The Terms and Conditions as outlined below pertain to the Summer 2009, Fall 2009, and Academic Year 2009 programs and supersede any other published policies pertaining to these terms.
This section includes general CIEE policies, Academic Policies, Program Fees and Payment Policies.
GENERAL POLICIES
Admission
CIEE works with home institutions regarding the processing of applications for CIEE Study Centers. In nominating students, home institutions have the responsibility to evaluate applicants' credentials carefully and to determine their suitability for the selected programs. Endorsement of an individual applicant constitutes an assurance that the student meets the minimum admission standards for the program, that the student is prepared linguistically, academically, and socially to succeed and derive benefits from the program, and that it is appropriate for the student's academic program and goals.
Acceptance to the majority of CIEE programs is done on a rolling basis by CIEE staff. Currently the only programs that are reviewed competitively are the Prague Central European Studies, Amman Language and Culture, and Dakar Language and Culture programs. CIEE reserves the right to reject an applicant for any reason. CIEE encourages students to apply as early as possible to ensure a spot on their desired program. Additionally, it is advisable for the student to indicate another CIEE program as a second choice. In cases where CIEE receives applications in excess of capacity, CIEE will create a waitlist of applicants based on the date the complete application was received in Portland, Maine. Incomplete applications will not be considered. In waitlist situations, CIEE favors applicants from CIEE Academic Consortium member institutions who have an outstanding personal essay, cumulative grade point average, and supportive evaluations. CIEE does not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, sexual orientation, religion, age, marital status, national and ethnic origin, or disability.
Students may defer acceptance to a CIEE Study Center for up to one year from the term of acceptance. The deferral request must be received in writing by the CIEE U.S. office prior to confirmed participation and at least 30 days before the beginning of the program to which the student has been accepted in order to avoid financial liability (in cases where the participant has confirmed participation in the program prior to requesting deferred status, the confirmation fee is non-refundable but may be applied toward the approved deferral term). In order to reactivate the application, students must submit an updated transcript by the application deadline for the program they wish to attend. Students may be required to submit additional information.
Late Arrival to a Program
Students are required to be present from the first day of the program orientation (see note 4 below). In extremely rare cases, there may be valid academic reasons for a student to arrive late. Permission for such arrangements can only be granted by the appropriate CIEE Program Director in Portland and only upon receipt of a written request from the appropriate officer at the student's home institution. In no case are such arrangements authorized by Resident Directors.
Early Departure
All students are required to remain at the program location until the final program date (published in program materials), and to complete and turn in all academic work, including examinations and papers, prior to departure.
Any student who leaves prior to the end of the program, or who fails to complete and turn in all required academic work, risks receiving a failing grade in all of his or her courses.
Students need to ask the Resident Director for permission to leave a program early. There are few circumstances that may warrant approval of a student’s early departure or withdrawal from a program: a serious accident or illness, a severe psychological problem, or a severe family problem.
Program Cancellation
CIEE reserves the right to cancel a CIEE Study Center program due to insufficient enrollment or other factors beyond its control. All CIEE programs are based on group arrangements involving a minimum number of participants. In the unlikely event that a program is cancelled prior to the start of the program (due to low enrollment or any other reason) CIEE will refund all payments received but will have no further liability to participant.
If an emergency requires that a program be canceled following the program start date and prior to the end of an academic term, CIEE will make reasonable efforts to make alternative arrangements in order to allow students to complete their academic work. If alternative arrangements cannot be made, CIEE will make reasonable efforts to collect documentation of student work completed to date. CIEE will share this information with the home institutions of students enrolled in the program so they will be able to decide whether to grant their students full or partial credit for work completed.
Exceptions
During the semester, any student who feels there is a justification to request an exception to any CIEE policy should address the request in writing to the Resident Director. Individual instructors are not authorized to grant exceptions to academic policies. A Resident Director may recommend that an exception be granted, in which case the Chief Academic Officer, in consultation with the student’s home institution, will make the decision.
Drug and Alcohol Violations
Penalties for drug violations in many host countries are often harsher than in the United States. Use of illegal drugs can result in expulsion from the study program, as well as possible criminal prosecution. Remember that students traveling abroad are subject to the laws of the country they are visiting – their own country’s laws do not protect them. The U.S. and other governments can only seek to ensure that their citizens are not discriminated against, that is, that they receive the same treatment as citizens of the country in which they are arrested who are charged with the same offense.
Alcohol Policy
Students are subject to the laws of the host country and any policies and regulations of the host university.
