NOTICE:
CAPA is pleased to announce that Australia is now open to all vaccinated international visitors. CAPA will begin programming in Sydney in May.
CAPA is pleased to announce that Australia is now open to all vaccinated international visitors. CAPA will begin programming in Sydney in May.
April 7, 2022
Please read our statement and request to join us in donating to the IIE Emergency Student Fund on our news page.
We continue to actively monitor the conflict in Ukraine. Our thoughts and deepest sympathies are with the people impacted and those who have family and friends in the region.
Students, staff, and faculty are always CAPA’s number one priority, and we will continue to watch this and all global developments that have any potential impact on CAPA’s programs.
We have been in communication with all our students currently in country and have asked them to reach out to our student support staff for any health, safety, and wellbeing services they need related to the conflict in Ukraine or any other issues.
CAPA does not operate programs in Ukraine, Russia, or any adjacent countries, nor do we have any excursions to the region. We have prohibited students from traveling to Ukraine and Russia and are strongly discouraging travel to all bordering countries.
Our closest CAPA Center is in Florence, Italy, which is nearly 900 miles from the Ukrainian western border, and at this time, we plan to continue to run our Spring and Summer 2022 programs as planned.
We will continue to provide updates to our students and institutional partners if the situation changes. If you have any questions, please contact us.
February 25, 2022
As the situation between Russia and Ukraine continues to evolve with Russia having now moved forward with an invasion of Ukraine, we wanted to reach out to let you know that we are actively monitoring the situation and will keep you updated with any information as it relates to CAPA programs. Our thoughts and deepest sympathies are with the people impacted and those who have family and friends in the region.
CAPA does not operate programs in Ukraine, Russia, or any adjacent countries, nor do we have any excursions to the region. We have prohibited students from traveling to Ukraine and Russia, and are strongly discouraging travel to all bordering countries.
Our closest CAPA Center is in Florence, Italy, which is nearly 900 miles from the Ukrainian western border. With this and the current situation in mind, we plan to continue to run our Spring and Summer 2022 programs as planned.
Students, staff, and faculty are CAPA’s number one priority, and we will continue to monitor this and all global developments that have any potential impact on CAPA’s programs.
We offer comprehensive student health, safety, and wellbeing services for students through our CAPA Center staff and the CAPA Guardian app. We are sending a message to all of our students currently in country to offer support and inform them of the travel ban for Ukraine and Russia, and strongly discouraging travel to bordering countries.
If you have any questions, please contact your institutional relations representative.
February 24, 2022
Please read our FAQs regarding our program adjustments to help answer any questions that you or your students may have about studying abroad with CAPA.
December 21, 2020
CAPA is aware of a new variant of Covid-19 in the UK. Although it has not been not fully confirmed, early information suggests that it could transmit the virus more quickly. Despite this, there is currently no reason to believe it causes more significant health issues nor that it will not respond to the vaccine. Out of an abundance of caution, the UK government has taken strong and immediate action with the introduction of a new tier 4 for London and most of the southeast and east of England. Tier 4 means that people cannot leave or be outside the place they are living without a reasonable excuse (such as for isolated exercise or education), and can only meet with one other person outside of their household and this must be outdoors. Schools continue to be in session until the official start of the holiday break.
These drastic steps have been implemented to slow the transmission and bring the R number down. CAPA will be monitoring the results of these efforts carefully as well as the availability of hospital beds (currently the UK has more hospital beds available than they did at this time last year) to assess whether we should continue to run the London program. We will make a decision no later than the 4th of January based on all available data at that time. Per our terms, if CAPA were to cancel the program at this time, students would be entitled to a full refund or they will be allowed to switch to a different CAPA location with prior institutional approval.
Please see this link for more information on the new variant published by the UK government: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/covid-19-sars-cov-2-information-about-the-new-virus-variant
August 20, 2020
CAPA is committed to using diversity, equity, and inclusion as a lens in all aspects of our work. We are dedicated to advancing practices that are anti-racist and are supportive of diverse communities, including the vast array of diverse and rich communities of our staff and students including BIPOC, AANHPI, Latinx, LGBTQIA+, and others. We condemn racism and are actively engaged in dismantling structural bias within our organization and supporting similar initiatives with our partners and within the international education field.
Providing a safe and positive learning environment for our students is of the highest importance to us. We stand resolute in our commitment to creating an environment where students can focus on their development, learning, and growth. CAPA does not tolerate racism, bias, microaggressions, or othering on our programs. We take all allegations among our students and staff very seriously. We thoroughly investigate and act accordingly to address each situation appropriately with care, concern, and compassion.
