Center For Study Abroad

Philip Virtue _{on Google}

Apr 4th, 2020

CSA is a legit company offering low cost, high quality academic study abroad programs worldwide. Check the website for current prices and dates. Much less expensive than most other program providers. Programs are non-profit, very affordable, and students earn academic credit. Check them out....before signing on to overly expensive programs offered by others. Review the useful information in the Resources and FAQs sections. Overall, CSA is a smarter way to study abroad and save a bundle. I am very glad I did!

Michael Dunlop _{on Google}

Mar 27th, 2020

CSA is legit. Since 1990, so they have been around for over 28 years. Non-profit programs at low prices. Check them out, and save $.

Hendrik Ng _{on Google}

Dec 27th, 2018

Finally I've found a great site about study abroad. It's been my dream to be able to study abroad to learn other nations culture and language. With CSA I have so many choices of schools/college around the world that suits me. Thanks to it's 20+ years of experience I finally be able to learn Thai language which is important to me, since my parents do a lot of businesses with Thailand people. CSA offer a very informative data so you wouldn't be confuse and if it isn't enough, you can always email or call their office to get the information you need. I personally non-US residence but I'm very happy with the service they gave me, from the moment I found the site, how I search for schools/college I want, payment also very easy and secure, until I arrived in Thailand and finished my study, it all can be arrange through CSA. I can assure you, if you want to study abroad there is no mistake to choose CSA as your partner.

Erin Day _{on Google}

Sep 6th, 2018

Was going to apply to this then saw the horrible reviews. Hilarious how the only good reviews are by 3 people with the last name virtue...plz

Halle _{on Google}

Aug 5th, 2019

I had completed a summer program at The Sorbonne years ago and thought it would be awesome go to back for a refresher for graduate school. CSA seemed perfect, 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 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, I reached out 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. 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 it and got a VM with no way 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 an MA 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. As I started to make plans for the appropriate visa, I asked again. No response. About a day after that, I found another program that fit my grad school requirement. It was incredibly easy to sign up and was done quickly and efficiently in one sitting.
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 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.
In response to my questions, the man on the other line screamed at me. He proclaimed that he was like a father answering a small child, literally calling me stupid. He told me that the woman at The Sorbonne didn't respond because my question was irrelevant, and that she had better things to do than make decisions for me. He then belittled me further and went on about how it's not his job to answer my questions. (Even though it is).
As I am writing this review, he continues to email me to call me names and tell me how dumb he thinks I am. (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. There are plenty of them. 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 inappropriate interaction with CSA not occurred.