We do not find the housing provided by SMU in Barcelona to be acceptable because it is too far from campus. Furthermore, we feel that this information should have been provided earlier so that we could have factored that into our decision on whether to participate in your program. If you cannot resolve this situation, we ask for a refund so that we can find alternative housing. 

Website:

A review of the SMU student abroad website shows that specific details about hosing including distance is provided for most programs but not the Barcelona program. Here is what the website states for Barcelona Spring 2022: 

BARCELONA

Housing information
IAU offers homestays and apartment housing
placements in Barcelona. Homestays include
daily breakfast and dinners, as well as weekly
laundry service. Apartments do not include
meals, and laundry services are included.
Please note that all placements (apartment and
homestay) are in a shared room by default. All
students will have their own bed. Students who
opt for an apartment placement may have the
opportunity to share with other international
students participating in different study abroad
programs. Individual rooms can be requested, but please keep in mind that not all requests can be
guaranteed. Please email enroll@iau.edu right
away if you are interested in an individual room,
and IAU will do their best to meet your request.

Also, notably, fall 2022 already contains the details which were not listed for spring 2022 stated above. Contrast the Barcelona information to the other programs:

SWEDEN

All accommodations are arranged by DIS. Students have four options for accommodations, giving them countless ways to interact with locals, as well as with students from around the world. Part of living and studying in Stockholm means that, just as the Swedes do, you commute by bus or train - or a combination of the two! Whether it be to get to classes at DIS, Field Studies, Study Tour departures, or extracurricular activities, you can expect that commuting will
be a part of your daily life.Stockholm's public transportation is clean, safe, punctual,
and efficient. While a daily commute may seem intimidatingin concept if you are not used to it at home, keep in mind that roughly 800,000 Stockholmers use public transportation
daily. With around 90% of the city's population hopping on the T-banan (the local train network) to get around, you'll be commuting to DIS like a local. Not only does DIS cover your transportation between class and home, but also all public transportation throughout greater Stockholm is covered for DIS students.Housing options include:
Homestay (including the Career Connection
Homestay)
• Living & Learning Community
Studentboende
Residential Community
Click here for more details about housing.

FRANCE 

Living in a French home is considered the best form
of housing because it provides an immediate introduction to life in this new place. It is an incomparable opportunity for
those who seek knowledge that is neither superficial nor second hand. It provides an introduction into the community and is a great incentive to learning the language. IA's hosts come from a cross section of society; they belong to no
particular professional or social milieu, but all are carefully chosen and many have hosted American students for several years. Most of the rooms available with the hosts are
approximately a 15 to 35 minute walk from classes. When living in French homes, students are on a demi-pension "plan." This includes daily breakfast and six dinners per week. Bed linen, pillow, and blankets are provided, but not towels, and the room is cleaned weekly.

ORIENTATION

Apparently during the orientation which took place the 12/16 after finals ended while most students were traveling, it was said that “commute will be 15-25 minutes but could be more or less depending on location” but when they had orientation in Barcelona to teach them how to get to school it was 45 minutes. 

HOUSING EMAIL

The students did not receive an e-mail containing any housing details until January 17, 2022, just a few  days before departing. Not learning about where our housing was located until the week we were leaving seems deceptive.

OTHER SCHOOLS

We are on a group chat with many students studying in Barcelona from different US colleges and none of them have a commute like we do. We are also aware that students from Arizona weren’t happy with the place we are in and you moved them. 

REFUND

According to the hotel website we can cancel up to 14 days from signing but according to IAU there is no housing refund. 

Some students received an e-mail today instructing them to return to Livensa Diagonal Alto tomorrow (Sunday, January 23) and remain in this housing through the evening of January 27th.  If, after staying in Livensa Diagonal Alto for a number of days, you have legitimate concerns about the accommodations, IAU is happy to engage in a dialogue with you to explore the possibility of alternative housing. This fails to account for the 6 students who have remained at Livensa since check in and we do not have any interest beginning to engage in a conversation on the 28th when we’ve been trying to discuss this since the 17th. 

While SMU wants to absolve themselves of any obligation by saying it’s all IAU we registered for the program through SMU and we are SMU students so you should be advocating for us. It has come to our attention that we paid SMU 30K and that the IAU tuition is 15K so if IAU will not refund us, SMU should for failing to exercise due diligence in selecting a program with adequate housing in Barcelona. We are asking for a housing refund so that we can find housing closer to campus which will benefit our school work and our overseas experience.