Program Withdrawal and Cancellation Policies

Education abroad programs have inherent costs associated with securing in-country facilities and services. As a result, the following information outlines the financial responsibilities you should expect upon acceptance into the faculty-directed program of your choice. You should refer to your program brochure page for exact monetary amounts.

Application Fee

• Paid at time of application submission by card
• Nonrefundable unless you are not approved to participate in the faculty directed program or if the program is canceled
• Not transferable to another faculty-directed program or to a later program term

Commitment to Participate

Short-term faculty-directed programs (Summer/Fall Break/Winter/Spring Break)
You must commit to participate in the faculty-directed program by clicking the “Commit” button on your education abroad application within two (2) calendar weeks after being approved to participate in the faculty-directed program. If you do not commit within this timeframe, your application will be withdrawn, and the application fee will not be refunded.

Semester faculty-directed programs (Fall/Spring/Academic Year)
You must commit to participate in the faculty-directed program by clicking the “Commit” button on your education abroad application within three (3) calendar weeks after being approved to participate in the faculty-directed program*. If you do not commit within this timeframe, your application will be withdrawn, and the application fee will not be refunded.

*For the School of Architecture fluid campus programs, you have two (2) calendar weeks to accept the placement and three (3) weeks to commit after being approved to participate in the program.

Withdrawal Penalty Schedule

The following withdrawal penalty schedule is in line with Clemson University’s tuition and fees payment deadlines for each program term. For more information on exact dates, see the Student Financial Services website.

Tuition and Fees

Tuition refunds are determined by the University tuition and fee schedule. Please refer to the Student Financial Services website for more information.

Program Fees

Program fees are billed through iRoar and follow the deadlines set by Student Billing Services.

All group flight refunds or cancellations will be processed after your official withdrawal. When the student Commits to the program in the Post-Decision phase of their application and withdraws for any reason, the student is financially responsible for a portion of the program fee

*Unrecoverable expenses include but are not limited to housing deposit, non-refundable ground transportation, and entrance fees.

Individual Arrangements

If you have individually booked your airline ticket, please check with your airline provider about their refund policies. PHCEA is not responsible for refunds for flights booked by individual students.

Please review the following examples:

Summer Examples:

Example A (Summer): Tom G. was accepted to participate in Clemson’s faculty-directed Post-Colonial Studies in South Africa summer program on December 5th. Tom’s plan has changed since he applied to the program, so he did not commit to participate. On December 20th, his application was withdrawn for non-commitment.Tom has already paid the following: Non-refundable application fee ($350) The total charges Tom will incur from withdrawing are $350.

Example B (Summer): Anna C. was accepted to participate in Clemson’s faculty-directed Business Internship in Italy summer program on March 5th and committed to participate on March 17th. On March 27th (6 weeks prior to Clemson University’s Summer tuition and fees payment due date), she was offered a paid internship in New York City. As a result, she chooses to withdraw from the program. Anna has already paid the following: Non-refundable application fee ($350) and will owe the following additional payment: 30% of the $3,800 program fee ($1,140). The total charges Anna will incur from withdrawing are $1,490.

Example C (Summer): John S. was accepted to participate in Clemson’s faculty-directed Sustainability in Australia summer program on February 5th and committed to participate on February 7th. On April 10th (4 weeks prior to Clemson University’s Summer tuition and fees payment due date), they decided to take a summer course on campus and get a summer job instead of going abroad. As a result, they choose to withdraw from the program. John has already paid the following: Non-refundable application fee ($350) and will owe the following additional payment: 60% of the $3,500 program fee ($2,100). The total charges John will incur from withdrawing are $2,450.

Example D (Summer): Mary P. committed to participate in Clemson’s faculty-directed
Biomedical Engineering in Singapore summer program on January 1st. On May 3rd (1 week prior to Clemson University’s Summer tuition and fees payment due date), she decided to withdraw from the program. Mary has already paid the following: Non-refundable application fee ($350) and will owe the following additional payment: 100% of the $4,200 program fee ($4,200) + unrecoverable cost (housing reservation fee and non-refundable train tickets that the host university has already paid on her behalf ($300). The total charges Mary will incur from withdrawing are $4,850.

