Foreign university enrollment and endemic Covid considerations

[Anonymous]

My kids might want to go to Canadian or British universities in the next couple of years, and I fully expect that Covid will be endemic, with regular waves of cases, regular booster shots and perhaps occasional travel restrictions.

1. If your child was able to go in person to a foreign university during the pandemic, how did you manage travel or other restrictions? Were parents allowed access to campus to visit their child?

2. Going forward, what do you think about letting your child enroll in a foreign university if there's a possibility you might be prevented from going with them to set up or to fetch them home in case something happens?

Thanks for your thoughts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids might want to go to Canadian or British universities in the next couple of years, and I fully expect that Covid will be endemic, with regular waves of cases, regular booster shots and perhaps occasional travel restrictions.

1. If your child was able to go in person to a foreign university during the pandemic, how did you manage travel or other restrictions? Were parents allowed access to campus to visit their child?

2. Going forward, what do you think about letting your child enroll in a foreign university if there's a possibility you might be prevented from going with them to set up or to fetch them home in case something happens?

Thanks for your thoughts.

Keep in mind that there are a lot of English-language bachelor’s programs outside of English-speaking countries. I wouldn’t send a kid who speaks only English to those places, but, if you have a kid who’s had four years of French, Spanish or German, I’d look at programs in countries that match the kid’s second language.

I think a typical good Canadian university probably handles COVID just like a U.S. school. The same for an English school with dorms

Universities in other places may have dorms only as a courtesy to international students. They generally think of university students as independent adults, and the students may end up in apartments, rather than dorms. Visiting students in those places would be like visiting any other relatives there.

European countries tend have the same jumble of COVID rules we have. Some places have tougher rules than others, and how well people abide by the rules varies from place to place. My experience is that European countries make it a lot easier for parents to visit their university student kids than for ordinary tourists to visit. So, as long as you’re vaccinated, even if the rules change, you’ll probably be able to visit your kid. The situation won’t be any worse than if you were visiting a child at Stanford.

I think the ideal would be to send a kid to a country where you have relatives.

If that’s not possible, maybe it’s worth it to focus on schools with a lot of American students, that have people who handle this stuff, or pay for the kind of consultant that may charge a lot but does stuff like help your kid get a cell phone and has some people in the target country.

In general, if a kid is going to another country for a bachelor’s that should be a mature, independent kid who has done things like handling the college application process and going to medical checkups independently, and who understands that hurricanes, earthquakes and pandemics happen. You should go to the target country to use your credit cards and ID to help your kid deal with move-in bureaucracy, but your kid should also have some ability to deal with bureaucracy and buy airplane tickets.

Assuming your kid is a resourceful, mature kid, your kid should be in charge of dealing with ordinary emergencies, like booking a flight home. You shouldn’t have to go over to get your kid.

In case your kid got very sick, your kid should have the best possible insurance for the target country. Pay a fee to an insurance consultant there, if necessary, to get the coverage and understand the limitations. Don’t assume European countries will be so wonderful about health coverage for non-EU students. The cheap student policies are often trash.

You should also try to see if your kid can have a full year of the kind of medical evacuation coverage that comes with travel policies. That kind of coverage might have benefits you could use to travel to your child in an emergency. If you post in the money forum here, maybe people there would know which policies are the best.

And I think that if you can, it would always be good to have someone in the target region who could give your kid some help in a crisis. If, say, the school doesn’t have a coordinator who can help, and you have no relatives there, maybe you can persuade your kid to go to religious services, and maybe the pastor, priest, rabbi, etc. could be that person. Or, try to set up some kind of relationship with a lawyer, accountant or social worker there. Just anyone who could visit your kid or offer advice in an emergency.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids might want to go to Canadian or British universities in the next couple of years, and I fully expect that Covid will be endemic, with regular waves of cases, regular booster shots and perhaps occasional travel restrictions.

1. If your child was able to go in person to a foreign university during the pandemic, how did you manage travel or other restrictions? Were parents allowed access to campus to visit their child?

