Study Abroad Programs in Mexico

According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, several U.S. universities have halted study abroad programs in some areas of Mexico after the State Department issued a travel advisory warning this month.The department has urged U.S. citizens to delay unnecessary travel to three states in northern Mexico Chihuahua, Coahuila, and Durango as a result of increasing drug-related violence there. The warning, issued March 14, also expresses safety concerns for a number of cities near the U.S. border, including Ciudad Juárez, Matamoros, Monterrey, Nogáles, Nuevo Laredo, and Tijuana.

Michigan State University, the University of Wisconsin at Eau Claire and the University of Texas at Austin have suspended some of their programs in Mexico in response to the State Department warning.The Center for Global Education at Loyola Marymount University and the Consortium for North American Higher Education Collaboration issued a joint statement recommending that American institutions consider a number of factors when deciding whether to suspend programs, and urging them to consider creative solutions, such as the use of technology, in order to maintain international collaborations, reports the Chronicle.