Alcohol abuse by students is viewed by CIEE as a serious violation of the terms of participation and will be treated accordingly. There are degrees of abuse, as follows:
Consumption of alcohol that causes a student to miss class or be unable to participate fully in a classroom activity is considered alcohol abuse. At first instance, a warning letter will be issued. If there is a second instance, the student’s home institution and parents will be notified, and counseling may be required. Repeated instances may result in suspension or expulsion from the program, or a recommendation of reduced or no credit.
Consumption of alcoholic beverages that results in loud, disruptive, or offensive behavior, according to U.S. or local norms, is more serious. Any infraction will result in a warning letter and notification of home school and parents. A second instance may, at the discretion of the Resident Director, result in immediate expulsion from the program.
Consumption of alcoholic beverages which results in any of the following is the most serious degree of alcohol abuse:
- Loss of consciousness or vomiting
- Destruction of property or abusive behavior
- Endangerment of self or of others
- Admission to a hospital or emergency room
- Treatment for alcohol poisoning
- Incarceration
Any instance of these circumstances or other circumstances of equivalent severity may, at the discretion of the Resident Director, result in immediate expulsion from the program.
Dismissal from the Program
Participants are expected to comply with regulations established by their home universities and the host institution. Resident staff may establish additional requirements that are essential to the students' achievement of their educational goals or to continuing good relations with the Host University or community. Resident staff may dismiss from the program any student who does not comply with the relevant regulations and requirements.
The Resident Director warns participants if they are not acting in compliance with program regulations. Participants are expected to take responsibility for changing their behavior or risk early dismissal and consequent loss of time, money, and academic credit. CIEE does not grant program fee refunds to students who are dismissed from their programs.
ACADEMIC POLICIES
Program participants are governed by three sets of policies:
- Policies set by the CIEE Academic Consortium Board for all CIEE Study Center programs.
- Policies set by the host institution.
- Policies set by the student's sending institution.
In the case of conflict among these three sets of policies, the more stringent policy shall apply in every case, except where otherwise stated in the materials that follow. In most cases, the sending institution both nominates students to CIEE for admission and grants them credit following their successful completion of coursework abroad. In some cases, however, the sending institution nominates students but requires that the coursework completed abroad transfer through an official US School of Record. Spelman College serves as CIEE’s official School of Record.
Students must indicate their need to use Spelman College as their School of Record on the initial program application (by completing the appropriate section of the CIEE Home School Nomination form). Students cannot be retroactively processed as a School of Record participant. Participating on a CIEE International Study Program through a School of Record requires a supplemental processing fee of $340, which will be included on the student’s program fee bill from CIEE (unless the student’s home school asks to be billed for this fee on the form when submitted). Please note that the School of Record fee is non-refundable once the student has confirmed participation in the program, and the student will be held responsible for payment of this fee even if s/he withdraws or cancels after confirming participation.
It is the sole responsibility of the student to become familiar with these policies and with any more demanding policies that may be imposed by his/her sending institution. It is also the sole responsibility of the student to obtain complete information concerning how academic work completed overseas is assessed by the sending institution, and how credit is counted towards the student's degree program.
Student Academic Orientation
The home institution will provide an orientation covering relevant academic matters prior to the student’s departure. It is the sole responsibility of the student to be familiar with the information and policies covered in this orientation.
A CIEE academic orientation takes place at the program site, and all students are required to attend. A more general on-line orientation is offered, prior to departure, to students attending selected CIEE programs. These pre-departure orientations, like those offered on-site, are required. Students should consult with their Study Abroad Professional to determine whether their program has a required on-line pre-departure orientation.
Course Loads, Credits, Equivalencies, and Grades
Students on CIEE programs are required to take a full course load as offered by each program (usually the equivalent of 15 U.S. semester-hour credits for one full semester—summer and winter short term programs vary from 3 to 10 credits, depending on location). On a case-by-case basis, CIEE evaluates course offerings at host institutions that report the workload of courses on a basis other than the U.S. semester-hour system. Final authority for the published credit equivalency rests with the CIEE Chief Academic Officer. Final authority for awarding of credit to an individual student rests with the appropriate authority at the student's home institution.
In general, a block of fifteen 50-minute sessions is equivalent to one semester hour of credit. Some courses may include activities such as conversation hours, applied arts sessions, or visits to museums, which, although academic in nature, do not entail additional outside work. In these cases, no more than one half of the contact time is counted. The student, with his/her home institution, must negotiate credit for internship activities and independent study projects. Grades are awarded for student performance using a U.S. system of letter grades, a host-country system of letters, numbers, and/or descriptors, or a combination of these methods. CIEE provides a suggested U.S. letter grade. Determination of the final grade based on the documentation provided by CIEE is at the discretion of the student's home institution or School of Record. The student's home institution may or may not post grades earned overseas to the student's transcript, and may or may not include overseas grades in the grade point average.
