I've always wanted to study abroad it's been a dream of mine and I thought CSA would make my dream come true, but they couldn't even answer the simplest questions through email, or pick up the damn phone. Let me start off by saying I never sent in the deposit money. I wanted all my questions answered before I gave CSA $500. I was really interested in doing the semester long program in Russia. I thought it was an amazing deal to study in Russia for one semester for $2995. At first I tried calling CSA because I had specific questions about the food and housing, no one picks up the phone. After scrolling through the website it says they prefer all questions to be asked through email which I thought it was weird, but I asked the question. Every time I asked a question, it took whoever I was talking to 4 hours to respond or they'll respond the next day. I had a really specific question about paying for the program because I was going to pay for the program using the Consortium Agreements. I contacted financial aid at my university explaining my plan and I told them the website name and left them a link to the program. The lady at the office called me back and told me she was on the website and wanted to know if the university in Russia took Title IV credit/aid and if it was a US accredited university. Knowing CSA wasn't going to pick up their phone I told the lady at the financial aid office I was going to ask CSA. I went back and emailed whoever I was talking to and she didn't know if the school took Title IV credit/aid. A few days later the lady at my school's financial aid office called me, and it looks like she did some research and contacted the school in Russia. She told me the school doesn't take Title IV credit/aid and they couldn't help me pay for the program. She also said it wasn't worth it because the credits wouldn't transfer to the school. I'm really upset because CSA has no idea what they are doing. They don't even know the answer to the questions maybe that's why their responses are so vague. I'm going to upload the conversation between CSA and I to show that they don't know what they are doing. read more

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Wow there's some tough reviews here! So I went ahead (without doing my due diligence by checking reviews I guess) and really had a very positive experience. I did 4 weeks over summer in Paris to do the International Business studies and improve my French and the program itself was truly amazing. A couple of things to note that I learned while I was there: there were others in my program who had paid a lot more than I did but they also got a great deal more hand holding throughout the process than I did. Fine by me though, I was happy with the DIY. Others went directly through the school and got zero assistance but it was a little cheaper. A few of those folks had issues along the way but again, fine by me as I was happy to get a little guidance but didn't need a lot. So yeah I can see where people's expectations may not be a good match as it can all be pretty tough to navigate all these study abroad options but my experience was pretty great. I can appreciate that others had pretty rough experiences so I figure I could at least provide some info on the other side, people tend to post when they're frustrated vs when happy. Also important to note that I emailed them one time and they replied straight away. Sounded like something that people had issues with. I never had to call though. read more

Like others who have reviewed this business, I firmly believe this place is all about ripping people off. I moved to Paris with nothing from this company except and admission letter for a school and the location of the school marked on a map. I went to the school and found no one who could speak English or help me. I emailed CSA for help. No response. I went back to the school. Again, I couldn't find any help there. I emailed CSA. Again, no response. Finally, the day before my class was set to begin I emailed CSA saying that it seemed unlikely that I would be in a class the next day and demanded a refund. Of course, they failed to respond to that email as well. While this company does indeed enroll you in a course in another country, it seems like they also go out of their way to make actually taking the course as confusing and difficult as possible. I didn't receive any information about the school I was meant to attend or my admission letter until just a few weeks before I was supposed to leave, despite having started this process six months before. And they clearly don't care about helping you once you're at your destination, as evidenced by their lack of response to my multiple requests for help. It's also worth noting that all the positive you can find online about this company are clearly written by the same person who writes emails for the company. They use a lot of ellipses like this.........and all the positive reviews I've seen do the same thing. If you look at the "Not recommend reviews" on this very page you can see their attempts to raise their rating. The reviews are hilariously specific: "This company is not sketchy at all!" Give me a break. This company is sketchy as can be. Even if I don't get s refund from them, I'll be satisfied if by writing this review I can help to deter people from using this garbage company. read more

DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY Absolutely terrible company. They were great at communicating until I requested a refund and then they stopped responding for 6 weeks. They did not respond until I threatened to contact the Better Business Bureau. They did not refund me my confirmation deposit even though it is never listed as non-refundable. read more

