Custom Faculty-Led Study Abroad Programs
You know what your students need to learn. We know how to make it happen in Costa Rica and Ecuador.
A custom faculty-led program is built from your course goals outward. It is one of several ways we work with institutions. You keep the academics and the relationship with your students. We build and run everything on the ground: housing, instruction, placements, transport, and daily supervision.
What a Custom Program Looks Like
Every program we build is different, because the starting point is always your syllabus rather than our catalog. Programs we have built are typically some combination of:
Length runs from one week to six weeks depending on what you need to accomplish and what your calendar allows.
How the Design Process Works
1. We start with your objectives
What the course has to deliver, how it is assessed, and what your students should be able to do when they return. If credit is involved, we work backward from what your institution requires to award it.
2. We propose a structure
A day-by-day shape of the program, the balance between instruction and field work, and the in-country components that serve your objectives.
3. We build the logistics around it
Housing, instruction, placements, transport, and staffing.
4. We price it honestly
You get a per-student cost with the inclusions stated plainly, so your office knows what students are paying for and what they still need to budget.
5. We refine it with you
Most programs go through two or three rounds before they are right. That is normal and it is built into how we work.
What We Handle and What You Lead
We handle
Housing and host family placement, Spanish instruction and instructors, community health placements, local transport, in-country program leadership, daily supervision, emergency response, and the ongoing relationships with local partners that make placements possible.
You lead
The academic content, credit and assessment, student recruitment and selection, pre-departure academic preparation, and the faculty presence that makes it your program rather than ours.
That division is deliberate. Faculty-led programs work when the faculty member is genuinely leading, and our job is to remove everything that would otherwise pull them into logistics.
Academics and Credit
Credit is awarded by your institution, not by us. What we do is build the in-country experience so it supports the credit you intend to award: contact hours, documented placements, structured reflection, and assessment points your faculty member can evaluate against.
For programs involving community health work, we can document placement hours and supervision in whatever form your program requires.
Where Programs Run
Costa Rica
Santo Domingo de Heredia, a residential suburb north of San José. It is not a tourist community, which is exactly why we use it. Students speak Spanish because there is no alternative, and the location gives good access to the rest of the country for program excursions.
Ecuador
Cuenca, a colonial city in the southern highlands that was the northern capital of the Inca empire before the Spanish arrived.
Some programs combine both countries in a single trip.
Example Structures
A three-week health-professions program
Spanish instruction each morning, community health outreach Tuesday through Thursday with a local partner organization, site visits into the local health system, and weekend excursions. Host family lodging throughout.
A Maymester language and culture program
Intensive Spanish instruction, host family lodging, a practicum or internship placement for students with sufficient proficiency, and structured cultural programming.
A pre-health undergraduate program
Spanish instruction with medical vocabulary, observation with local providers, community health education work, and reflection sessions on ethics and cultural humility in international health work.
These are starting points rather than packages. Yours will be built for your course.
Timing: Start Earlier Than You Think
Most custom programs need lead time. Institutional approvals, student recruitment, and in-country arrangements all take longer than people expect, and the good host families and placements are committed early. If you are considering a program, start the conversation well before the term you are targeting.
Safety and Support
Program leaders provide 24/7 leadership, coordination, and support in country, with daily on-site mentorship. Our full approach is on the risk management and student safety page, which is written for the people at your institution who have to review it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Ready to Start?
Tell us about your course and your calendar, and we will build the proposal around them.
If you would rather place students into an existing program, see our faculty-led global health rotations.