Academic Records
Upon completion of the program, resident staff sends final grade reports, along with other supporting documentation from the host institution (when available), to the CIEE U.S. office. A CIEE Academic Record is then produced and sent by CIEE to the student’s sending institution. The CIEE Academic Record, approved by the CIEE Academic Consortium, is the official report provided for each participant on a CIEE Study Center program. The CIEE Academic Record includes the student's name, date of birth, term of attendance, and lists each course studied, the language of instruction, hours of instruction, suggested U.S. grade equivalency, and recommended semester hours of credit. The CIEE Academic Record includes any supporting documentation provided by the host institution. In addition, each CIEE Academic Record is attached with a guide that includes detailed information on the host institution, admissions requirements, nature of the courses, the academic calendar, and a grade conversion chart.
Home institutions typically receive final grades from CIEE approximately ten to twelve weeks after the program ending date; however, there are some locations that take longer to report grades to the CIEE Portland office. This is primarily the case for programs with direct enrollment courses (e.g. but not limited to: Amsterdam, Barcelona, Buenos Aires, Madrid, Seville), due to the fact that collection of final grades in these locations depends on the grade reporting procedures of the local institutions. US institutions that require their students’ grades to be processed through Spelman College, CIEE’s School of Record, should expect an additional 2-3 weeks to be added to processing time. Inquiries about grades status should be directed to the CIEE Portland office, not to the overseas program staff.
Information from the CIEE Academic Record or Spelman College transcript is entered onto the transcript at the home institution, and this becomes the official record of participation in a CIEE program. CIEE Academic Record copies are not released to credit-seeking students, since students should be requesting this information from their sending institutions, which officially grant credit for the program.
“Non-credit” participants are students who request to study independently of a sending institution and have agreed that their earned credits and grades will not be sent at the end of the program to any sending institution for transfer of credits to a transcript. These students are still required to study on the CIEE program for grades and credit with CIEE. Non-credit participants will receive notification that their grades have been received by the CIEE U.S. office, are sent an unofficial copy of their records, and have up to five years to request that CIEE forward the original copies to an institution that has agreed to grant them credit. After five years, only copies of the original documents for non-credit participants will be available upon request.
Under no circumstances will CIEE Academic Records be released for participants who have outstanding financial obligations to the CIEE U.S. office or to the program site.
Students interested in learning what grades they earned, after the end of their programs abroad, must request this information from their home institutions. CIEE will not release grades to participants over the phone or via email at any time. Occasionally, participants require copies of the CIEE Academic Record. Under no circumstances is anyone other than the participant or the participant’s sending institution allowed to request copies of a CIEE Academic Record. Requests from participants must be made in writing to the CIEE U.S. office using the CIEE Transcript Request Form.
The CIEE Registration Coordinators and the CIEE Manager, Billing and Registration are the only people who are authorized to release student’s final grades.
Course Work
All course work MUST be turned in directly to the professor unless the student has received other explicit, documented instructions to the contrary. Students are required to keep hard copies of all of their assignments (every major paper or take home examination) for one year after the official program end date—electronic copies can only be used to supplement the hard copy versions of the work. Individual professors do not have the final authority to extend deadlines, make special arrangements for students, or otherwise modify the CIEE academic policies. Any special arrangements tentatively proposed by professors must be submitted to the Resident Director on site for review and final approval. It is each student’s responsibility to understand all local regulations governing completion of work and departure from the program site. If you are not sure…ASK your Resident Director. The CIEE Chief Academic Officer is the only person authorized to approve exceptions to these policies.
Attendance
Class attendance is required throughout the program. Students may not arrive late to, or leave early from, the academic program. Students may be excused from class only with the permission of the Resident Director. Students who miss class for medical reasons must inform the Resident Director. Students who do not attend all classes regularly will receive a written warning from the Resident Director. Continued absence may lead to dismissal from the program. Students are not permitted to travel away from the program site while classes are in session. Weekend travel is permitted.
Pass/Fail and Audit
Pass/fail registrations are not permitted in CIEE Study Center or direct enrollment courses that are offered for graded credit. With the approval of the Resident Director, a student who carries a full course of study for credit may audit additional courses. A student is not allowed to change from Audit to Credit status, or vice-versa, after the end of the Drop/Add period.
Drop/Add Period
At most Centers, students are permitted to make changes in their course selection during a brief period at the beginning of a term (or during the first two weeks of an Intensive Language Program). However, Drop/Add periods may vary from program to program depending on the policies of the host institution. In most cases the drop/add period will end no later than the second full week of regular classes. No changes are permitted in registration (other than those to correct clerical errors) after the end of the Drop/Add period. After the end of the Drop/Add period, no course may be deleted from a student's CIEE Academic Record.