The murder of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and so many others, and subsequent global protests highlighted the ever-present, sustained, and continued inequity for communities of color. The racist and bigoted treatment of members of the AANHPI community related to the COVID-19 pandemic have demonstrated that DEI work remains of paramount importance and addressing racial justice and white privilege continue to be a priority for CAPA.
CAPA conducts multiple in-person trainings per year for its staff members on diversity, equity, and inclusion, with topics that range from supporting diverse students to unconscious bias training and include engaging outside experts in the field of equity and inclusion. In our overseas centers, we provide regular training on how to respond to issues of racism and bias, as well as all student health, safety, and wellness needs.
Additionally, we take a proactive approach to our internal anti-racist work. We have a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Committee and Marketing and Communications Working Group that work actively to develop and incorporate anti-racist policies and practices into our organization and materials. Diversity is also part of CAPA’s student learning outcomes and is incorporated into our curriculum, including our courses and My Global City events calendar.
We partner with Diversity Abroad to offer resources for students from diverse identities and have a student portal that provides additional resources pre-departure and in-country for students of color, LBGTQIA+ students, and other students from diverse backgrounds. We invest in Diversity Abroad and their Innovation Grant, The Fund for Education Abroad, LEAD 50/50, the HBCU Symposia, The Global Leadership League, as well as multiple DEI organizations, to amplify our DEI work, and also to continuously learn about more about the best ways to evolve our internal initiatives.
For more information on our efforts, please check out the following pages on our website:
We recognize that diversity, equity, and inclusion work is ongoing, and we continuously assess the impact of our DEI policies and initiatives to improve and incorporate recognized best practices. We are continually learning, and our commitment is to incorporate what we learn into educating our students on these issues to help them grow and challenge their perceptions.
August 10, 2020
Dear Colleagues,
We hope that you all are keeping well and are finding clarity as you build plans on your campus for the upcoming fall semester. We know that every aspect of higher education has been affected by the ongoing pandemic, and the International Education field has seen a wide array of special challenges over the last 5 months, from returning U.S. students safely home in the spring, to uncertainty of border and visa restrictions this fall for both incoming and outgoing international students. As international education organizations, we are adapting to these changes and innovating solutions to support you and your students.
While the nature of instruction and student interaction may have shifted for the time being, our commitment to you remains our top priority. We are driven and focused on collaborating, sharing information, and engaging in meaningful discussions about what international education will look like moving forward.
Together, international education organizations are uniting to discuss best practices, policies, and procedures in health, safety, and responsible program operations. We are evaluating information from The Forum on Education Abroad, NAFSA, foreign Ministries of Health, OSAC, the CDC, US Department of State, and others to ensure that we fully understand the intricacies of the data and recommendations from these experts, and can contextualize them locally, regionally, and country-wide as we look to the future of on-site programming.
Together, we all want the best for your students and will continue to work with each of our partners abroad to negotiate more flexible policies that benefit your students' academic, professional, and personal goals.
Together, we have gone through these difficult months with you. We are here to help you as you face these same questions and navigate these new challenges. We encourage you to engage with your approved partners about ways in which they can support your office and your students to further the mission of global education.
Together, we look forward to continuing to work with you on the new virtual study abroad fair software being designed, scheduling calls to discuss reopening plans, and encouraging students to apply for a new or renewed passport as soon as possible due to processing delays at passport agencies.
We miss all of you dearly and look forward to the day when we can again visit your campus, speak with your students, and help them find their place and purpose abroad that will change their lives forever.
March 19, 2020 8:30 AM EDT
Student, faculty, and staff health and safety is CAPA’s number one priority. Therefore, we have made the difficult decision to suspend the in-country portion of our Sydney program and to direct all students to return to the US where they will be able to complete their coursework for the semester remotely using alternative online instruction.
Considerations leading to CAPA’s In-Country Program Suspension:
CAPA is working with our partners at US colleges and universities, along with our students and their families, to ensure that the needs of all our students are being met during this challenging time. We have also now extended ALL of our CAPA Center Program summer deadlines to give schools, students, and families more time to make decisions about future terms.
We will continue to provide regular updates as the situation evolves. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us at 800.793.0334.
March 14, 2020 10:30 AM ET
It is currently being reported that beginning on Tuesday, March 17, the government of Argentina will restrict direct flights between Argentina and several destinations, including the United States. We expect the last flights will operate on Monday, March 16. As a result, we have no choice but to make the difficult decision to suspend the in-country portion of the CAPA Buenos Aires Global Cities program, and all CAPA Buenos Aires students should return to the US.
