Photo by Julia Levine '23 from Anthropology/Linguistics FSP Auckland
Page last updated by CRT on 15 February 2024
Although studying anywhere—including the US—presents risks, the hazard landscape may be different and unfamiliar in a foreign country and therefore requires more intentional awareness.
The Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) is a free service that allows U.S. citizens and nationals traveling and living abroad to enroll their trip with the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate.
Though it has significantly toned down since its inception, the COVID-19 virus still persists.
Receive important information from the Embassy about safety conditions in your destination country. This information can help you make informed decisions about your travel plans.
Help the U.S. Embassy contact you in an emergency, whether natural disaster, civil unrest, or family emergency.
Help family and friends get in touch with you in an emergency.
Check all COVID screening requirements for your airline in advance of travel and review the Dartmouth information on campus testing resources. To provide an in-person off-campus educational experience as safely as possible during the coronavirus pandemic, we must all adjust how we conduct ourselves in our community and abroad. Therefore, students participating in an off-campus program must follow the additional COVID-19 safety measures below.
If you are a U.S. citizen abroad or if you're the relative of an American citizen needing help abroad, visit the Department of State’s "Get Help in an Emergency" webpage.
They can help with lost or stolen passports, medical emergencies, victims of crime or arrest, missing persons, parental child abductions, death abroad, and natural disasters.
Students must abide by Dartmouth and host country destination protocols for risk reduction.
This includes but is not limited to:
any required pre-travel schedule of self-quarantine and/or testing.
face-covering/masking, social distancing, daily symptom monitoring, hygiene, and ongoing quarantine or testing requirements, even where these protocols exceed local destination mandates.
avoiding social gatherings, bars, and nightclubs, even when such establishments are permitted to be open by law at the local destination.
not having visitors or guests in accommodations.
quarantine and contact tracing in the event of an exposure or suspected exposure to SARS-CoV-2.
isolation in the event of the development of symptoms consistent with COVID-19 or in the event of a positive test for COVID-19.
If you are not a U.S. citizen, contact your country’s Embassy or Consulate for comparable resources or support. Review the following pages on the DOS website:
Check travel alerts and warnings from the Department of State (DOS).
Review safety tips for Americans traveling overseas.
Check health information and vaccine requirements for all the countries you will visit.
Know where to get help in an emergency.
Additionally, there may be some restrictions imposed on activities that include but are not limited to:
prohibition against individual travel prior to the Program other than that necessary to get to the Program destination.
A change of destination venue or a move to an online/remote Program delivery.
A reduced schedule of excursions.
Students must limit any travel within the program country.
Due to changing restrictions and quarantine requirements, international travel could increase a student’s risk or necessity to self-isolate which could impact their ability to participate in the program fully for the duration of the term.
We anticipate that in-country independent travel will be permitted. However, there may be times when independent travel within the host country is restricted for safety purposes and/or to comply with host-country requirements.