Use Heightened Vigilance in Study Abroad Risk Management

International student travel has rebounded since the pandemic and many K-12 schools, colleges, and universities sponsor study abroad despite continuing global complexity and conflict. There are several ways your institution can improve student safety and also reduce liability resulting from foreign travel.  

Determine Risks of Foreign Trips 

While institutions should collect information from multiple sources about potential study abroad destinations, we recommend first consulting two authoritative sources: the State Department and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 

• The State Department’s travel advisory system ranks every country on one of four levels according to a variety of safety factors.
• The CDC issues four levels of  travel health notices for foreign travel depending on health issues that impact traveler safety, such as widespread disease outbreaks. 

Consider requiring employees and students on institution-sponsored trips to enroll in the State Department’s Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP), which provides access to updates from appropriate embassies or consulates and helps the State Department make contact in an emergency. Other helpful safety resources may include information from local authorities at the destination and guidance from providers of medical assistance and evacuation services, like International SOS.  

Be Prepared to Cancel Trips 

Your institution’s written policies should explicitly reserve the right to cancel any foreign trip it sponsors if your institution determines safety risks to be unacceptably high. If you follow State Department and/or CDC guidance when deciding whether a trip will proceed, note this practice in policies. Even if you do not follow State Department or CDC guidance, notify participants (and the parents of minors) during trip preparation if the following apply to any countries or areas on the trip itinerary: 

• A Level 3 (Reconsider travel) or Level 4 (Do not travel) travel advisory from the State Department
• A health notice Level 3 (Reconsider Nonessential Travel) or Level 4 (Avoid All Travel) from the CDC 

Transfer Risk 

To reduce potential liability, consider transferring to third-party providers the risk for programs or specific activities during a program. However, it may be impossible for your institution to completely shield itself from liability for programs you sponsor — regardless of how much responsibility a third party carries for daily operations. 

Consult counsel for legal advice. Institutions may find United Educators’ (UE’s) contracting resources helpful when working with third-party vendors. 

Use Waivers or Releases 

As a general rule, use waivers or releases for institution-sponsored study abroad programs. Waivers or releases — relinquishing the right to sue — should be signed by program participants who are 18 or older and by the parents (or guardians) of participants under 18. In most states, parents can give up only their own right to sue on their child’s behalf, not the child’s right to sue, and waivers or releases signed by minors generally are unenforceable. 

Waivers or releases for any institution-sponsored trip abroad should be specific to that trip. They should: 

• Provide detailed descriptions of all known risks for the trip.
• Explain that any foreign travel involves some risks.
• State that your institution does not and cannot guarantee participant safety. 

Understand that if litigation arises from a program, courts will examine waivers or releases closely and — if supported by the facts — may hold that they are invalid or against public policy. 

If your institution sends minors abroad, consider having them sign assumption of risk forms. Unlike a waiver or release, these forms do not ask participants to relinquish their right to sue. Rather, they spell out the trip’s risks and ask minors to affirm they understand and assume these risks voluntarily. If litigation develops, this form can bolster an institution’s defense. A court may uphold an assumption of risk form even if it strikes down a waiver or release. 

Note: State laws governing the content and enforceability of waivers and releases vary, so work with local counsel to draft or review these documents to ensure consistency with applicable legal requirements. 

Hold Mandatory Orientation for Trips 

Have participants and parents of minor students attend mandatory orientation before each trip. During orientation: 

• Discuss the trip’s specific risks as well as general travel risks.
• Review local laws and customs, emergency reporting mechanisms and contacts for the destination, and your institution’s crisis response plan.
• Review necessary or recommended vaccinations.
• Encourage questions.
• Distribute and review in detail waivers, releases, and/or assumption of risk forms — but do not require them to be executed on the spot. Let parents and participants take forms home for further consideration before signing and returning them.
• Document attendance. 

Carefully Consider Participant Supervision 

Look for ways to improve student safety through more effective, age-appropriate supervision during each institution-sponsored trip abroad. For example, some trips may require more leaders or chaperones, or a reexamination of sites and activities on the itinerary. 

Consider Requiring Students to Purchase Insurance 

Consider whether to require students traveling on institution-sponsored programs to purchase catastrophic and/or medical evacuation insurance. Over 20% of study abroad claims in one UE study involved a program participant’s injury or illness, reinforcing the importance of adequate planning to cover high medical expenses.

More From UE 

Study Abroad   

For additional resources on study abroad for both K-12 schools and higher ed institutions (including tabletop exercises and detailed checklists for home campus administrators overseeing the programs and program leaders on the ground), see our Student Travel Resource Collection. 

Waivers and Releases 

Checklist: Drafting Effective Releases 

Minors and the Use of Releases 

Waivers: Get One Consent at a Time