The number of American college and university students studying overseas has more than tripled over the past two decades, according to the 2012 Open Doors Report published by the Institute of International Education, a nonprofit educational and cultural organization that has studied international exchange among students since 1919. The IIE says some 273,996 U.S. students studied abroad during the academic year 2010/11, a rise of 1.3 percent over the prior year.

But for U.S. universities and insurers, that increase only expounds the inherent exposures associated with overseas education. While most U.S. students that study overseas opt for short-term summer courses of eight weeks or less—rather than a couple of semesters, or even a full calendar year—the risks remain the same, no matter the length of stay: natural disasters, political unrest, sudden illness, sexual assault, accidental injury, and even death.

Schools sponsoring a study abroad program should have a comprehensive travel risk management plan in place, according to Katie McGrath, senior vice president of Educational Markets for AIG A&H, in her paper, “Real-World Lessons No Classroom Can Duplicate: Study Abroad Programs in an Unstable World.”

Recommended For You

Want to continue reading?
Become a Free PropertyCasualty360 Digital Reader

Your access to unlimited PropertyCasualty360 content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:

  • Breaking insurance news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
  • Weekly Insurance Speak podcast featuring exclusive interviews with industry leaders
  • Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
  • Critical converage of the employee benefits and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, BenefitsPRO and ThinkAdvisor
NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.