Withdrawal from a Course
If a student is granted permission by the Resident Director to withdraw from a course after the end of the Drop/Add period, but before the withdrawal deadline, a grade of “W” (Withdrawal) is entered on the CIEE Academic Record. If after the withdrawal deadline a student stops attending a course, fails to take the final examination, or fails to turn in required work, a grade of “F” is reported. The withdrawal deadline may vary from program to program but will not be later than the mid-point of the term, as determined by the Resident Director. The student risks receiving a failing grade (F) for the course, if proper approval for withdrawal from the course is not secured.
Incompletes
In the rare instance that the Resident Director grants a student permission to leave the program early (see the Early Departure section on the first page of this document), and he or she has not handed in all required academic work, CIEE will assign one of two grades for any course left uncompleted:
- a grade of Withdrawal (W) if the student leaves the program prior to the Withdrawal Deadline
- a grade of Incomplete (INC) if the student leaves the program following the Withdrawal Deadline, misses exams or assignment deadlines that occur after his/her departure, and has secured approval from the Resident Director to make up the missed work (per a clear outline of requirements and due dates as noted below).
A CIEE Academic Record that reports one or more Incompletes will be accompanied by an attachment that provides complete information about what the student is required to do in order to complete the course(s), and the date by which the Resident Director at the program location needs to receive the missing work. CIEE will assign a deadline date that is no more than one semester after the course or courses in question ended.
If the student does not make appropriate arrangements with the Resident Director prior to departure, a grade of F will automatically be assigned.
If the student misses the deadline for completing work for Incomplete courses, all Incomplete grades will automatically be converted to failing grades (F). If the student meets the deadline, the appropriate professor(s) on site will grade the assignment and report the new course grade(s) to the Resident Director. CIEE will send a new CIEE Academic Record to the student’s home institution, reporting the updated grade(s).
Academic Honesty
CIEE subscribes to standard U.S. norms requiring that students exhibit the highest standards regarding academic honesty. These are both related to the fundamental tenet that one should not present the work of another person as one’s own.
Standards of honesty and norms governing originality of work differ significantly from country to country. In general we expect students to adhere to both the American norms and the local norms.
The first principle is that final examinations, quizzes and other tests must be done without assistance from another person, without looking at or otherwise consulting the work of another person, and without access to notes, books, or other pertinent information (unless the professor has explicitly announced that a particular test is to be taken on an “open book” basis).
The second principle is that any use of the work of another person must be documented in any written papers, oral presentations, or other assignments carried out in connection with a course. This usually takes one of the following forms:
If you are quoting directly from another’s work, the usual form might be:
As noted by Kaplan (1996: p. 49): “In 1807 the British outlawed the slave trade, and in 1808 Sierra Leone became a full-fledged British colony.”
Or alternatively, if not including a direct quote, in the following way:
Elimination of the slave trade and entering into colonial status were closely related in Sierra Leone (Kaplan 1996, p. 49).
If you are including information told to you by another person, a common form of documentation would be:
Although students who study abroad are frequently more fluent than those who stay at home, their grammatical accuracy may not be better—it may even be worse. (Barbara Freed, personal conversation)
Of course, you do not need to document facts that can be considered general knowledge. For example:
The November 2008 presidential election was not one of the closest in U.S. history.
The general rule is that if you have to look something up, or if you learned it recently either by reading or hearing something, you have to document it.
The third principle applies specifically to course work: the same written paper may not be submitted in two classes. Nor may a paper for which you have already received credit in the United States be submitted to satisfy a term paper requirement while studying overseas.
Appeals
During the semester, any student appeal related to CIEE academic policies should be addressed to the Resident Director. Any appeal of a policy or decision taken by the student's home institution must be addressed directly to authorities at the home institution.
Any request to appeal, arising after the conclusion of the program, should be addressed to the CIEE Registration Coordinator in Portland. The appropriate Program Director in Portland, Maine, after consulting with the Resident Director and course instructor, will recommend to CIEE’s Chief Academic Officer (CAO) that the appeal be approved or denied. The CAO may, at his sole discretion, convene an appeal board to consider a particular case. The CAO will make the final decision about whether or not the grade will be changed.
Following policies that are universally in effect in US colleges and universities, CIEE believes that, except in rare cases of egregious discrimination or blatant unfairness, each professor has the final say as to the grades assigned to his or her students. If a student believes the grade reported for a specific course is either in error or unfair, the student must initiate an inquiry or appeal using the appropriate CIEE form, which can be obtained from the CIEE Registration Coordinator. Participants have three months from when grades are forwarded to their home institution to file an appeal. Please note that appeals may take at least 2-3 months to be fully adjudicated, though CIEE makes every attempt to process any appeals received in as short a time period as possible.
