SIIP – pronounced “sip” – was founded in 2006. 

I have worked at four regionally accredited universities in the US, and have directed the International Programs office at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg and at Seton Hall University.  I have personally visited each of our partner institutions to make sure living arrangements and academic standards are of the level that one would expect of a US regionally accredited institution. 

We want to help you to send your students overseas to respectable universities. When possible, we want them to learn in the classroom with local students. We will help them to adapt to the local culture, and anticipate by the end of the semester they will be able to function independently overseas.  

We offer many of the benefits you’ve come to expect from study abroad providers – including cell phones, orientations and representatives overseas – and some extras that you do not expect.   Every full-semester SIIP student qualifies for three SIIP Cultural Tours, of which at least one is to a third country destination.   We’re particularly proud of this innovation, which enables us to mix SIIP students who have chosen different destinations. This way, students will return and tell their peers in North America about not just one, but about many SIIP programs.  

We offer all of our programs and benefits at a competitive price. SIIP offers extra help in the form of scholarships, which are targeted to students who are traditionally under-represented in study abroad. However, even those students who are paying the full cost of their program will find their cost comparable with the cost of tuition and fees at a private university in the US.  

Finally, we recognize the effect that overseas travel can have on the environment.  Since SIIP is a Florida corporation, and the highest point in our state is only 345 feet above sea-level, we recognize global warming and sea-level rise as a significant threat to our local community.  Therefore, SIIP is the first cultural exchange company to become a member of the Chicago Climate Exchange  . We are committed to offsetting the greenhouse gases that are emitted by our staff and by the students who travel on our programs.  Find out more information on our carbon offsetting program here.

If you’re interested in working closely with SIIP, here are some ideas on how to start:

• Add our logo to your site; to find out how, contact us as admin@siip.com.
• Join our “SIIP Affiliate” program – there’s no cost, no small print, and your students qualify for extra scholarships and an application fee discount.  For every 25 students that your institution sends, we will send one of your staff on one free site visit.
• Join our “SIIP University Billing” program, which will allow your students to pay tuition and accommodation costs to your university and for SIIP to bill you directly. This will mean that your students can take SIIP programs without thinking about the cost.
• Send us an email at admin@siip.com for details on how your faculty can benefit from our overseas knowledge; we will help faculty to assemble a study tour for in Western Europe, Tunisia or Morocco with minimal administration, while protecting your university from liability.