Study abroad Travel to Cuba
Global Educational Facilitation has been doing Study Abroad to Cuba for over 15 years. The first programs that we did with Sacramento State we had to make travel arrangements while pending our specific license to travel in 1998 as the U.S. government has not made legal travel to Cuba easy. It was daunting but we would not be stopped!
Since that original program for college credit, I have been back to Cuba over 100 times. I am drawn by the people, complexity, architecture, charm and oddity of it all. It is the enigma wrapped in a conundrum.
Shortly after the trip in 1998 Global Educational Facilitation (Global Ed) received a license from OFAC to bring universities under our licenses for two years. The laws continued to change, in 2000 as they refused to extend that license and we had to work with each university and college teaching them how to get their own specific license.
In 2004 the laws changed such that the minimum stay in Cuba was 10 weeks. That move by Baby Bush reduced travel to Cuba by universities by 98%. Many schools were just unwilling to get involved with program that could change at the drop of the pin with changes in U.S. Cuba relations.
Obama opened travel back up to Cuba in 2011 and subsequently in 2014. In 2011 Obama created a general licenses modification making it easier for colleges and universities to travel with a general license, the only requirement was that it was for an existing course taught at an American university, with a letter from the academic institution on letterhead.
This past December Obama also created more modifications changing other groups that were specific licenses to now general licenses. Through all the changes Global Ed has continued to send students to Cuba for credit meeting all the American University requirements and the regulations! Viva Che Guevara! Viva Cuba! It is an exciting time now for Cuba travel and adventure!
Both in 2017 and 2019 the Trump administration has made changes to travel to Cuba, but the university, college and high school legal to travel, has not changed. This travel is still legally permissible by the U.S. government.
