BCA Legacy

Amizade is carrying forward BCA’s legacy by enriching and expanding programming in many of its historic sites, innovating BCA’s program model, and managing an endowment that will offer more students the opportunity to better engage with the world.

For more than 50 years, BCA Study Abroad has been committed to helping students understand the complexities of the contemporary world by providing quality academic programs and cross-cultural learning in locations around the globe. From its start, BCA focused its mission on bridging academic learning and connecting it directly to experiences with local people and the issues that impact their lives. As a result, BCA students actively participate in their own learning and develop critical skills that empower them to be engaged and informed global citizens.

The first BCA students crossed the Atlantic by ship during the summer of 1962, preparing for their year abroad in Marburg, Germany. From that first crossing, BCA programs and participants spanned the globe, joining a community of educators, students and community partners dedicated to building relationships and thinking critically about issues of peace and social justice. 

We are proud of our long-standing relationships with community partners and host families, some existing for decades.

Since then, over 13,000 BCA alumni have translated their learning into action for the greater good, acting with compassion and courage to create change in communities at home and abroad. Through Fulbright awards and graduate school, career choices and civic engagement, BCA participants continue to live lives inspired by their experiences abroad, impacting communities near and far.

Amizade will continue to honor BCA’s legacy and commitment to fostering human dignity for a more peaceful world through purposeful and impactful global education experiences for all.