Shady shady shady. This place is bad news. There are so many things wrong with this organization. Just so you understand what this place is: It is basically a middle man between you and whatever travel/language goal you have. When I put in my language aspiration and the country CSA was a top hit on Google. There are other programs available. If you can, try to go directly through a University-- even if you are not a student-- usually during their summer abroad programs they are able to accept more "outsiders". The are other options too (which I won't go into during this post) -- but I mostly want to emphasize that CSA should not be one of them. They advertise "budget" travel, but they actually overcharge, which I soon found out when I arrived to my language immersion program in the Caribbean. I enrolled in (about) a 6 week program (which was actually two programs back to back) that included meals, boarding, language education and immersion. They overcharged me over +$1,000 and made the process HORRIBLE. So I wasn't even paying for convenience. It was more like I was paying to be inconvenienced. I should have seen it coming though. Communication was terrible from the very beginning- as soon as they took my deposits. I would email them a series of very reasonable questions that one would want to know when leaving the country like, " What should I bring?" (towels, sheets, pillows...) to "What is the address of my destination" and "Can I speak to someone from your organization on the phone?". I called them two or three times and never ever received a call-back, but emails requesting that I email all questions, because everything needed to be "documented". Their reluctance to talk on the phone became even more evident when I was so frustrated and began requesting a refund for the second program, wanting to completely withdraw. I could never get anyone on the phone, and even if i wanted to swing by their office and talk to an administrator... its not there-- at least not on google earth when I checked. Its almost like its not real... I did not know what to bring to my program, but having too much trust, I went anyway. What other option was there? Once I arrived, I then had to binge shop, which ended up being very expensive. Why couldn't they tell me what to bring or at least direct me to someone who would know? I have no idea. The actual address to my dorm was provided the day right before class,which was so stressful. I don't know why they waited so long. The director of the education program (separate from CSA) said that they had provided CSA with the address months ago. The address provided by CSA was formatted in a way that none of the locals even recognized the street. So I just went walking around on campus, hoping that I would see a sign, which can be a little scary if you don't know the language (like me). On the first day of class, the professors and administration had no information on me. I needed to fill out all this paperwork, contracts, more money talk because CSA had not given them information on me. So, not only did CSA not give me any information on my education program, but they didn't have information on me. Another upsetting fact was that on their website, they say they offer a variety of levels and opportunities to speak the native language. Well, that's also false. In our program there were only 2 levels: beginning and not beginning. So, a ton of people were frustrated because the class was either moving too fast or too slow for them. I was not the only one who fell victim to the deception of CSA being a legitimate program. There were three other students including me who were infuriated by them. CSA gets a lot of money from uninformed consumers, like I was and how my co-students were. I can't emphasize this enough- do not use this program for your travel needs. On their website, they go through this whole display of how not to trust testimonials because you don't know where they are coming from and whose benefitting from them blah blah blah. Well, now that I have gone through the program, I can tell you that there is another reason why they don't share testimonials-- because they all sound like mine. Message me if you want more details. I'd be happy to share. read more

