Are You Considering a Trip to Cuba?

THE U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT ISSUED A TRAVEL WARNING FOR CUBA(link is external) ON SEPTEMBER 29, 2017.  TRAVELERS TO CUBA SHOULD READ THE ENTIRE TRAVEL WARNING BEFORE DEPARTURE AND TAKE APPROPRIATE STEPS TO ASSURE THEIR PERSONAL SAFETY.

The rules around travel to Cuba are changing rapidly, but academic travelers should not assume that all restrictions have been relaxed. The best guidance we have identified to date can be found by going to the Institute of International Education website and downloading the pdf document entitled "Cuba Travel Restrictions: An Overview."

We strongly encourage you to read the entire document. In brief, however, faculty and staff (including adjunct faculty and part-time staff) and any student currently enrolled in any U.S. academic institution are authorized to engage in educational travel activities to Cuba if the activities fall under one of the following nine categories:

1. Participation in a structured educational program in Cuba as part of a course offered for credit by a U.S. graduate or undergraduate degree-granting academic institution that is sponsoring the program;

2. Noncommercial academic research in Cuba specifically related to Cuba and for the purpose of obtaining an undergraduate or graduate degree;

3. Participation in a formal course of study at a Cuban academic institution, provided the formal course of study in Cuba will be accepted for credit toward the student’s graduate or undergraduate degree;

4. Teaching at a Cuban academic institution related to an academic program at the Cuban institution, provided that the individual is regularly employed by a U.S. or other non-Cuban academic institution;

5. Sponsorship of a Cuban scholar to teach or engage in other scholarly activity at the sponsoring U.S. academic institution;

6. Educational exchanges sponsored by Cuban or U.S. secondary schools involving secondary school students’ participation in a formal course of study or in a structured educational program offered by a secondary school or other academic institution and led by a teacher or other secondary school official;

7. Sponsorship or co-sponsorship of noncommercial academic seminars, conferences, and workshops related to Cuba or global issues involving Cuba and attendance at such events by faculty, staff, and students of a participating U.S. academic institution;

8. The organization of, and preparation for, activities described in Subsections (1) through (7) above by members of the faculty and staff of the sponsoring U.S. academic institution or secondary school; or

9. Facilitation by an organization that is a person subject to U.S. jurisdiction, or a member of the staff of such an organization, of licensed educational activities in Cuba on behalf of U.S. academic institutions or secondary schools, provided that:

a. The organization is directly affiliated with one or more U.S. academic institutions or secondary schools;

b. The organization facilitates educational activities that meet the requirements of one or more of Subsections (1)-(3) or (6) above; and

c. The educational activities the organization facilitates in Cuba must, by prior agreement, be accepted for credit by the affiliated U.S. academic institution or approved by the affiliated secondary school.