PROGRAM FEES AND PAYMENT POLICIES
Program Fees
CIEE publishes program fees for each term according to the following schedule:
| Winter short term, Spring semester, Calendar Year |
August 15 |
| Summer, Fall semester, Academic Year |
December 15 |
Comprehensive program fees and breakdowns are available here in downloadable PDF files on the dates indicated above.
Transfer Student Discounts
CIEE includes a substantial fee discount for a number of academic year and calendar year program combinations, at the same study center, as outlined above in our published fees. Therefore, there are no further discounts beyond our published fees for students attending advertised academic year or calendar year combination term programs.
Since fees are not set for all possible two-term combinations of programs, students who would like to transfer from one semester-long program to another, in consecutive terms—either where there is no advertised combination term fee, or from a program at one Study Center location or Host Institution to a different Study Center location or Host Institution—are offered a discount of $1000 off the total program fee for the second term of participation. For transfer between a semester-long and a consecutive summer/winter short-term program, $500 will be discounted from the total fee of the second program.
Confirmation of Participation
CIEE requires a confirmation payment, as part of the program fee, from each student intending to participate on a CIEE Study Center program. This confirmation payment is not an additional fee but is part of the published program fee and is paid at the time the “Participant Contract and Confirmation Payment” form is returned to CIEE in order to confirm a place in the program. In lieu of paying the confirmation fee at the time the Participant Contract is submitted, a student may elect to be billed for the confirmation fee with the rest of his or her program fees, or may have a home school study abroad advisor indicate on the form that the school will pay the confirmation fee for the student at a later date—however, this option is only available if the school already has a billing agreement in place with CIEE. In some cases institutions have made arrangements to confirm participation for the student. Forms and detailed information are included in the acceptance materials. Once the signed Participant Contract is submitted, the student is considered confirmed (regardless of whether the Confirmation Payment page of the form is received), and the student is held responsible for the Confirmation Fee and any other relevant program fees as outlined in these Terms and Conditions.
Payment of CIEE Program Fees
Participants are billed after acceptance to a CIEE program (typically within one to two months before the start of the program). Participants are confirmed once CIEE receives the Participant Contract and Confirmation form as part of the enrollment process. Once CIEE has received the Participant Contract, the CIEE Withdrawal or Deferral Refund Policy (outlined below) applies. CIEE has agreements with many institutions regarding billing procedures for their students. In some cases, institutions ask CIEE to bill students directly and, in others, CIEE bills the institution or sends a statement of relevant student(s) fees to the institution to be billed to the student(s) via the home school’s billing system. In either case, the student is ultimately responsible for ensuring that the full program fee is paid. In the absence of an existing arrangement with a school or where the participant does not have a home institution, CIEE bills the participant directly. In this case, bills are sent to the “Emergency Contact 1” (also identified on the application as the designated Billing Contact, hereafter solely referred to as the “Billing Contact”) person, in both the Billing Contact’s and the student’s names, to the Billing Contact’s address as indicated on the application form. Students whose Billing Contacts’ addresses are located outside the US will receive an email copy of their statement in addition to the hard copy sent via USPS standard delivery.
Individual student payments are accepted via personal check, money order, or cashier’s check made payable to CIEE, and sent with a copy of the billing statement to CIEE, ATTN: Student Accounts Payable, 300 Fore Street, Portland, ME 04101. Payments may also be made via Visa/MasterCard credit or debit card (using the credit card payment information form, located on the back of the billing statement), which may be mailed to the aforementioned address or faxed to 207-221-1456. No processing fees will be assessed by CIEE for payments made via credit/debit card. Credit/Debit card payments are only accepted via the required payment information form, complete with the card holder’s signature; no payments are accepted electronically or via phone.
Due Dates, Late Fees, and Interest
Participants Billed Directly by CIEE
Participants billed directly by CIEE are responsible for maintaining their own accounts. If a parent or other designee will be managing payment of fees on behalf of the participant, it is the participant’s responsibility to ensure that all statements and other billing information are forwarded appropriately. Program fee payments are due in full 30 days from the production/mailing date of the bill, unless the student secures an approved payment plan (as outlined below). Program fees are billed by term (summer, fall, winter short term, and spring).
Students participating in an academic year or calendar year program or in programs for two or more consecutive terms, receive a bill for each term. Program fee payments for each term must be paid by the due date listed on the statement for each term. Students participating in an academic year program will be billed for the full advertised fall term fee prior to departure in the fall, and for the difference between the full fall fee and the published academic year program fee prior to the advertised start of the spring term. Students participating in a calendar year program will be billed for the full spring term fee prior to departure in the spring, and for the difference between the full spring fee and the published calendar year program fee prior to the advertised start of the fall term.
