CIEE

I am SO SORRY I allowed my daughter to participate in this horrendous program and, like others here, STRONGLY urge parents to avoid this like the plague.
My daughter did the research and chose this program because it offered a high school semester in Ireland as an option, and others did not. I was so proud of her for doing the work & raising the money, that I didn’t do my due diligence as a parent & I feel awful about it.
We were very, very close to filing a lawsuit against this organization, and I’m not entirely convinced that we won’t still.
This program will gladly take your money ($ 13k for one HS semester) and then leave your child on their own, to fend for themselves with ZERO opportunity to actually travel within the country. They provide no support and no cultural immersion programmatic opportunities. DO NOT USE THEM.

I studied in Japan in 1997 through a CIEE program.
Overall it was very well run.
The host family was wonderful, sweet and supportive.
The courses were just challenging enough to allow me to still explore Japan without needing to sit inside with books all semester. The professors and content were captivating.
The program administrator, Adam, and the CIEE staff were awesome. They were available when needed, and a great source of guidance and support.
I was able to see the USA from an outside perspective, one of the best educational experiences of my life.

I have direct experience with the CIEE Work and Travel Program. I strongly discourage students and families from being involved with this agency. They are not the advocates for students that they pretend to be. Students come here from other countries and deserve to be treated fairly and with dignity. The student I knew was not cared for well by the employer but treated even worse by CIEE when she sought assistance with the situation.
What transpired in my experience was truly appalling. It’s not so much that the problems could not have been resolved. CEII was unwilling to be an advocate for the student and acted more as a broker for cheap, compliant labor. Something is rotten in this agency. Don’t go anywhere near it.

DO NOT Participate in this program. My daughter spent time in Chile with a host family that was abusive towards her. CIEE did nothing to rectify the situation. Another of her friends has the host «mom» use the room and board money to purchase recreational drugs which she offered to share with the student. Again, CIEE did nothing. What a disappointing experience.

My child participated in a CIEE high school exchange program to Ireland. I would strongly encourage all prospective participants and parents to deeply investigate CIEE and before making a decision to enroll in one of their exchange programs. CIEE’s marketing and Web presence are sophisticated and present a positive image. Our experience was different. It was absolutely not worth the expense, and I would recommend parents look elsewhere for a program with more integrity.

I am hosting a CIEE kid right now and have mix feelings about this program. If you get kids from Europe or other countries where they don’t have live in maid, you will be better off. I found that the Asian kids in this program (not all but big portion of it in our group) lack independent and initiative. I am Asian too so I am saying this with all fairness.
I feel that their recruiting partner in Thailand (they have a huge chunk of their kids from Thailand) is letting kids with not good enough English to come here.
Mine was having problem with US History. not only because this is a hard subject for non American born but also because he couldn’t comprehend what he is reading at all. I spend around 10 hours helping him prepare for his test and we were able to raise his grade tremendously. But not every host parent has the time to do such thing.
I strongly suggest for CIEE to review their selection process in Thailand and at least ask the candidates to read US Text book and explain what they are reading. If they get the zest of it. then great. if not, it is really is not fair for host parents, teachers and the students.
My kid is having problem carrying conversation in English and it is very tiring for him.
PS: English is a second language for me too so I understand the struggle but come on. He needs to be able to talk to his peers and his host parents while he is here.

I participated in the CIEE Teach in China program through the Portland, Maine office. They set everything up for you and help you get the visa and TEFL Certificate (if you pay the extra money). The school I got sent to then tried to sell me off for a profit far away from anyone else in the program. People who worked there before we arrived heard the school mention they only needed 3 teachers but brought in 4 … oh China. Anyways, CIEE did little to help and I actually had to call and email repeatedly to get some service. Even once I got placed in a school nearby so I knew people CIEE had no contact with me throughout my entire year teaching. And the kicker is, even after my problem they sent kids to the same school the next recruitment session. CIEE gave me no piece of mind, the school I worked for provided me health insurance, so I didn’t need CIEE’s, I wasted $ 2,000 or however much it was and I got a my TEFL and a giant pain in the butt upon arrival.

