Top Health and Safety Concerns

As the opportunities for study abroad have grown in recent years, so have the opportunities for trouble for student health and safety.

The Forum for Education Abroad's annual State of the Field study for 2008 reflects the concerns of faculty members and administrators. The top worries for 2008 are:

• Student mental health.
• Alcohol consumption and substance abuse.
• Risky student behavior.
• Need for risk management and emergency protocols.
• Personal safety.
• Sexual harassment and sexual assault.
• Crime.
• Access to appropriate medical care.
• Travel-related saftey.
• Terrorism.
• Political uncertainty.
• Pandemics.

While the top two concerns in 2008 are the same as they were at the time of the Forum's last study in 2006, terrorism and pandemics have slid far down the list during the past two years. Those were the third and fourth leading concerns then.