2. Going forward, what do you think about letting your child enroll in a foreign university if there's a possibility you might be prevented from going with them to set up or to fetch them home in case something happens?

Thanks for your thoughts.

Keep in mind that there are a lot of English-language bachelor’s programs outside of English-speaking countries. I wouldn’t send a kid who speaks only English to those places, but, if you have a kid who’s had four years of French, Spanish or German, I’d look at programs in countries that match the kid’s second language.

I think a typical good Canadian university probably handles COVID just like a U.S. school. The same for an English school with dorms

Universities in other places may have dorms only as a courtesy to international students. They generally think of university students as independent adults, and the students may end up in apartments, rather than dorms. Visiting students in those places would be like visiting any other relatives there.

European countries tend have the same jumble of COVID rules we have. Some places have tougher rules than others, and how well people abide by the rules varies from place to place. My experience is that European countries make it a lot easier for parents to visit their university student kids than for ordinary tourists to visit. So, as long as you’re vaccinated, even if the rules change, you’ll probably be able to visit your kid. The situation won’t be any worse than if you were visiting a child at Stanford.

I think the ideal would be to send a kid to a country where you have relatives.

If that’s not possible, maybe it’s worth it to focus on schools with a lot of American students, that have people who handle this stuff, or pay for the kind of consultant that may charge a lot but does stuff like help your kid get a cell phone and has some people in the target country.

In general, if a kid is going to another country for a bachelor’s that should be a mature, independent kid who has done things like handling the college application process and going to medical checkups independently, and who understands that hurricanes, earthquakes and pandemics happen. You should go to the target country to use your credit cards and ID to help your kid deal with move-in bureaucracy, but your kid should also have some ability to deal with bureaucracy and buy airplane tickets.

Assuming your kid is a resourceful, mature kid, your kid should be in charge of dealing with ordinary emergencies, like booking a flight home. You shouldn’t have to go over to get your kid.

In case your kid got very sick, your kid should have the best possible insurance for the target country. Pay a fee to an insurance consultant there, if necessary, to get the coverage and understand the limitations. Don’t assume European countries will be so wonderful about health coverage for non-EU students. The cheap student policies are often trash.

You should also try to see if your kid can have a full year of the kind of medical evacuation coverage that comes with travel policies. That kind of coverage might have benefits you could use to travel to your child in an emergency. If you post in the money forum here, maybe people there would know which policies are the best.

And I think that if you can, it would always be good to have someone in the target region who could give your kid some help in a crisis. If, say, the school doesn’t have a coordinator who can help, and you have no relatives there, maybe you can persuade your kid to go to religious services, and maybe the pastor, priest, rabbi, etc. could be that person. Or, try to set up some kind of relationship with a lawyer, accountant or social worker there. Just anyone who could visit your kid or offer advice in an emergency.

If the student is in England, they will be covered by the NHS so health care is free - as it is for everyone else living there. Same for places like Germany. You need to look deeper into this before you waste money on a private health insurance package. The only people with health insurance in these countries are the chronically ill and wealthy who need to be seen more quickly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids might want to go to Canadian or British universities in the next couple of years, and I fully expect that Covid will be endemic, with regular waves of cases, regular booster shots and perhaps occasional travel restrictions.

1. If your child was able to go in person to a foreign university during the pandemic, how did you manage travel or other restrictions? Were parents allowed access to campus to visit their child?

2. Going forward, what do you think about letting your child enroll in a foreign university if there's a possibility you might be prevented from going with them to set up or to fetch them home in case something happens?

Thanks for your thoughts.

Keep in mind that there are a lot of English-language bachelor’s programs outside of English-speaking countries. I wouldn’t send a kid who speaks only English to those places, but, if you have a kid who’s had four years of French, Spanish or German, I’d look at programs in countries that match the kid’s second language.