For fall, academic year, calendar year, or spring terms, qualified participants may request a deferred payment due date using the following forms. Please note that except for financial aid deferral, deferred payment due dates are not allowed for summer programs or winter short term programs.
A. Financial Aid Deferral Form: If a portion of the participant’s program fee will be paid by financial aid (scholarships, grants, loans, etc.), that amount may be given a deferred payment date, without cost to the participant, per the following schedules: March 15 for spring program fees, until July 1 for summer program fees, and until October 15 for fall program fees in order to allow the posting of the financial aid to the participant’s account at the home school and forwarding of funds to CIEE. In order to secure this deferral, the participant must provide a completed Financial Aid Deferral Form and any required payments above the amount of anticipated financial aid, by the due date on the statement. There is no administrative fee for financial aid deferral requests. It is the participant's responsibility to make arrangements for financial aid to be sent to CIEE by the approved deferred payment date—either directly from the school or from the student’s own bank account (please see note 6 below). Students studying on CIEE programs for more than one term will need to submit a Financial Aid Deferral form for each term in order to have their payments deferred for each billing period. Students may also track the progress of these requests on their My CIEE account checklists.
B. Standard Payment Plan Form: For non-financial aid deferred payment due dates, participants may request a split payment plan by submitting a completed CIEE Standard Payment Plan request form no later than 30 days prior to departure, or by the due date on the statement. (Note that this option does not apply to participants on summer programs or winter short term programs). There is an administrative fee for the Standard Payment Plan option of $100, due with the initial installment payment that accompanies the payment plan form. Program fee payment terms are as follows:
- Fifty percent of the fee plus the $100 payment plan fee to be paid by the due date on the billing statement
- Seventy-five percent to be paid by March 15 for spring and November 1 for fall programs
- One hundred percent to be paid by May 1 for spring and December 15 for fall programs
Students studying on CIEE programs for more than one term will need to submit a Standard Payment Plan form for each term if they wish to have their payments deferred for each billing period. The Standard Payment Plan may be requested in conjunction with a Financial Aid Deferral request.
Please note that approvals of deferrals and payment plans are not automatically granted. Students (and the payment contacts designated on the form) requesting deferrals/payment plans will be informed via email of the status of their deferral request within 7-10 business days of receipt of the forms at CIEE. Students may also track the progress of these requests on their My CIEE account checklists. Ultimately, it is the participant’s responsibility to ensure that all program fees are paid and that any aid being forwarded from the home institution (or any other organization) is sent to CIEE by the scheduled due date as noted on the billing statement or in the Financial Aid Deferral Approval notification.
Exclusion from Participation
Any participant who fails either to pay in full by the stated due date on the statement, or by the payment dates as indicated in a deferral/payment plan approval email notification, may be subject to exclusion from participation at the discretion of CIEE. Notification of exclusion for non-payment may be delivered at any time during the program, but students and Billing Contacts will receive a late payment notification via email before any action to exclude is taken.
Late Fees and Interest
Any participant who fails to pay in full or to secure approval on an appropriate deferral/payment plan request 30 days prior to the advertised program start date, or by the due date on the statement (whichever is later), will be charged a $200 late fee and is required to immediately submit payment for all remaining fees in full.
Any student on an approved Standard Payment Plan who misses the 75% or the 100% deadline, will be charged a $100 late fee for each missed deadline.
Any student on a Financial Aid Deferral plan whose payment is not received at CIEE by the approved deferral deadline, as outlined in the deferral plan approval email sent to the student and Billing Contact (when email address for Contact is provided), will be charged a $200 late fee.
Grades will not be transmitted for any student for whom an unpaid balance or site debt remains. Returned checks and declined credit card payments will be considered as failure to make the payment.
Fees Billed by CIEE to Institutions
In the case of fees billed by CIEE to institutions, the institution should provide the name, full address, and other contact information of the person responsible for settling the account. The policies below will be followed unless an alternative agreement has been signed by CIEE and by the institutional representative.
All program fees, as outlined on the CIEE billing statement sent to the institution, must be paid in full 30 days from the date of statement, unless alternate payment due dates are outlined in the organizational billing agreement between CIEE and the billed institution.
CIEE program fees are billed by term (summer, fall, winter short term programs, spring). Insitutional payments are accepted via check made payable to CIEE, and sent with a copy of the billing statement to CIEE, ATTN: Student Accounts Payable, 300 Fore Street, Portland, ME 04101 or via ACH or bank wire transfer (ACH and wire transfer payment information is included on the statement information page that accompanies the institutional bill). No institutional payments via credit card will be accepted.
