General Policy

ILP makes arrangements for you that require a significant amount of advanced planning. Commitments are made at home and in the destination country to have a program and a certain number of volunteers for the children and schools making the commitment to be in the program. Considerable time, effort, and money, as well as the reputation of ILP with local communities to fulfill its commitments, go into making these arrangements.

While unforeseen events may prevent someone with the best intentions from fulfilling commitments they have made, we feel that it is unfair to the children and their families, the local volunteers, and all those preparing arrangements for the program locally and in the U.S. for them to shoulder the financial burden of those volunteers who are unable or choose not to fulfill their commitments. We advise all volunteers to purchase trip cancellation insurance to cover costs of withdrawal (prior to departure) and trip interruption insurance (having to come home early after departure) because of unforeseen circumstances. For trip cancellation insurance, try going to the website www.insuremytrip.com to shop a variety of policies, coverages, prices, and companies.

All payments made toward the ILP program become non-refundable immediately upon being made to ILP, and no refunds are given after cancellation. Exceptions are made only in the case where by the release date, ILP has not assigned you to a country not listed in the “excluded countries” list at the time of your assignment. (See release dates below).

Payment Schedule

Payment 1, $500 — This is the first payment toward your ILP Program Fee. It is due with your application and can be taken care of during or after Orientation.

Payment 2, $1,000 — Payment 2 is due 30 days after you’ve received your country assignment (which happens after your application has been submitted and you’ve been accepted as an ILP volunteer).

Payment 3, remaining balance of the country you’re assigned to — This payment is due by the Pay-In-Full deadline, just a bit before departure:

• For the Spring semester, Payment 3 is due November 1
• For the Summer semester, Payment 3 is due March 1
• For the Fall semester, Payment 3 is due June 1

If you are receiving your country assignment after a deadline, you’ll have 48 hours to catch up.

Payment Plans

We have several payment plan options that will be explained in more detail during the application process (in Orientation as well as by your ILP Rep during your phone interview) so that we can help you determine the plan that works best for you. Here’s a quick look at the options:

Pay In Full — Pay your program fee in full within 3 weeks of being accepted and receive a $50 discount off your program fee.

Monthly Autopay — This plan works great if you want to finish paying your program fee before you go (and not have to worry about any payments after your semester is over). It’s the most customizable and predictable payment plan, allowing you to choose your start date and monthly payment amount. Your final payment will be due about 2 months before departure, and the earlier you start, the smaller your monthly payments are. By enrolling in this plan, your program fee will be completed before the paid in full deadline (prior to departure), and all payments will be automatically processed directly to ILP, eliminating the need for manual payments.

Standard — This plan also has your final payment about 2 months before departure, but you can manually make your payments anytime before that paid in full deadline. This is usually a good option if you’re planning to pay most of your program fee with fundraising and want to make customizable payments as donations come in.

Affirm — This option might work best if you’re signing up for your ILP trip closer to departure and want more time to save up. Affirm is a 3rd party company that offers buy-now-pay-later options. This gets you flexibility by potentially extending your ILP payments beyond your semester (which means you may not need to have all the funds upfront before your departure). With Affirm, you’re essentially arranging payments directly with them, and they will pay ILP the full amount upfront.

Deferral + Cancellation Refund Policies

Deferring — You have an option to change to another semester if the one you applied for no longer works for you by deferring.

Payment 1 is non-transferable to another semester. Payment 2 is transferable to another semester until the Paid-In-Full deadline. Payment 3 is always transferable to another semester. You may defer 1 time before you will be required to withdraw and reapply for a new semester.

Cancelling — All payments are non-refundable if you cancel (even if you cancel for something beyond your control like an unexpected medical reason).

We recommend that volunteers purchase trip cancellation insurance from a travel insurance provider to cover their losses from having to withdrawal for unforeseen circumstances. A variety of policies and prices are available at www.insuremytrip.com. Please note that travel/trip insurance and emergency medical insurance are different and many medical insurance policies to not cover trip/travel insurance for cancellation or trip interruption.

Payment Terms —

Payment 1 ($500) is non-refundable, even if your plans change (or even if your sister announces she’s getting married and it wasn’t your fault). Payment 1 is also non-transferable to another semester. Just like paying a deposit for an apartment, it only applies to the semester you get accepted to and cannot transfer to a later semester.

We want you to be sure you’re able to go before you pay Payment 1 because once you make your first payment and sign the agreement (which happens just after you’re accepted), we start making arrangements based on the commitment to volunteer that you have given us. Considerable time, effort, and money go into making semester arrangements for you.

Payment 2 ($1,000) and Payment 3 (remaining balance) are non-refundable, but are transferable to another semester (until the Paid In Full deadline) if you defer to another semester. After the Paid in Full deadline, Payment 2 ($1,000) is non-transferable to another semester.

Frequently Asked Questions

What if my plans change later and I can’t go? If something unexpected comes up, you have the option to defer to another semester or cancel. All payments are non-refundable if you cancel, but if you can go at a later time, you may be able to transfer some of your payments to another semester (so that’s often the best option for most volunteers).

What if the country I want to go to is full? We are always working to expand so that we can have enough room for the number of volunteers who want to go. If you apply and are accepted in advance you’ll probably get in, but if we still aren’t able to offer you a spot in any of those countries by the *release date, you will receive a refund on Payment 1 ($500) (which is normally otherwise non-refundable), or you can defer to another semester. Before that time, the normal cancellation and deferral policies apply.

*Release Dates:

• Spring Semester — January 10
• Summer Semester — April 30
• Fall Semester — August 25

In the case that we cannot offer you a spot in a country you listed as being open to in Orientation, at the release date you may receive a refund on any payments made to that point.