This program was falsely advertised. On the website, it is listed as «Study Thailand Khon Kaen: Development and Globalization.» After having been through this program, I can accurately claim that this program is neither about development nor globalization. These topics are only barely touched upon, and in an incredibly biased way.
The site reads:
The CIEE Study Center in Khon Kaen helps you to understand the complexities concerning development and globalization issues, and the role you play as global citizens. You’ll learn about development and globalization from both an academic and a grassroots community level and its overall effects on a developing nation.
This is entirely incorrect. In order to understand the complexities of
development and globalization issues, all sides of the issue must be considered.
However, lectures were entirely one-​sided. I understand that it is difficult for any professor to be completely objective, but I believe in an academic setting, a professor has an obligation to present more than one perspective, and if only one perspective is discussed, it should not be that which aligns with the professor’s personal values. When I raised my hand to ask for an alternative point-​of-​view, my request was dismissed. It was very clear that the program had its own agenda that was beyond objectively educating the students.
We hardly discussed the World Bank and the IMF, which is astounding considering their significance in the realm of globalization and development. Looking at the issue outside of the perspective of one small village in Thailand did not happen. We talked about how a mine has negatively impacted a village in Thailand, but never discussed what the alternatives are. And even if we work to «help» this one village, how does that solve the bigger problem? What can we do to solve the bigger picture problem? Questions like these were rarely raised. We barely looked at the bigger picture issues surrounding development and globalization.
Exchanges were our primary form of education. I understand this is an alternative education program, so I have no objection to this. However, the exchanges were clearly arranged in a strategic manner. We began listening to the struggles of the villagers and of the NGOs working with the villagers before speaking to the «other side», the governmental agency «inflicting» this «plight» upon the villagers. Because we stay with the villagers, we become emotionally attached, and students enter into the other exchanges on the attack, forgetting that they are there for their own education and rather attempting to «crusade» for the villagers, all encouraged by the staff who sit in the room and do nothing to prevent this from happening. They also never discuss this behavior after the fact to change it for future exchanges. Furthermore, the opportunity to speak with the «other side» was not present until halfway through the semester, and only the stories from the villagers are heard until that point.
This was not the only example in which the program was completely unprofessional. Much of my classroom time was spent discussing the group dynamic and the feelings of the other Americans in the program with me. Frequently, it was suggested that the individual needed to change oneself to «fit» the group, and this expectation was uncomfortably forced upon us. This crossed a serious ethical boundary for me; an academic program should be about teaching the material and not inflicting one’s personal views upon the students. When I was not willing to compromise my own values for the «group», my opinion was dismissed by staff and I was not given equal consideration to the other students. At one point, I was even threatened with having my grade lowered for not doing what everyone else was doing after I was given the option not to by the staff. And I watched another student get literally screamed at by David Streckfuss for not going along with the group. I was told that the point of the program was the «group process», an incredibly ambiguous term, and that the subject matter was interchangeable. How can the subject matter on an academic program be interchangeable? If the program is going to be about how to work with others, then it absolutely needs to be advertised that way. I feel like I paid money not to receive an education, but rather to be a guinea pig in David Streckfuss’ social experiment.
This program was falsely advertised and severely poorly managed. I have left with a great understanding of Thai culture, but little comprehension on the subjects I expected to learn about. I chose this program for the subject material, and any student looking to invest a large sum of money into an education program should be able to expect to leave with an education in the advertised subject material. Additionally, any student should be treated with respect and should not expect to have the values of the staff forcibly imposed on him or her

CIEE has really great international programs– some are really unconventional and provide alternative learning programs. I experienced, specifically, the CIEE Khon Kaen, Thailand program so my review will be based on my satisfaction and expectations with the particular program.
The online resources along with the pamphlet advertises the program as Development & Planning, Environmental Studies, Peace & Justice Studies, Sociology and Thai Language. However– I felt the majority of the subject areas were actually Group Process, Global Development Issues (like dams and mining– issues that you can study anywhere in the world) and of course Thai Language. A lot of the subject area that is studied is very one-​sided and can be studied anywhere in the world– even the United States. We did not go into depth about specific human rights or social justice issues specific to Thailand, which was a real disappointment for me.
Also, the program is really based on Group Process more than the actual issues. You are constantly with the same group of American students throughout the experience, having little time to then truly immerse yourself in the culture. The homestays provide a lot of cultural awareness, but the language barrier and busy schedule causes this part of the program to lack and not contribute much to the educational or cultural experience.
Things I wish I was told directly before applying to this program:
–There is no observation of any weekends, nights or regular school hours whatsoever. We were often in class (with all American students) for 12-​hour days with only a 1-​hour break for lunch or on village homestays that lasted up to a week. This means there is little personal time, little time for traveling throughout the country and no time to really get to know Khon Kaen, the city where the university is located.
–Group process has a huge emphasis in the program– but it was not managed as well as it could have been. The majority of the time in Thailand will be spent talking about your feelings, reflecting and little action. Team-​building is overdone and if you have ever experienced «getting to know you» activities– you will be doing more than what is necessary. Often the group goals take priority over your personal goals during the semester
–The program likes to keep a lot of things in the dark throughout the semester. You get used to not knowing what is going on, where we are going or why we are doing particular things.
–Often you feel like you are put into a situation where you are crusading for the villagers on a particular issue without hearing a clear perspective on the other side.
–Globalization is barely addressed in this program.
So I would recommend speaking to someone who has experienced this program before applying to ensure that this program is right for you. It was enjoyed by many, but also despised– if you are going to invest the money into a study abroad program, take the time to research the program prior to committing.