Semester Examples

Example E (Fall semester): Lisa committed to participate in Clemson’s faculty-directed Spanish Language and Culture in Mexico Fall program. On August 5th (10 days prior to Clemson University’s Fall term tuition and fees payment due date), she decided to withdraw from the program for personal reasons. Lisa has already paid the following: Non-refundable application fee ($750) and will owe the following additional payment: 100% of the $7,500 program fee ($7,500) The total charges Lisa will incur from withdrawing are $8,250.

Example F (Spring semester): Matthew G. was accepted to participate in Clemson’s faculty directed Engineering in Germany Spring program and committed to participate on October 10th. On December 6th (4 weeks prior to Clemson University’s Spring term tuition and fees payment due date), he decided that the program was not a good academic fit for him. As a result, he chose to withdraw from the program. Matthew has already paid the following: Non-refundable application fee ($750) And will owe the following additional payment: 30% of the $7,800 program fee ($2,340) The total charges Matthew will incur from withdrawing are $3,090.

Spring Break Example:

Example G (Spring Break): George W. was accepted to participate in Clemson’s faculty-directed Service Learning in Costa Rica Spring Break program and committed to participate on November 25th. The next day, on November 26th (5.5 weeks prior to Clemson University’s Spring term tuition and fees payment due date), he found out about the beach trip his friends were going on. He decided to withdraw from the faculty-directed Spring Break program and the associated Spring semester course.George has already paid the following: Non-refundable application fee ($350) and will owe the following additional payment: 60% of the $1,800 program fee ($1,200) The total charges George will incur from withdrawing are $1,850

Education abroad programs have inherent costs associated with securing in-country facilities and services. As a result, the following information outlines the financial responsibilities you should expect upon acceptance into a Global Start program. Learn more about Global Start here.

Tuition and Fees

Tuition refunds are determined by the University tuition and fee schedule. Please refer to the Student Financial Services website for more information.

Application Fee

The application fee, which is paid at the time of application submission, is only refundable if you are not approved to participate in the Global Start program or if the Global Start program is canceled. The application fee is not transferable to a different program or a different term.   

Commitment to Participate

You must commit to participate in the Global Start program by clicking the “Commit” button on your education abroad application within two (2) calendar weeks after being approved to participate in the program. If you do not commit within this timeframe, your application will be withdrawn, and the application fee will not be refunded.

 Upon commitment to the program, participants will be held financially responsible for 100% of the program fee. If a participant withdraws from the program after committing, they will be invoiced for the program fee and any additional unrecoverable expenses* paid on behalf of the student withdrawing from the program.  

Individual Arrangements

If you have individually booked your airline ticket, please check with your airline provider about their refund policies. PHCEA is not responsible for refunds for flights booked by individual students.

*Unrecoverable expenses include but are not limited to housing deposit, non-refundable ground transportation, and entrance fees. 

With Exchange programs students are billed Clemson in-state tuition and fees through iRoar. Housing and other expenses are paid either through the Host Institution and/or other Provider(s). 

Tuition and Fees

Tuition refunds are determined by the University tuition and fee schedule. Please refer to the Student Financial Services website for more information.

Housing and other Fees

For questions about withdrawals or refunds of payments made to external entities please reach out to the Host Institution and/or Provider(s). PHCEA is not responsible for issuing refunds or serving as a financial mediator.

Individual Arrangements

If you have individually booked your airline ticket, please check with your airline provider about their refund policies. PHCEA is not responsible for refunds for flights booked by individual students.

All payments for tuition, housing, fees, etc. are paid directly to the third party provider. For questions about refunds and withdrawal, please reach out directly to the program provider. PHCEA is not responsible for issuing refunds or serving as a financial mediator.

The only payment to Clemson is the nonrefundable study abroad fee billed through iRoar. For more information and exact dates, see the Student Financial Services website

When the student Commits to the program in the Post-Decision phase of their application and withdraws for any reason, the student is financially responsible for the full study abroad fee.

Study Abroad Fee

• Summer Term: $383
• Semester Term: $766

*Subject to change based on Clemson Tuition & Fees

Individual Arrangements

If you have individually booked your airline ticket, please check with your airline provider about their refund policies. PHCEA is not responsible for refunds for flights booked by individual students