion, and bilingual education

Given the French-speaking population in the Saint John Valley, French competencies have become an area of educational development in the past few decades. Programming began in the 1970s across institutions in the area. In the 1980s, UMFK organized an exchange program with Québec, then with Nova Scotia in the 1990s. In the mid-2000s, they integrated with the larger University of Maine System exchange programs for students, staff, and faculty and established a relationship with the Université de Bretagne Occidentale (UBO).

The Madawaska and Van Buren School Districts (MSAD #24) began a two-way French immersion program in 1995, teaching elementary students in both French and English. In 2000, the two proposed a partnership with the University of Maine at Fort Kent to establish instruction for high school students.