CEA CAPA Education Abroad - Phoenix, Arizona

Sarah Berman

As a former student of CEA CAPA, I was extremely disappointed in the treatment and resources I received. If you send your child here you will have no information on their housing, their job or anything regarding anything up until about two days before they leave for the program. When I tried to utilize the staff I was belittled in front of the entire office by the main guy from capa. The way he spoke to me was disgraceful and shameful. Do not waste a dime on these people.

John Trujillo

If negative stars were possible, CEA would get -5. Stay away from these people. They are one of the most unscrupulous companies I have ever had the misfortune of coming across. They canceled my daughter’s 2023 Mechanical Engineering program. Then did not respond for weeks to find an acceptable resolution. When they finally did respond they offered a Liberal Arts course in 2024 as a solution. We withdrew because they had nothing to offer for what we had signed up for and then they tried to bill us for 30% of the course they canceled, plus “course and textbooks fees may be added later on.” I have no idea how anyone can work for this kind of organization. They prey on the dreams of young people. I find it disgusting.

Beware: The price they give you will not be the price they try to extract from you even if they don’t cancel. They have no issue canceling on you even after you paid a deposit to secure a position. Learn from our pain and disappointment and stay away.

Notice the 5-star reviews they receive here have zero commentary.

Shruti Lake

Do not, under any circumstance, send your kids abroad through this company. They will nickel and dime you to death after the fact. One year ago, my daughters went to Italy through this company. After the trip - they falsely charged us a "retroactive" deposit of $300. They harassed us and threatened to "ruin your daughters' credit". After contacting Rutgers, who told us there is no such fee - the charges were reversed. I wonder how many parents just paid this. Now, in January 2023 - they've sent us bills for "property damage" for one of my daughters. CEA is not answering our calls to specify exactly what the damage was. But again - to send this a FULL YEAR later? If their accounting is that bad, I will never trust them again with helping my kids travel. Lastly - another bill we've received is an extra $30 for "lab fees" - which again Rutgers University told us all course fees were part of the original tuition. This too was received a full year after the trip. We will be paying, because we're tired of unanswered calls and their threats to "send the bills to claims" and "ruin your daughters' credit". But I strongly recommend, do not use this company, ever.

Katlyn Saloutos

I studied abroad in Dublin this summer with CEA. i recently learned just how horrible the employees at CEA were. Upon arrival and meeting my classmates, I found out that I was in a farther away housing accommodation than the other 90% of my classmates. Some of the students who got moved with me, were talking about how they recieved a $1500 refund for our housing change because they complained. Naturally I took to emailing them as well so all of my peers who were moved got the refund they fairly deserved. I texted my advisor and she told me she did not know what I was talking about. I emailed her boss after that to get a response about how it is a case by case basis. To be completely honest, I was quite confused how my case varied from the other students who were in the same housing as me. We were told that we all would be a 30 minute walk from our class building, but that was not the case for my housing location because it was a 40 minute bus ride. I would normally take this with a grain of salt and accept the change, however I could not let the refund policy apply to some and not to others. Especially considering my peers and I were in the same housing situation, I was extremely confused how the students who had their parents call and complain are receiving a refund but not others who are also in the same situation. To my reply back to Kayla McGuire (my advisors boss), I was met with no response. I have still not received a response and my program has been finished for 4 weeks. CEA DOES NOT TREAT STUDENTS FAIRLY!!! DO NOT BOOK WITH THEM!

Luc McK

As others have alluded, CEA misrepresented its product to us and insisted we pay for a product never received. Specifically, students were directed to online photos representative of the housing they would enjoy if they agreed to a 40% upcharge in accommodation fee. After a family discussion, we agreed to the upcharge, even then feeling the price was excessive, but we were willing to pay for a property representative of the one depicted. On arrival in Italy, rather than a nice apartment with 6 flatmates, some with individual rooms, as promised in CEA’s communication to us, our son found he was assigned to a HOTEL. A single, solitary hotel room with NO flatmates. More isolation in the already isolating time of COVID. We later discovered the online photos were of a property not even located in Italy. False advertising. Bait and switch. Call it what you like. Certainly NOT worth any extra money. We fought this charge from the moment our son arrived in Italy, to no avail. They unilaterally told us we had to pay full price, with no explanation for their failure to provide the service for which they demanded the money. They threatened to withhold grades AND send our son to a collection agency, even though we, the parents, told them we would like to be named the responsible billing party. Nope, not allowed for some reason. They ONLY send billing information to the student. Not normal business practice.

Parents, if you are reading this, be aware that CEA does not keep the parents informed, does not provide receipts to the students for all that they sign, and apparently, misrepresents their product. CEA then holds your student's grades hostage and threatens your student's credit with dire warnings of collection agencies. All this when THEY are the ones who did not fulfill their end of the bargain. They offer no explanations or even apologies.

Students, if you are reading this, screenshot EVERY communication you have with CEA. Get EVERYTHING in writing. Make no assumptions. Just because the photo of the housing says "Florence housing" on it, don't assume it is. I am not joking.

CEA is generally more expensive than most other semester abroad programs. Don't assume that makes it a better product. It does not.

I would not recommend CEA to anyone.

However, I would like to give a shout out to Danielle in Italy who went out of his way to make the experience as good as possible for the kids. Thank you, Danielle.

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I worked for this company for a few months, and have a laundry list of reasons why I left.

Consumers: I watched this company make inexcusable financial "mistakes" the entire time I was there. I suggest spending your money elsewhere.

Past, Current, Future Employees: I am sorry you have been led to believe the treatment you receive at this company is normal. It's not.

The 5 star reviews you see with no comments are employees associated with Marketing/HR departments

Sandra Foisy

I love the way the company does their hiring so intentionally! I love who they are and what they do.

Ferdinand Cea

Hi, yes I study all...,