Minnesota school pays fine for Cuba travel

Saturday July 8, 2006

Minnesota's Augsburg College has become the first US school to agree to pay a Treasury Department-levied fine for educational travel to Cuba, according to news reports. The small college, which sent students to Cuba for study between 1998 and 2004, accepted a $9000 fine for traveling to Cuba without the proper licenses, though reports say the college administrators have said they thought the student travel was legal.

September 2004 Bush administration guidelines severely restricted educational Cuba travel and resulted in many educational institutions eliminating study programs involving expeditions to Cuba; DC's Inside Higher Ed says, "Experts estimated that, of several hundred Cuba programs that existed before the rule changes, fewer than a dozen remain." US residents may travel to Cuba for academic research but must generally show plans to stay in Cuba for 10 weeks; amassing enough people with sufficient available time to meet requirements has been difficult for schools with Cuba study programs. A nationwide group of 450 academics has sued to challenge the Bush administration's educational Cuba travel restrictions, and the ACLU, with some Florida academics, recently filed suit over Florida legislation effectively banning all educational Cuba travel related to Florida schools.