Additionally, out of an abundance of caution, CAPA has made the difficult decision to suspend the in-country portion of our London and Dublin programs and directed all students to return to the US.
CAPA is working to enable students to complete their coursework for the semester remotely.
CAPA continues to carefully monitor all recommendations and updates regarding COVID-19 from the US State Department, the World Health Organization (WHO), the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), and the government of Australia with regards to our programs in Sydney. Our on-site student services staff continue to provide regular updates to students through town halls, drop-in appointments, the CAPA Community portal and the CAPA Guardian App (our student notification and emergency management app).
We will continue to provide regular updates as the situation evolves. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us at 800.793.0334.
March 13, 2020 11:15 AM ET
Student, faculty, and staff health and safety is CAPA’s number one priority. We are aware of the US government decision regarding suspending travel to and from the Schengen area countries in Europe, which include Spain and Italy, but do not include Ireland or the United Kingdom, beginning Friday, March 13. US citizens and permanent residents and their immediate families are exempt from this suspension and will still be able to fly to and from these countries in Europe during this time. We are also aware that on the evening of March 11, the US State Department issued a level 3 advisory recommending travelers reconsider international travel and the CDC issued a level 3 alert.
As a result, CAPA has made the decision to suspend all in-country programming in Spain and are working with all students to ensure their safe return to the United States to complete their academic program remotely using CAPA's Globally Networked Learning technology. We have confirmed that US citizens will not be denied entry back to the United States, but they could be required to go through additional checks and screenings. We are aware as well that today at approximately 11am ET, the Spanish government declared a state of emergency and our staff is working to address any impact of this decision on our students' plans to return to the US. We understand that there are lots of questions and concerns and our staff are currently working with all students to address these concerns.
CAPA continues to carefully monitor all recommendations and updates regarding COVID-19 from the US State Department, the World Health Organization (WHO), the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), and the governments of each country in which CAPA runs programs.
Our on-site student services staff continue to provide regular updates to students through town halls, drop-in appointments, the CAPA Community portal and the CAPA Guardian App (our student notification and emergency management app).
Out of an abundance of caution, CAPA has communicated with all students who have traveled to Italy or are experiencing any symptoms of COVID-19 to contact CAPA Staff. Additionally, they have been advised to follow the directives of the local health authorities and self-isolate (with CAPA’s assistance) if local health authorities deem this necessary.
CAPA is working with our partners at US colleges and universities, along with our students and their families, to ensure that the needs of all our students are being met. We have also now extended ALL of our CAPA Center Program summer deadlines to give schools, students, and families more time to make decisions about future terms.
We will continue to provide regular updates as the situation evolves. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us at 800.793.0334.
March 12, 2020 8:30 AM ET
Student health and safety is CAPA's number one priority. We are aware that the CDC has issued a level 3 advisory for several European countries, including Spain but not the UK or Ireland, and the US State Department has issued a level 3 advisory stating that US citizens reconsider travel abroad due to the global impact of COVID-19. CAPA is currently working on plans with our staff, students, and institutional partners and will have a broader update later today.
March 11, 2020 9:45 PM ET
Student health and safety is CAPA's number one priority. We are aware of the US decision regarding suspending travel to and from 26 countries in Europe (this is specifically the Schengen area countries which does not include the UK or Ireland) beginning Friday, March 13. US citizens and permanent residents are exempt from this suspension and will still be able to fly to and from these countries in Europe during this time. We are working to ensure the health and safety of all of our students.
Friday, March 6 2020, 10:30 AM ET
Student, faculty, and staff health and safety is our number one priority and CAPA continues to carefully monitor all recommendations and updates from the US State Department, the World Health Organization (WHO), the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), and the governments of each country in which CAPA runs programs.
At this time, CAPA programs abroad in Buenos Aires, Barcelona, Dublin, London, and Sydney remain open for the spring 2020 semester. CAPA is taking steps to ensure the health and safety of our students, faculty, and staff in these locations, including regular communication to students about health and safety measures.
In addition, CAPA is developing academic contingency plans for each location in the event that the CDC or US State Department raises the warning to a level 3 or higher, and we determine we need to suspend the in-country portion of our programs in one of our currently operating program locations.
We have extended our summer deadlines for the following programs to give you more time to make decisions about future terms:
Our academic contingency plan provides for academic work related to CAPA Global Cities Programs to be completed online through our Globally Networked Learning technology and our Canvas learning management system. We have already put in place this online learning plan for our Florence students, who will begin their online coursework the week of March 9.
As the situation is constantly changing, we will continue to make updates as appropriate. Please contact us at 800.793.0334 with any questions.