I think a typical good Canadian university probably handles COVID just like a U.S. school. The same for an English school with dorms

Universities in other places may have dorms only as a courtesy to international students. They generally think of university students as independent adults, and the students may end up in apartments, rather than dorms. Visiting students in those places would be like visiting any other relatives there.

European countries tend have the same jumble of COVID rules we have. Some places have tougher rules than others, and how well people abide by the rules varies from place to place. My experience is that European countries make it a lot easier for parents to visit their university student kids than for ordinary tourists to visit. So, as long as you’re vaccinated, even if the rules change, you’ll probably be able to visit your kid. The situation won’t be any worse than if you were visiting a child at Stanford.

I think the ideal would be to send a kid to a country where you have relatives.

If that’s not possible, maybe it’s worth it to focus on schools with a lot of American students, that have people who handle this stuff, or pay for the kind of consultant that may charge a lot but does stuff like help your kid get a cell phone and has some people in the target country.

In general, if a kid is going to another country for a bachelor’s that should be a mature, independent kid who has done things like handling the college application process and going to medical checkups independently, and who understands that hurricanes, earthquakes and pandemics happen. You should go to the target country to use your credit cards and ID to help your kid deal with move-in bureaucracy, but your kid should also have some ability to deal with bureaucracy and buy airplane tickets.

Assuming your kid is a resourceful, mature kid, your kid should be in charge of dealing with ordinary emergencies, like booking a flight home. You shouldn’t have to go over to get your kid.

In case your kid got very sick, your kid should have the best possible insurance for the target country. Pay a fee to an insurance consultant there, if necessary, to get the coverage and understand the limitations. Don’t assume European countries will be so wonderful about health coverage for non-EU students. The cheap student policies are often trash.

You should also try to see if your kid can have a full year of the kind of medical evacuation coverage that comes with travel policies. That kind of coverage might have benefits you could use to travel to your child in an emergency. If you post in the money forum here, maybe people there would know which policies are the best.

And I think that if you can, it would always be good to have someone in the target region who could give your kid some help in a crisis. If, say, the school doesn’t have a coordinator who can help, and you have no relatives there, maybe you can persuade your kid to go to religious services, and maybe the pastor, priest, rabbi, etc. could be that person. Or, try to set up some kind of relationship with a lawyer, accountant or social worker there. Just anyone who could visit your kid or offer advice in an emergency.

OP here. Thank you so much for your comprehensive view.

Hmm. Not sure my oldest can handle all that. Youngest can.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids might want to go to Canadian or British universities in the next couple of years, and I fully expect that Covid will be endemic, with regular waves of cases, regular booster shots and perhaps occasional travel restrictions.

1. If your child was able to go in person to a foreign university during the pandemic, how did you manage travel or other restrictions? Were parents allowed access to campus to visit their child?

2. Going forward, what do you think about letting your child enroll in a foreign university if there's a possibility you might be prevented from going with them to set up or to fetch them home in case something happens?

Thanks for your thoughts.

Keep in mind that there are a lot of English-language bachelor’s programs outside of English-speaking countries. I wouldn’t send a kid who speaks only English to those places, but, if you have a kid who’s had four years of French, Spanish or German, I’d look at programs in countries that match the kid’s second language.

I think a typical good Canadian university probably handles COVID just like a U.S. school. The same for an English school with dorms

Universities in other places may have dorms only as a courtesy to international students. They generally think of university students as independent adults, and the students may end up in apartments, rather than dorms. Visiting students in those places would be like visiting any other relatives there.

European countries tend have the same jumble of COVID rules we have. Some places have tougher rules than others, and how well people abide by the rules varies from place to place. My experience is that European countries make it a lot easier for parents to visit their university student kids than for ordinary tourists to visit. So, as long as you’re vaccinated, even if the rules change, you’ll probably be able to visit your kid. The situation won’t be any worse than if you were visiting a child at Stanford.

I think the ideal would be to send a kid to a country where you have relatives.

