After an almost two-year ban on study abroad programs in Mexico, Cal State University Chancellor Timothy P. White has decided to resume the program for 2013-14, according to Erik Fallis, a CSU spokesman.
According to Fallis, a CSU executive decision in 2007 prohibited study abroad programs in areas included in the U.S. State Department Travel Warning but allowed the chancellor to make exceptions.
“The State Department issued such a warning in 2010, specific to certain areas in Mexico,” Fallis said. “Some programs outside that area continued to operate under an exception. In 2011, as the violence spread and became more shocking, most programs in Mexico ceased operations. This included the system program at Queretaro.”
Fallis said that in 2010, the warning listed six cities: Tijuana, Nogales, Ciudad Juarez, Nuevo Laredo, Monterey and Matamoros. The three states mentioned were Durango, Coahuila and Chihuahua.
“At that time, the system program at Queretaro continued, as did several campus programs,” Fallis said. “The exceptions allowed programs to continue operation.”
According to Fallis, in 2012, the State Department expanded the amount of information in its warning and provided a more differentiated list of danger zones within Mexico, including some areas listed with “no advisory is in effect.”
Fallis said this prompted the CSU to request an outside risk analysis, which staff compiled into a summary report and allowed the chancellor to use available information and make case-by-case decisions on exceptions for study abroad programs.
“Queretaro will now resume as a system-wide program,” Fallis said. “Campuses do not opt in, but CSU students will have the ability to apply when the program is prepared to take new enrollment. This is similar to the system program in Haifa, Israel, which resumed after receiving an exception in 2011.”
According to Sharon Olson, Cal State Long Beach director of education abroad in the Center for International Education, about 700 students study abroad each year and there has been interest in students wanting to study abroad during the ban.
Cecilia Fidora, CSULB assistant director of education abroad, said that students can apply to study abroad in Mexico by April 9; financial aid applies, and the estimated cost is $16,540 for the year.
“There will be a pre-departure orientation with emphasis on health and safety [which] will be held May 11 at [Cal State University Northridge],” Fidora said.
Fidora said that there are currently no students on the list for studying abroad at the Queretaro campus.