I had completed a summer program at The Sorbonne 10 years ago and thought it would be awesome go to back for a refresher for graduate school. CSA seemed to offer cheap options so I reached out while on a fellowship in Nov to save a spot the following summer. I promptly received information on housing and how to contact the Sorbonne directly "due to a merger." I thought nothing of it and was extremely excited! I got my login a couple of days later- with about a hundred more login emails after due to an error in the online system. When I initially replied to ask about it, I got no response. I wrote it off as a bug and would deal with it later. When my fellowship ended, just recently, I reached out again to the woman I was told to reach out to in order to proceed. There had been so many login emails, I didn't know which one to use to log in. Turns out that your profile is deleted if you don't make your down payment in the first 30 days of enrollment, so the woman couldn't find me in the system. I would have to re-enroll (which I was ok with). Just to check though, I called the CSA office to ask about moving forward and got a hangup VM (no ability to leave a message) I left it alone and asked the woman how to proceed from there (thinking they had merged). The woman directed me to the Sorbonne website and while there, I found a Masters prep course that looked like it would fit my needs better. Unfortunately, there wasn't a lot of info online about it, so I asked if there was room and how to qualify for it. I got no response. A couple of days later, as I started to make plans for the appropriate visa, I asked again. No response. About a day after that, I found another program- of the same price- that fit my grad school requirement. It was incredibly easy to sign up and was done quickly and efficiently- which I liked. I promptly emailed what I now know as the Sorbonne Study Abroad office-to let them know I was withdrawing. At this point, I was frustrated that I still hadn't received a response. The woman replied immediately telling me she would take me out of the system, but I would need to contact CSA for the refund... so, no merger? I emailed CSA expressing my frustration (for literally having done nothing but take my money through this process) and asked for a refund for my deposit. I couldn't figure out why I wasn't getting a response and what the run-around was about. Then, I went online and found a second phone number to call the CSA office. After trying twice, I got through. the man on the other line screamed at me, talking in circles about what a small child I am for not "doing my homework" about the program, calling himself a father while I was a small child, and telling me that the woman at The Sorbonne didn't respond because my question was stupid, and that she had better things to do than make decisions for me. He then belittled me for not understanding that they were two completely different offices (so I guess the merger was a lie), and went on about how it's not his job to answer my questions. (Even though it is). He then yelled at me some more for reaching out to The Sorbonne and not him, (which I was told in the email to do) Then yelled at me again for reaching out to him and not The Sorbonne. He proceeded to gaslight me about my "behavior" over this process, and how he had worked "so hard" to send me the automated emails that were sent to link me to the Sorbonne study abroad office. (I run a digital marketing agency. Automation is not difficult) As I am writing this as he continues to email me to pick fights (I've had to ask him several times to stop emailing me. He won't.) All I wanted was information. I have to meet a language requirement for grad school and wanted to make sure I was in the right program to do so. Yes, I was frustrated. Every bit of the way with this has been bumpy. It shouldn't have been. Isn't that the point of going through an agency? This man is clearly hurting for cash and CSA is a scam. He has done nothing to aid my process of enrollment. He makes his money by sending pre- written, automated, outdated information to put you in touch with study abroad offices that are directly reachable if you just do the research- which I stupidly didn't do. Lesson learned. I am mortified and slightly heart broken. If you want to study abroad, go directly through the school you want to go to, or at least use a better company. I'm sure this woman at The Sorbonne was just busy and thought CSA would take care of me. They didn't. I didn't even know I could still reach out to them until she directed me back. (No merger.) The good news? I hear the south of France is awesome!! -and I wouldn't have gone looking had this weird interaction with CSA not occurred. read more

Do not use this program. I thought it was so perfect because it was low cost and cut out the extracurricular things other programs had so the cost would be cheaper. However, when they mean cut out, they mean they do not do anything for you at all. All they do is charge you extra to enroll you at the university, something you can do yourself for way cheaper. They also messed up my housing and placed me in a dorm by myself in a foreign country (it was miserable) and then never replied to my emails. Do not do this program unless you're okay living by yourself and not knowing anyone. Actually, never do this program because you can just enroll yourself (all they do for you) and save money. read more

I made the mistake to register online with Center for Study Abroad (CSA) and pay a registration fee of $90 for a Spanish immersion program for my 15 year old daughter. She wanted to do a 2 week language program in Spain and stay with a host family. On CSA's web site everything looked wonderful and they promised to send information after initial payment, so I registered online and paid $90. I never received any program information and could never reach anybody by phone. Their email responses were very slow and unprofessional. They gave me the feeling that I was doing something wrong by inquiring about program details for the teen program abroad that I registered for. I eventually didn't feel comfortable paying more money after not getting the information I requested and went to a different company where I had a completely different experience. Needless to say I lost the $90. CSA is not in the business of customer service and the unprofessional way they operate seems like a scam to get some easy money. read more

Such a sketchy business. If you take a closer look on other review sites, the lady who runs this company has created multiple accounts to write positive reviews for her company. DO NOT use this "agency". I paid both initial deposits, nobody answers the phone, and you're lucky if you get an email that's more than one or two cryptic sentences long. If you're paying people money for a study abroad service...what kind of company would withhold documents and information about what school you're supposedly studying at until you pay?! Very unprofessional. I recommend booking directly through the school you wish to study abroad at. Turns out I only had to pay around $800 for my program instead of the $2000 these clowns were gonna charge me. read more