If that’s not possible, maybe it’s worth it to focus on schools with a lot of American students, that have people who handle this stuff, or pay for the kind of consultant that may charge a lot but does stuff like help your kid get a cell phone and has some people in the target country.

In general, if a kid is going to another country for a bachelor’s that should be a mature, independent kid who has done things like handling the college application process and going to medical checkups independently, and who understands that hurricanes, earthquakes and pandemics happen. You should go to the target country to use your credit cards and ID to help your kid deal with move-in bureaucracy, but your kid should also have some ability to deal with bureaucracy and buy airplane tickets.

Assuming your kid is a resourceful, mature kid, your kid should be in charge of dealing with ordinary emergencies, like booking a flight home. You shouldn’t have to go over to get your kid.

In case your kid got very sick, your kid should have the best possible insurance for the target country. Pay a fee to an insurance consultant there, if necessary, to get the coverage and understand the limitations. Don’t assume European countries will be so wonderful about health coverage for non-EU students. The cheap student policies are often trash.

You should also try to see if your kid can have a full year of the kind of medical evacuation coverage that comes with travel policies. That kind of coverage might have benefits you could use to travel to your child in an emergency. If you post in the money forum here, maybe people there would know which policies are the best.

And I think that if you can, it would always be good to have someone in the target region who could give your kid some help in a crisis. If, say, the school doesn’t have a coordinator who can help, and you have no relatives there, maybe you can persuade your kid to go to religious services, and maybe the pastor, priest, rabbi, etc. could be that person. Or, try to set up some kind of relationship with a lawyer, accountant or social worker there. Just anyone who could visit your kid or offer advice in an emergency.

How many US public high schoolers could actually succeed in a foreign university's courses taught in their chosen language, even through AP?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids might want to go to Canadian or British universities in the next couple of years, and I fully expect that Covid will be endemic, with regular waves of cases, regular booster shots and perhaps occasional travel restrictions.

1. If your child was able to go in person to a foreign university during the pandemic, how did you manage travel or other restrictions? Were parents allowed access to campus to visit their child?

2. Going forward, what do you think about letting your child enroll in a foreign university if there's a possibility you might be prevented from going with them to set up or to fetch them home in case something happens?

Thanks for your thoughts.

Keep in mind that there are a lot of English-language bachelor’s programs outside of English-speaking countries. I wouldn’t send a kid who speaks only English to those places, but, if you have a kid who’s had four years of French, Spanish or German, I’d look at programs in countries that match the kid’s second language.

I think a typical good Canadian university probably handles COVID just like a U.S. school. The same for an English school with dorms

Universities in other places may have dorms only as a courtesy to international students. They generally think of university students as independent adults, and the students may end up in apartments, rather than dorms. Visiting students in those places would be like visiting any other relatives there.

European countries tend have the same jumble of COVID rules we have. Some places have tougher rules than others, and how well people abide by the rules varies from place to place. My experience is that European countries make it a lot easier for parents to visit their university student kids than for ordinary tourists to visit. So, as long as you’re vaccinated, even if the rules change, you’ll probably be able to visit your kid. The situation won’t be any worse than if you were visiting a child at Stanford.

I think the ideal would be to send a kid to a country where you have relatives.

If that’s not possible, maybe it’s worth it to focus on schools with a lot of American students, that have people who handle this stuff, or pay for the kind of consultant that may charge a lot but does stuff like help your kid get a cell phone and has some people in the target country.

In general, if a kid is going to another country for a bachelor’s that should be a mature, independent kid who has done things like handling the college application process and going to medical checkups independently, and who understands that hurricanes, earthquakes and pandemics happen. You should go to the target country to use your credit cards and ID to help your kid deal with move-in bureaucracy, but your kid should also have some ability to deal with bureaucracy and buy airplane tickets.

Assuming your kid is a resourceful, mature kid, your kid should be in charge of dealing with ordinary emergencies, like booking a flight home. You shouldn’t have to go over to get your kid.

