The IFSA Health & Safety Matrix outlines how we evaluate program viability for Winter 2021 and Spring 2021 programs. We post updates every two weeks.

Over the course of early summer 2020, IFSA progressively closed all Fall 2020 in-person programs based on protocols outlined in the IFSA Health & Safety program viability matrix. We considered aspects such as ease of travel and ability to secure a visa, the public health procedures in the country, academic contingency plans, and COVID trends within the location.

We are proud to support a small group of students who opted to attend the fall semester remotely with the London School of Economics and the University of Oxford. These students will work with our London staff, individually and as a group, to engage around topics of British culture and academics. We are hopeful they can join the team in person in January to continue their studies.

We had to cancel most of our summer programs in late spring, communicating with partners and students that they would have the opportunity to lock-in the Summer 2020 prices if they opt to defer to the same Summer 2021 program.

The first indication of COVID-19 occurred in China, and since our Shanghai programs had not started yet, we quickly cancelled and diverted 75% of the students to a future semester or another program around the world. Students received a full refund of all fees paid if they were unable to divert to another program. At that time, no one understood that COVID-19 would become a pandemic causing the havoc that it ultimately caused.

COVID-19 spread to Italy, causing the closure of our Rome, Italy program. Students departed Italy no later than March 4 and the academic portion of the program shifted to an online format for the remainder of the semester.

Due to a suspension of classes at our host institution in Barcelona, we announced the closure the Spain program, effective April 3, 2020. Students were asked to depart Spain no later than April 4. We shifted the academic portion of the program online.

The World Health Organization (WHO) identified COVID-19 as a global pandemic.

In two short days, the COVID-19 virus quickly spread across Europe, causing IFSA to make the measured decision to close all of our Europe programs, effective March 15, 2020. We accelerated the Spain closure from two days earlier, asking students to depart the country by March 15. Given the large number of enhanced direct enroll programs involved, we began tracking how our host institutions were responding to student departures and whether they were making accommodations for online learning for the remainder of the semester.

Students on our Argentina program were in the process of arriving when the country implemented a self-isolation period and airlines began suspending flights. Home institutions began calling their students home, so we set up a collection of classes we could offer in an online format, beginning at the end of the month. Students opted whether to stay in country or return home, depending on their comfort level or the suggestions of their home school.

The situation escalated rapidly, and by March 16, 2020, we determined that we needed to close our Spring 2020 programs worldwide. Students in the remaining locations were asked to secure a flight home no later than March 20, 2020, and this urgency was fueled by the dynamic situation with airlines and the lack of pandemic risk mitigation information available at the time.

The Peruvian government closed the borders prematurely before U.S. citizens, including all but three of the 14 IFSA students studying there, could get their flights home. IFSA communicated with the consulate, our U.S. Representative and Senators from Indiana, and other international providers in similar situations trying to get U.S. citizens out of Peru. Students isolated safely with their host families while IFSA worked on their behalf to advocate for their return home.

All students studying in Peru safely returned home.

Given the unusual circumstances, we committed early in the COVID-19 situation to refund all recoverable costs to students or our U.S. colleges and universities, depending upon who initially paid. We started communicating with our host universities to advocate for partial tuition refunds if students were not able to complete their studies remotely. We worked with our housing partners to secure refunds for portions of unused housing, and we negotiated with vendors we use for excursions that were unused. In some cases, we were successful; in others, we were not. Much of this depended on the timing of the program closure and how much of the semester was underway at the time.

After the vast majority of refunds for Spring 2020 were processed, we returned nearly $2 million to students and partners. More than 85% of our students received a refund, averaging nearly $2,500 per student.