DO NOT BOOK YOUR STUDY ABROAD TRIP WITH THIS COMPANY. Like the majority of other people who have reviewed this program, I would never recommend it. After initiating the study abroad process months in advance, I began the journey of communicating with CSA; which is equivalent to pulling teeth. They are impossible to get information out of, and I can attest to the photos another user posted of their email responses. They are vague and very rarely answer simple and direct questions, such as "Where are my classes?", "When do I start my classes?" "Is there an on-site advisor I would be able to talk to?". 4+ months of communication got me a street address of the residence and a date. My program was in Dijon, France. Eventually, I was able to work out where I was supposed to be: only through the help of kind strangers who were eventually able to lead me to the international students office. This entire time, I was relying off of my limited knowledge of the French language and my home university's advisor and her persistence with the company. After I paid CSA over 2000$, they did not forward the payment to my residence like I was told they would, because "they didn't know that the money had come from me". This was despite the fact that I had paid them before with the same contact information, and my email address and full name were attached to the payment information. This caused me to arrive onsite in Dijon, after 12 hours of traveling, to a residence that had no documentation of me and who had no idea who I was, after-hours on a Sunday evening. Thankfully, they gave me a room, and it took several days to sort this issue out. I also missed my first class because I was never told when to go where, was given no address, no contact name, 0 information. After finding the on site office, which was by no means easy to get to, I discovered that the class CSA had enrolled me in began 2 weeks prior, and I ended up taking a final exam for a class I had only sat in on for a week. Despite numerous emails to this company, I rarely received responses. If I did get a reply, it was written in a very unprofessional and cryptic manner. This company says they provide a cheaper and low cost option. This is completely untrue. You can directly enroll in this university and pay out of pocket for this residence for half of what CSA charged me, and CSA provides no form of advising service or help with anything that would warrant that extra charge. I am lucky to have figured my program out based off of previous study abroad experiences, knowledge of the native language, and several people working from my home university. Had this been my first study abroad experience with no knowledge of French, I 100% would have bought a ticket home already out of sheer desperation. This program has by far been one of the most stressful experiences of my life. Never again. The only positive reviews I have found have been written by the lady who owns the company. Please, save your self the heartache. It may look cheaper than some other options but it is not worth it. If I could give 0 stars, I would. I don't know how this business is still open, and would absolutely consider it a scam. read more

As a parent of a student who is studying abroad there is always concern. To learn that the organization (CSA) who is responsible for her well being is so inept, reckless, and flat out incompetent is unacceptable. To follow the directions to the letter of CSA about where to be, who to meet and what time, only to arrive without any person knowing anything, no documents, emails, no commination what so ever. This direct and willful act ( negligence ) of CSA put my daughter in a perils situation. Basically on the street in a foreign country, after hours, everything closed and no where to go. This CSA, is NOT acceptable. The liability for this student is off the chart. In todays world the risks skyrocket in this type of situation. Luckily she is safe. All be it having to endure an unsurmountable amount of stress. And it goes on, to find out the class had started two weeks previous. Seriously CSA? CSA had been paid, documented, emailed, phone called, messaged, and every other means of communication. As of this writing CSA has not even responded to myself. I only have begun CSA! To all the students and parents out there, if you want to gamble with your students life and well being, through your money away, have zero or limited communication, with an organization who does not care, then CSA is for you. Other wise choose wisely for yourself!! read more

I applied to use this program for a fall semester in Barcelona. Let me just say, this place shady. Honestly, the prices were so cheap for the program and I couldn't find bad reviews online, so I trusted it and sent in a $500 deposit back in February. They also claimed they cut out extras that other programs provide and that are unnecessary, which is why I assumed they were to be trusted. My communication with them was only over email, which they insisted, and it became clear early on that it would be hard to get the information from them that I needed. My home university needed course syllabi to assess the courses for transfer credit, and the program director kept telling me more information would be provided after I paid a deposit or that it would come "soon", but after 5 weeks I could only get course descriptions that were vague. My home university told me this was a red flag, as programs should be able to provide syllabi. Another red flag, the woman I was emailing has a distinctive email style in which she uses ellipses often and has a space before punctuation, and I realized that many of the positive reviews of CSA I found online were written that way, clearly from multiple fake accounts. Sketchy! Eventually, I found out that this program is simply enrolling students in the Estudios Hispánicos program through the University of Barcelona! I've decided to just enroll myself, which will cost me $3000 for 20 hrs/week, instead of $5000 for going through CSA. So much of the info that they withheld from me was able to be easily found on the Estudios Hispánicos website! They claimed that they kept their Barcelona program affordable because they cut out unnecessary services, but they are really just middlemen in this scenario that made the process more confusing and unclear for me. The deposit with them was non-refundable, which was not clear to me before paying. They have a lot of different program options in many countries, but judging by my experience with them, I wouldn't trust any of their options. read more