In case your kid got very sick, your kid should have the best possible insurance for the target country. Pay a fee to an insurance consultant there, if necessary, to get the coverage and understand the limitations. Don’t assume European countries will be so wonderful about health coverage for non-EU students. The cheap student policies are often trash.

You should also try to see if your kid can have a full year of the kind of medical evacuation coverage that comes with travel policies. That kind of coverage might have benefits you could use to travel to your child in an emergency. If you post in the money forum here, maybe people there would know which policies are the best.

And I think that if you can, it would always be good to have someone in the target region who could give your kid some help in a crisis. If, say, the school doesn’t have a coordinator who can help, and you have no relatives there, maybe you can persuade your kid to go to religious services, and maybe the pastor, priest, rabbi, etc. could be that person. Or, try to set up some kind of relationship with a lawyer, accountant or social worker there. Just anyone who could visit your kid or offer advice in an emergency.

If the student is in England, they will be covered by the NHS so health care is free - as it is for everyone else living there. Same for places like Germany. You need to look deeper into this before you waste money on a private health insurance package. The only people with health insurance in these countries are the chronically ill and wealthy who need to be seen more quickly.

To be exact, U.S. students attending university in England have a fee added to their visas so they can access NHS. So it's not exactly free; you actually pay for it during your visa process.

Other EU countries may require private health insurance as part of the visa process. This health insurance often includes repatriation to the U.S. That said, it is usually very cheap compared to U.S. rates but does not generally cover pre-existing conditions and may have limited or no coverage if the students comes back to visit the US. It is probably a good idea to keep the student on your employer-backed health insurance if that's an option, particularly if there are any pre-existing conditions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids might want to go to Canadian or British universities in the next couple of years, and I fully expect that Covid will be endemic, with regular waves of cases, regular booster shots and perhaps occasional travel restrictions.

1. If your child was able to go in person to a foreign university during the pandemic, how did you manage travel or other restrictions? Were parents allowed access to campus to visit their child?

2. Going forward, what do you think about letting your child enroll in a foreign university if there's a possibility you might be prevented from going with them to set up or to fetch them home in case something happens?

Thanks for your thoughts.

I have two relatives who were enrolled in different European universities during the pandemic, both in the same country. One returned home at the start of the pandemic and enrolled in a US university. She is on target to graduate. The other stayed there but ended up being locked up, with police officers giving tickets to people who were too far from home, etc. The university had a combination of online and in person classes - most classes in person. They had at least one senior professor (one of the program directors) die of Covid and the school slapped together his classes. The student was not happy with the experience and eventually, did not finish the program.

Foreign universities have a lot less hand-holding than US universities. The professor might or might not teach what's on the exam. The class may suddenly be cancelled. The professor might not respond to emails, even when you very much need them to. It is very different from most US universities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids might want to go to Canadian or British universities in the next couple of years, and I fully expect that Covid will be endemic, with regular waves of cases, regular booster shots and perhaps occasional travel restrictions.

1. If your child was able to go in person to a foreign university during the pandemic, how did you manage travel or other restrictions? Were parents allowed access to campus to visit their child?

2. Going forward, what do you think about letting your child enroll in a foreign university if there's a possibility you might be prevented from going with them to set up or to fetch them home in case something happens?

Thanks for your thoughts.

I have two relatives who were enrolled in different European universities during the pandemic, both in the same country. One returned home at the start of the pandemic and enrolled in a US university. She is on target to graduate. The other stayed there but ended up being locked up, with police officers giving tickets to people who were too far from home, etc. The university had a combination of online and in person classes - most classes in person. They had at least one senior professor (one of the program directors) die of Covid and the school slapped together his classes. The student was not happy with the experience and eventually, did not finish the program.

Foreign universities have a lot less hand-holding than US universities. The professor might or might not teach what's on the exam. The class may suddenly be cancelled. The professor might not respond to emails, even when you very much need them to. It is very different from most US universities.

