The outbreak of COVID-19 has created a global crisis, the likes of which most of us have not seen in our lifetime, with sudden and sweeping impacts to the health sector, the economy, supply chains, jobs, and security. The impact on Higher Education and within it, Study Abroad, is no exception.

Through the rapidly changing landscape of border closings, quarantines, and canceled flights over the past three weeks, SFS’ priority and primary commitment was the safety of our students and staff and returning our students home. Now that our students have returned home safely and our staff are secure, we are weighing the full impact this event had and continues to have for all involved.

These unprecedented circumstances have required us all to adapt, change, and respond in ways none of us could have ever anticipated. Our responsibility is to be transparent and to fulfill our commitments to students and families, our staff, and our neighbors and partners in the local communities around the world to the best of our ability. Those commitments have guided our decision making regarding our refund policies for the Spring 2020 semester, indicated below.
 
TUITION
Faculty will be engaged throughout the remainder of the semester finishing the delivery of courses online, and students will be able to complete a full semester of credit. Thus, SFS will not be issuing any refunds for tuition for the spring 2020 semester.
 
ROOM & BOARD
SFS maintains long term leases and other contractual agreements and partnerships within the communities where we welcome students each semester. These communities are being impacted greatly by this pandemic and its aftermath and will feel the full brunt of the economic downturn which may follow. In this time of global crisis, it is also our responsibility to maintain our contractual commitments to these community partners and continue to honor these agreements as is reasonable. To refund Room or Board, SFS would be required to break leases and other long-term contracts with our community partners. Because of this, SFS is unable to offer a refund for Room or Board.
 
TRAVEL REIMBURSEMENT POLICY
In the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak, it was our singular priority to get students home in the safest and most expeditious manner possible. Each day brought new border closures, restrictions, grounded airlines, and canceled tickets. As SFS navigated these shifting variables, we recognize that some students incurred unexpected expenses in securing their travel home. SFS would like to do what we can to provide students with some financial relief. If you are one of the students who incurred unexpected expenses due to return travel home and would like to request a reimbursement, please proceed through the following process:

Airlines: First, check with your airline as many have waived change fees and rebooking fees for certain countries or within certain dates. If you are working with Advantage Travel, they will assist you in doing so.
Travel Insurance: If you have purchased travel insurance, please contact the company directly and proceed with the reimbursement protocol.
Home School: Some sending schools are providing financial assistance for change fees and waivers. Please contact your home institution directly to inquire about their policies and how to apply for reimbursement.

If you do not receive any reimbursements from the airline, insurance, or your home school, please provide SFS with the following documentation and SFS may be able to offer assistance. Please provide the following:

1. A letter from your home school stating that they are not offering financial assistance for rebooking and change fees.
2. A copy of the itinerary and price of your original ticket, the new ticket, and the invoice outlining the difference in cost and change fee.
3. In your email, please include your name, contact information, and home mailing address.

Documentation should be submitted no later than April 30, 2020, to operations@fieldstudies.org. Once all claims are submitted, SFS will review these requests and determine what assistance may be available. SFS has a limited pool of resources and in many cases may not be able to offer a full reimbursement. We want to assure you that we are committed to doing what we can to help alleviate this difficult time for our students.

SFS will issue a full refund including deposit, or a student may apply the amount paid to a different SFS program, dependent on available capacity. SFS can only refund payments including the Program Commitment Deposit, tuition, and room & board. SFS cannot offer refunds for any personal costs incurred associated with the program, including but not limited to, flights, other transportation, visas, immunizations, etc.

SFS will issue a full refund including deposit, or a student may apply the amount paid to a different SFS program, dependent on available capacity. SFS can only refund payments including the Program Commitment Deposit, tuition, and room & board. SFS cannot offer refunds for any personal costs incurred associated with the program, including but not limited to, flights, other transportation, visas, immunizations, etc.

