Undergraduate study abroad: Summer 2020 canceled, Fall 2020 still on for now

Students hoping to study abroad Fall 2020 face fears, uncertainty

Celina Tebor / Associate Editor / The USD Vista

The University of San Diego has canceled all Summer 2020 undergraduate study abroad programming. The university is planning to run all Fall 2020 undergraduate study abroad programs as planned, while monitoring CDC guidelines and USD’s internal criteria for travel.

“We are moving forward with the hope that our fall study abroad programs will happen,” said Kira Espiritu, Ph.D., the Director of International Studies Abroad at USD’s International Center in an email. “But, to be safe, we are having students register for on-campus classes as well. We want to hope for the best, but we are ready for the worst.”

As of March 27, the U.S. Department of State has issued a Global Level 4 Health Advisory — advising U.S. citizens to avoid all international travel due to the global impact of COVID-19. Level 4 is the most extreme level of travel advisory.

Ali Agbayani is a sophomore at USD who is planning on studying abroad Fall 2020 in Madrid, Spain. The study abroad programs at USD were one of the main reasons she chose to attend the university.

She had worried about coronavirus since its beginning, but after hearing that students studying abroad during Spring 2019 were being recalled back to the United States, her fears heightened.

“It just made things a lot more uncertain for me, to know maybe at a moment’s notice they’re going to change their plans,” Agbayani said. “It kind of freaked me out and just hearing about my friend who had to go back home, it just really disappointed me and it makes me really anxious.”

Along with the recommendation for students planning to study abroad Fall 2020 to register for on-campus classes, the International Center has extended the program application deadline for all Fall 2020 undergraduate study abroad programs to April 1, 2020. 

The International Center recommends all undergraduate applicants for Fall 2020 should continue to work through the study abroad application process.

“We are asking students to keep moving forward with their applications so that when a decision is made we will be able to move quickly,” Espiritu said. “Decisions will be made on a case-by-case basis depending on a number of factors. The safety and wellbeing of our students in our number one priority and, as you can imagine, we are monitoring this continuously changing situation very closely.”

Agbayani has finished her study abroad application for Fall 2020, but hasn’t submitted it yet. She doesn’t want to pay the $100 application fee and have it go to waste if the program is canceled, and faces a number of other uncertainties moving forward with studying abroad.

She’s unsure if she should move forward with scheduling visa appointments, and now has financial worries — she works on campus, but USD President James T. Harris III, D.Ed. recently announced all Casual Worker positions at USD will be suspended March 29, leaving her without an income.

Agbayani is also worried about her housing plan for next fall. She has plans to live off campus with some friends if the program gets canceled, but doesn’t want to keep her future roommates waiting until the last moment, leaving them to find another roommate if the program stays on.

She’s also spoken to Residential Life a few times about the possibility of living on campus if the program gets canceled. She was told if she doesn’t live on campus, whether that means choosing to live off campus or studying abroad, she will have to pay a cancelation fee. 

Agbayani knows that USD’s plans are to move ahead with studying abroad for Fall 2020, but is still anxious about sudden changes.

“The only thing they told us was that April 1 was when applications are due,” Agbayani said. “I’ve been checking my email nonstop to see if they decided to cancel it.”

Tuition and program fee refunds for all Spring 2020 undergraduate programs, except for the USD Madrid Program and Semester Exchange Programs, will be processed according to the refund policies of the host institution or university/partner/on-site provider, according to a statement released by the International Center.

Tuition refunds for the USD Madrid program, semester exchange programs, and Double Degree programs are processed according to the same on-campus tuition refund policy established by the USD Finance Office.
Visit https://www.sandiego.edu/coronavirus/ for updates on coronavirus at USD.