Institutions that send participants on CIEE academic year or calendar year programs or in programs for two or more consecutive terms, will receive a bill for each term. The program fee for each term must be paid in full 30 days from the date of statement for each term, unless alternate payment due dates are outlined in the organizational billing agreement between CIEE and the billed institution. Statements for participants in an academic year program include the full advertised fall term fee on the fall term institutional bill, and the difference between the full fall fee and the published academic year program fee on the spring term institutional bill. Statements for participants in a calendar year program include the full advertised spring term fee on the spring term institutional bill, and the difference between the full spring fee and the published calendar year fee on the fall term institutional bill. Students continuing on two programs in consecutive terms will receive the CIEE Transfer Student credit on the statement for the second term of attendance.
The billed institution, as opposed to the individual program participant, is held responsible for payment of program fees for confirmed participants, as indicated on the bill from CIEE. It is the institution’s responsibility to pay CIEE in full for the balance due as noted on the statement each semester, regardless of whether the student has paid the institution in full or has any outstanding balance with the institution. Institutions who agree to accept bills from CIEE on behalf of their students, also agree to be responsible for cancellation fees for their confirmed students, as outlined in the institutional billing agreement and per the Withdrawal or Deferral Refund Policies below.
An institution will be considered in good standing if either (a) a minimum of 80% of the overall total due and payable for each billed term has been paid by the due date on the bill, or (b) the institutional representative has made specific arrangements with CIEE for payment in full by a specified date.
An institution not in good standing will be notified of the deficiency by CIEE. If deficiencies persist, CIEE reserves the right to charge interest at a rate not to exceed 1.5% per month, and/or to terminate the institutional payment plan.
If the institution carries any balance more than one calendar year beyond the original statement payment due date, the institution will be informed that they have no more than 90 days to pay the balance in full or make acceptable payment arrangements with CIEE. Failure to do so will result in the termination of the institutional billing agreement.
Grades will not be transmitted for any student for whom an unpaid balance remains. Returned checks will be considered as failure to make the payment.
Withdrawal or Deferral Refund Policy
Please note that in all circumstances the $30 application fee and the Participation Confirmation payment are non-refundable. If a student applied to study through a School of Record, the School of Record fee is non-refundable once the student has confirmed his/her place in the program.
Fall and Spring Semester Programs
Withdrawal before the advertised program arrival date: If written notification of withdrawal or deferral of confirmed participant is received by CIEE on or more than 30 days prior to the advertised program arrival date for each semester, all fees minus the $30 application fee and the non-refundable Participation Confirmation payment will be refunded. If a student applied to study through a School of Record, and withdraws/defers after confirming his/her place in the program, the $340 School of Record fee is also non-refundable.
If written notification of withdrawal or deferral of a confirmed participant is received by CIEE less than 30 days prior to the advertised program arrival date for EACH semester, 75% of the program fees less the non-refundable School of Record fees will be refunded. (In cases where payment has not yet been received by CIEE, 25% of the program fee, in addition to the School of Record fee, is due.) Requests for program deferral to a different semester are only accepted up until the advertised program arrival date for each semester.
In the case of program participation deferral for a confirmed participant, the non-refundable Participation Confirmation payment, any applicable School of Record fees, and 25% of program fee (if request is received less than 30 days from the arrival date of the program) must be paid for that term, but may be applied towards future participation on this or another CIEE Study Center program within the next 12 months. All confirmed participants who defer acceptance to a program will be sent a CIEE Program Deferral Credit Form. This form outlines the amount paid by the participant toward his/her initial program, and must be returned to CIEE when the participant is ready to confirm participation in the program for the new term in order to receive the program deferral payment credit. In order to be valid, the CIEE Program Deferral Credit Form must be returned with the Participant Contract and Confirmation form no later than two weeks after the advertised application deadline for the term of reactivation, and the student’s previous account balance must be zero (as of the official application deadline for the new term).