SFS suspended the remainder of the Spring 2020 semester programs and cancelled all Summer 2020 and Fall 2020 programs. SFS continues to actively assess the health and safety risks from COVID-19 at all our global locations as we look to the Winter 2021, Spring 2021 programs and onward. The decision to resume operations of our international study abroad programs will be determined by many factors, including guidance from the U.S. Department of State, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), current international levels of risk, and our ability to mitigate and manage those potential risks for our participants and staff in the field.

SFS is an industry leader in risk management. We have a structured risk management approach that enables us to adapt to the dynamic changes of the natural and political world to both prevent and respond to risk quickly and soundly. SFS adheres to the Forum on Education Abroad Standards of Good Practice and continually monitors global risk and security using a variety of external resources, including the U.S. State Department, Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), World Health Organization (WHO), and partner health and safety professionals in higher education (PULSE).

Each SFS Center has a Risk Assessment and Management Plan (RAMP) that comprehensively documents emergency response protocols and contingency plans. The protocols list the locations and contact details for nearby medical clinics, advanced medical care, and emergency evacuation services while also providing our staff, who are trained in wilderness medicine, with guidance on how to respond to incidents or emergencies.

Our decision was informed by the following considerations:

• COVID-19 cases have been identified in all of the countries in which we operate. Based on information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) anticipates exponential growth of confirmed cases and difficulty controlling the spread.
• SFS considered that local health systems in the areas in which we operate may have become overwhelmed and not have the resources to effectively test and treat COVID-19. We were further concerned that this stress on local medical facilities would interrupt our ability for treatment of unrelated medical issues. In addition, we did not want to add to the strain of local health care systems.
• Home schools were actively recalling students with varying mandated return dates.
• Increasingly limited flight availability due to the surge of flight cancellations and re-bookings resulting from travel bans and border closures.

If SFS determines that we need to temporarily suspend operations on a currently running program, we will immediately notify students, their home institutions, and their emergency contacts. Our site staff will oversee the safety and well-being of the students by assessing the situation and taking appropriate precautions.

For students enrolled for an upcoming program at a suspended location, we will notify students and their home institutions. We will work with students to determine if there is an alternative SFS program that would meet their academic needs and interests.

In consideration of COVID-19, SFS has amended the refund policy for Winter 2021 and Spring 2021 programs. This amended policy applied to Fall 2020 programs and moving forward will apply to Winter 2021 and Spring 2021 only. The standard SFS refund policy applies to Summer 2021 and all future programs.
 

SFS refund policies for Winter 2021 and Spring 2021 programs

SFS can only refund payments including the Program Commitment Deposit, tuition, and room & board. SFS cannot offer refunds for any personal costs incurred associated with the program, including but not limited to flights, other transportation, visas, immunizations, etc.
 
In the event that SFS cancels the program

• If program cancellation occurs before the start of the program, SFS will issue a full refund including deposit, or a student may apply amount paid to a different SFS program, dependent on available capacity.
• If program cancellation occurs after the start of the program, SFS will issue a partial refund prorated based on the week of cancellation (refund amount is dependent on the itinerary specific to that program).

In the event that a student chooses to withdraw from the program of their own accord or because their home institution requires it:

• If withdrawal occurs 20 or more days prior to the start of the program, SFS will issue a full refund including deposit, or a student may apply amount paid to a different SFS program, dependent on available capacity.
• If withdrawal occurs up to 19 days prior to the start of the program, SFS will issue a 50% refund including deposit.
• If withdrawal occurs after the start of the program, SFS will not issue a refund.

*Updated July 14, 2020.

SFS maintains a blanket accident insurance policy through AIG insurance administered by AIG’s Travel Guard program. The policy includes coverage for accidental medical expenses, emergency medical evacuation, and security evacuation. At this time, the existence of COVID-19 in a country where SFS operates does not meet AIG criteria to initiate emergency or security evacuation. However, in the event a student receives a confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19, then SFS and AIG Travel Guard will assist and advise on best options for medical care, and evacuation to home of record at the appropriate time. Coverage is determined by AIG at its sole discretion via a review process based on the specific facts of each submitted claim.

A summary of coverage connected to this policy can be found here.