Applaud to University of Nebraska-Lincoln for Protecting Students - No Travel to Countries with USDOS Travel Warnings – Study Abroad Safel

The U.S. Department of State has put travel warnings on eleven Middle Eastern countries due to unstable government, civil war, ongoing intense crime of violence or frequent terrorist attacks. Now, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) is actively working to protect their students who decide to study abroad from these threats.

“As of Oct. 1, UNL students traveling abroad in any association with the university must be part of a program administered by university-sponsored Education Abroad,” a Daily Nebrasakan article reported.

University of Nebraska President James B. Milliken has stated no travel abroad program supported by the university will travel to countries with travel warnings.

This does not mean that students can’t travel abroad with third party programs into countries with USDOS travel warning.  Some professors and colleges within universities take students abroad on programs not associated with the university’s study abroad office. ClearCause would love to see more universities with safety controls tied to ‘credits’ associated to the university’s students.

This policy puts multiple countries out of bounds for UNL students, including Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Israel, the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Egypt and Sudan. All of the above countries are under travel warnings from the U.S. Department of State. Kuwait, Jordan, Oman, Bahrain, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates remain acceptable Education Abroad destinations, the article reported.

UNL students can only travel to countries with travel warnings if they are able to obtain a waiver with university approval. Read the full article here.

ClearCause believes more universities should adopt this policy so that students don’t lose their lives to reckless actions and inexperienced, under-prepared professors or third party study abroad programs. See Current Travel Warnings here.