Sunday, March 1 2020, 12:30 PM ET
CAPA is aware that at approximately 4pm ET, Saturday, February 29, the US State Department has issued a level 4 travel advisory with the following advice to US citizens: “Level 4 - Do Not Travel to Lombardy and Veneto due to the level of community transmission of the virus and imposition of local quarantine procedures.” CAPA has notified students of this travel advisory through our CAPA Community portal and CAPA Guardian app emergency alert notification system.
Saturday, February 29 2020, 8:30 AM ET
At approximately 5:15 PM ET on February 28, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) increased their warning to Level 3 recommending travelers to avoid all non-essential travel to Italy. Student’s health and safety is CAPA’s number one priority, and as a result of this recent information we have no choice but to make the difficult decision to suspend the in-country portion of the CAPA Florence program. We have sent a detailed communication to all Florence students informing them that they should return to the US through the CAPA Community portal and CAPA Guardian App (our student notification and emergency management app).
CAPA has put in place plans to use CAPA’s Globally Networked Learning technology to deliver remote access to coursework for all Florence students so that they are able to complete their coursework from the US.
CAPA spring study abroad and internship programs in Barcelona, Buenos Aires, Dublin, London, and Sydney are currently running as normal. We anticipate there could be changes to excursions and activities, but that the rest of the programs will run as planned.
CAPA continues to monitor the information provided by local and international resources, including the US Department of State, the Centers for Disease Control, the World Health Organization, and government agencies in the countries in which we have students.
We recognize that students put a lot of effort into planning for their semester abroad and we have not taken this decision lightly, but as health and safety is our priority, this decision was made with that in mind.
As the situation remains fluid, CAPA has developed contingency plans for its Centers around the world and will take further action as appropriate.
We will continue to provide regular updates as situation evolves. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us at 800.793.0334.
Friday, February 28 2020, 2:30 PM ET
CAPA spring study abroad and internship programs in Barcelona, Buenos Aires, Dublin, London, and Sydney are currently running as normal. We anticipate there could be changes to excursions and activities, but that the rest of the programs will run as planned.
CAPA continues to monitor the information provided by local and international resources, including the US Department of State, the Centers for Disease Control, the World Health Organization, and government agencies in the countries in which we have students.
Given the current Coronavirus (COVID-19) situation in Italy, CAPA is offering current students in Florence who wish to return the US the option to do so and continue their studies remotely for the remainder of the spring term, and has put in place plans to use CAPA’s Globally Networked Learning technology to deliver remote access to coursework for these students. Students choosing to remain in Florence will continue their studies at the CAPA Center as planned, and CAPA will continue to monitor the situation in Florence and follow all local, regional, and national guidelines and recommendations.
We have recommended that all students reconsider their travel plans and to take time to appreciate all that their chosen CAPA location has to offer, and will remind them that the potential for exposure increases the more they travel as it is difficult to predict whether there will be another destination with an emerging, localized outbreak.
Students will also regularly be reminded that if they experience any of the symptoms of the Coronavirus, they need to seek the opinion of a local medical doctor and also call the CAPA In-Country Emergency Phone.
Students are being kept up-to-date and provided with resources through town hall meetings, drop-in sessions, and regular communications using the CAPA Student Community portal with push notifications delivered through the CAPA Guardian App (our student notification and emergency management app). We have informed students about the importance of keeping their cell phones and data on at all times in order to receive these notifications and that they are required to fill out the travel logs. All of this is outlined in their Code of Conduct and any failure to do either results in a warning from CAPA.
As the situation remains fluid, we CAPA has also developed contingency plans for its Centers around the world and will take further action as appropriate.
We will continue to provide regular updates as the situation evolves. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us at 800.793.0334.
Wednesday, February 26, 2020, 3:00 PM ET
CAPA’s priorities are to provide a safe and comfortable program experience and ensure that all students can complete their academic program and receive credit for their work.
Given the current Coronavirus (COVID-19) situation in Italy, CAPA is offering current students in Florence who wish to return the US the option to do so and continue their studies remotely for the remainder of the spring term. Students remaining in Florence will continue their studies at the CAPA Center as planned, and CAPA will continue to monitor the situation in Florence and follow all local, regional, and national guidelines and recommendations.
All other current spring CAPA programs are currently running as normal, including programs in CAPA’s other European locations. We anticipate there could be some changes to excursions and activities, but that the rest of the programs will run as planned. We are utilizing our CAPA Guardian App, CAPA Community, and onsite student support to actively advise all students on spring programs, regularly share resources and updates, and monitor student’s travel plans.
