Advice for Parents
You may want to take a similar role in the selection of your student's study abroad program as you did with your son or daughter's selection of an appropriate U.S. college or university. To begin, we recommend that students read and fill-out this Study Abroad Study Abroad Handbook independently. This can be the first step that helps him/her take charge of his/her own study abroad experience. However, accomplishing the many tasks involved with planning study abroad can be overwhelming. Your son or daughter will most likely need your assistance.
Using This WebsiteThe content on this website is divided up into four sections: Choosing a Program, Practical Information, Health & Safety and Coming Home. We suggest that you read through the Study Abroad Handbook content, and then make sure your son or daughter has answered the Questions and responded to the items in the Checklist. Many of the items will require feedback from a study abroad program provider, although the Resources section will help you as well. Make sure to have a copy of the Emergency Card that your son or daughter also should carry in his/her wallet.
If your son or daughter already knows where he/she will be studying or wants to study in, we recommend that they take a look at our Country-Specific Handbooks which have information geared for their individual host country. If that country's handbook is not available, it is most likely still in development. In this case, he/she can use this general study abroad handbook.
After your son or daughter has thoroughly reviewed the Handbook independently, and done some research, we encourage you to follow-up with his/her findings. At this time, we ideally hope that you would sit down with your son or daughter and go through the Handbook with him/her. You may be able to help him/her answer any questions he/she was not able to answer on his/her own.
One of the first things parents and students should do before traveling anywhere is to check with the U.S. Department of State's International Travel Information website. There you will find links to Consular Information Sheets and Country Background Notes, which provide important information about your child's host country. For some countries, there may be a travel warning in effect, so be sure to check the Department of State's current Travel Warnings as well. Travel warnings are issued when the Department of State decides, based on all relevant information to recommend that Americans avoid travel to a certain country. If you want to have a more comprehensive view of the situation in your child's host country, you may also want to cross-reference with other sources of information, such as the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and their Country Information page, the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and the U.K. Foreign Commonwealth Office.
We understand that your child’s health and safety is important to you. We also know that your concerns for your child’s health and safety increase with distance; the further away your child travels from home, the more important it is for him/her to have support services. In this time of an increased national focus on safety and security, you may feel strongly concerned about your child’s wishes to study and travel abroad. We hope that by reading this Handbook your concerns will be addressed. You will be able to better assist your son or daughter with choosing a quality program, and with being prepared for health and safety challenges abroad. Study abroad could possibly be one of the best, most positive and rewarding experiences for your child.
As a special resource just for parents, we encourage you to read the following article entitled "Advice for Parents: Frequently Asked Questions" by William Hoffa.