Withdrawal on or after the advertised program arrival date for EACH semester: If written notification of withdrawal for a confirmed participant is received by CIEE on or after the advertised program arrival date for any given semester, or if a confirmed participant does not notify CIEE in writing of plans to withdraw and does not show up on-site, the following refund policy for partial attendance applies. Please note that the $30 application fee, applicable School of Record fees, and the Participation Confirmation payment are non-refundable and refunds are calculated on the program fee per the following schedule:
- Withdrawal on or up to 14 days after the advertised program arrival date – 50% refund
- Withdrawal after day 14 but before day 29 of the advertised program arrival date – 25% refund
- Withdrawal at any time after (and including) day 29 calculated from the advertised program arrival date – no refund
Winter short term and Summer Programs
Withdrawal before the advertised program arrival date: If written notification of withdrawal or deferral of a confirmed participant is received by CIEE more than 30 days prior to the advertised program arrival date (please see Note 4 below), all fees minus the $30 application fee and the non-refundable Participation Confirmation payment will be refunded. If a student applied to study through a School of Record, and withdraws/defers after confirming his/her place in the program, the $340 School of Record fee is also non-refundable. (In cases where payment has not yet been received by CIEE, the Participation Confirmation fee, in addition to any applicable School of Record fees, is due.)
If written notification of withdrawal or deferral of a confirmed participant is received by CIEE less than 30 days prior to the advertised program arrival date, 75% of the program fees will be refunded. (In cases where payment has not yet been received by CIEE, 25% of the program fee, in addition to the School of Record and Confirmation fees, is due.) Requests for program deferral to a different semester are only accepted up until the advertised program arrival date.
In the case of program participation deferral for a confirmed participant, the non-refundable Participation Confirmation payment, any applicable School of Record fees, and 25% of program fee (if request is received less than 30 days from the start of the program) must be paid for that term, but may be applied towards future participation on this or another CIEE Study Center program within the next 12 months. All confirmed participants who defer acceptance to a program will be sent a CIEE Program Deferral Credit Form. This form outlines the amount paid by the participant toward his/her initial program, and must be returned to CIEE when the participant is ready to confirm participation in the program for the new term in order to receive the program deferral payment credit. In order to be valid, the CIEE Program Deferral Credit Form must be returned with the Participant Contract and Confirmation form no later than two weeks after the advertised application deadline for the term of reactivation, and the student’s previous account balance must be zero (as of the official application deadline for the new term).
Withdrawal on or after the advertised program arrival date: If written notification of withdrawal for a confirmed participant is received by CIEE on or after the advertised program arrival date for any given term, or if a confirmed participant does not notify CIEE in writing of plans to withdraw and does not show up on-site, the following refund policy for partial attendance applies. Please note that the $30 application fee, applicable School of Record fees, and the Participation Confirmation payment are non-refundable and refunds are calculated on the program fee per the following schedule:
- Withdrawal on or up to 2 days after the advertised program arrival date – 50% refund
- Withdrawal at any time after day 2 calculated from the advertised program arrival date – no refund
(In cases where payment has not yet been received by CIEE, payment of the Participation Confirmation fee, applicable School of Record fees, and any unpaid balance after the withdrawal policy is enforced will be due.)
Program Cancellation
Please refer to the General Policies section for Program Cancellation terms and conditions.
Notes:
1. In the case of a refund, the refund is typically sent to the billed party except in some circumstances involving financial aid. (If CIEE bills the institution, the refund is sent to the institution; if CIEE bills the participant, the refund is sent to the participant at the permanent address listed on the initial application, unless the participant notifies CIEE otherwise.) A refund of payment made by credit card will be processed as a credit back to that card account, not sent via refund check.
2. Cancellations and deferrals are effective only upon the date written notification is received by CIEE. Students must also notify their home institution (or School of Record) directly if they plan to cancel, withdraw, or defer. Questions regarding home institution policies should be directed to the home institution, not to CIEE. Home institutions’ payment policies are separate from CIEE’s payment policies, and students will be held to both sets of policies.
3. The $30 application fee and Participation Confirmation payment are non-refundable.
4. The program arrival date is the advertised arrival date, which typically coincides with the first day of orientation for each term. Participants studying for an academic year, calendar year, or on two consecutive terms of any sort are held to the advertised arrival date for each term, as listed on the CIEE website, in accordance with the Terms and Conditions listed above rather than the host university class start dates.
5. Participants who receive scholarship aid from CIEE and subsequently withdraw must repay CIEE the scholarship aid received. If the amount of the scholarship aid is less than the amount of any refund due, the scholarship aid is deducted from the refund. If the amount of the scholarship aid is greater than any refund due, the participant must repay CIEE the difference.
6. A payment deferral, based on financial aid disbursements after the program starting date, cannot be granted past the following dates: November 15 for the fall semester; April 15 for the spring semester; and July 15 for summer programs.
7. In the case where a student confirms participation 30 days or less before the program arrival date, full payment must accompany the Participant Contract and Confirmation form.
8. CIEE withholds final grades when participants have outstanding financial obligations to CIEE or the program site.
Direct all questions regarding participant accounts to the CIEE Billing Coordinator or to the CIEE Manager, Billing and Registration at 1.800.40.STUDY.