CAPA is continually monitoring the information provided by local and international resources, such as the US Department of State and Center for Disease Control. As the situation remains fluid, we have developed contingency plans and we will continue to provide updates as the situation evolves.
Tuesday, February 25, 2020, 5:00 PM ET
CAPA’s priorities are to provide a safe and comfortable program experience and ensure that all students can complete their academic program and receive credit for their work.
After much deliberation and after closely monitoring the information provided by local and international resources, such as the US Department of State and Center for Disease Control, the CAPA executive team has made the decision at this point in time to continue to run all of our spring programs. We anticipate, however, that there could be changes to excursions and some activities.
While we do not plan on cancelling or altering any summer programs at this time, the situation remains fluid and we are continuing to adhere to guidelines set forth by the US Department of State.
CAPA has no reports of any students, faculty, or staff contracting the Coronavirus (COVID-19) to date in any country. CAPA staff in Florence, Italy and throughout CAPA’s locations are being advised to strictly adhere to all directives issued by local governments and to take all precautions needed for the health and safety of CAPA students. CAPA is continuing to closely monitor the situation in Italy following a recent increase in the number of cases of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) in the country.
As the situation remains fluid, we have developed contingency plans and we will continue to provide updates as the situation evolves.
Tuesday, February 25, 2020, 11:00AM ET
CAPA is continuing to assess the situation in Italy following the increase in recent cases of Coronavirus (COVID-19), including local reports in Florence of two cases of people being isolated in hospital after having tested positive for the virus. The city is still operating as normal.
The situation remains very fluid, but current levels of infection as well as official recommendations from the US Department of State and the Italian Authorities, do not merit relocation or evacuation.
Courses and on-site activities remain uninterrupted, although excursions and activities may be cancelled.
Our executive team is developing multi-situational contingency plans to support all students across CAPA programs, and ensure student safety as well as academic continuation.
Monday, February 24, 2020
CAPA is continuing to closely monitor the situation in Italy following a recent increase in the number of cases of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) in the country. The Italian government has taken proactive steps to curtail the outbreak in several locations within Northern Italy including some quarantines and the shutdown of certain events and schools for seven days. While Florence is not directly impacted by these measures, we understand that this situation raises everyone’s level of concern.
The situation remains very fluid, but current levels of infection as well as official recommendations from the US Department of State and the Italian Authorities, do not merit relocation or evacuation. Courses and on-site activities on our CAPA Florence Program remain uninterrupted, although some excursions beyond Florence may be rescheduled or cancelled.
As this is the CAPA spring break week for several of our programs, we have been, and will continue to be, in touch with all students studying at our European locations to ensure that they are closely monitoring and adhering to all directives and location restrictions issued by the national and local governments while traveling and to regularly monitor the new sources. We recommend the following as the most objective and factual:
We will recommend students reconsider their travel plans and to take time to appreciate all that their CAPA Location has to offer, and will remind them that the potential for exposure increases the more they travel as it is difficult to predict whether there will be another destination with an emerging, localized outbreak.
Students will also be reminded that if they experience any of the symptoms of the Coronavirus which include fever, cough, tightness of the chest, and difficulty breathing, they should seek the opinion of a local medical doctor and also call the CAPA In-Country Emergency Phone so they can help to support and advise the student on next steps.
All updates will go out to students via email and the CAPA Community with push notifications from the CAPA Guardian app alerting them to review these. We will remind students about the importance of keeping their cell phones and data on at all times in order to receive these notifications and that they are required to fill out the travel logs so we can be aware of what students are affected in the case of major incidents. All of this is outlined in their Code of Conduct and any failure to do either results in a first warning from CAPA.
Please reach out if you have any ongoing or immediate concerns.
January 30, 2020
It is with great regret that CAPA: The Global Education Network is cancelling our Spring 2020 programs in Shanghai, China. The Centers for Disease Control issued a level 3 warning on Tuesday, January 28 to avoid all nonessential travel to China due to the ongoing situation with the coronavirus.
It is never an easy decision to cancel a program, particularly at such a late stage, as we know students and institutions have been planning for months to prepare for their spring semester in China. We are taking this decision as a precaution to ensure none of our students are potentially in harm’s way and upon advice of our executive team.
CAPA is committed to doing whatever we can to assist our students who were planning on studying abroad with us in Shanghai. We are working individually with them on options for their spring term that meet their needs, including transferring to a different study abroad location or deferring their semester abroad to a future term.
While the situation continues to evolve, at this time, CAPA plans to operate summer and fall programs in Shanghai.
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