And the professor might DIE. Talk about total lack of empathy on the part of the "student" you mention - and you!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids might want to go to Canadian or British universities in the next couple of years, and I fully expect that Covid will be endemic, with regular waves of cases, regular booster shots and perhaps occasional travel restrictions.

1. If your child was able to go in person to a foreign university during the pandemic, how did you manage travel or other restrictions? Were parents allowed access to campus to visit their child?

2. Going forward, what do you think about letting your child enroll in a foreign university if there's a possibility you might be prevented from going with them to set up or to fetch them home in case something happens?

Thanks for your thoughts.

I have two relatives who were enrolled in different European universities during the pandemic, both in the same country. One returned home at the start of the pandemic and enrolled in a US university. She is on target to graduate. The other stayed there but ended up being locked up, with police officers giving tickets to people who were too far from home, etc. The university had a combination of online and in person classes - most classes in person. They had at least one senior professor (one of the program directors) die of Covid and the school slapped together his classes. The student was not happy with the experience and eventually, did not finish the program.

Foreign universities have a lot less hand-holding than US universities. The professor might or might not teach what's on the exam. The class may suddenly be cancelled. The professor might not respond to emails, even when you very much need them to. It is very different from most US universities.

Was this in the UK?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids might want to go to Canadian or British universities in the next couple of years, and I fully expect that Covid will be endemic, with regular waves of cases, regular booster shots and perhaps occasional travel restrictions.

1. If your child was able to go in person to a foreign university during the pandemic, how did you manage travel or other restrictions? Were parents allowed access to campus to visit their child?

2. Going forward, what do you think about letting your child enroll in a foreign university if there's a possibility you might be prevented from going with them to set up or to fetch them home in case something happens?

Thanks for your thoughts.

Keep in mind that there are a lot of English-language bachelor’s programs outside of English-speaking countries. I wouldn’t send a kid who speaks only English to those places, but, if you have a kid who’s had four years of French, Spanish or German, I’d look at programs in countries that match the kid’s second language.

I think a typical good Canadian university probably handles COVID just like a U.S. school. The same for an English school with dorms

Universities in other places may have dorms only as a courtesy to international students. They generally think of university students as independent adults, and the students may end up in apartments, rather than dorms. Visiting students in those places would be like visiting any other relatives there.

European countries tend have the same jumble of COVID rules we have. Some places have tougher rules than others, and how well people abide by the rules varies from place to place. My experience is that European countries make it a lot easier for parents to visit their university student kids than for ordinary tourists to visit. So, as long as you’re vaccinated, even if the rules change, you’ll probably be able to visit your kid. The situation won’t be any worse than if you were visiting a child at Stanford.

I think the ideal would be to send a kid to a country where you have relatives.

If that’s not possible, maybe it’s worth it to focus on schools with a lot of American students, that have people who handle this stuff, or pay for the kind of consultant that may charge a lot but does stuff like help your kid get a cell phone and has some people in the target country.

In general, if a kid is going to another country for a bachelor’s that should be a mature, independent kid who has done things like handling the college application process and going to medical checkups independently, and who understands that hurricanes, earthquakes and pandemics happen. You should go to the target country to use your credit cards and ID to help your kid deal with move-in bureaucracy, but your kid should also have some ability to deal with bureaucracy and buy airplane tickets.

Assuming your kid is a resourceful, mature kid, your kid should be in charge of dealing with ordinary emergencies, like booking a flight home. You shouldn’t have to go over to get your kid.

In case your kid got very sick, your kid should have the best possible insurance for the target country. Pay a fee to an insurance consultant there, if necessary, to get the coverage and understand the limitations. Don’t assume European countries will be so wonderful about health coverage for non-EU students. The cheap student policies are often trash.

You should also try to see if your kid can have a full year of the kind of medical evacuation coverage that comes with travel policies. That kind of coverage might have benefits you could use to travel to your child in an emergency. If you post in the money forum here, maybe people there would know which policies are the best.

And I think that if you can, it would always be good to have someone in the target region who could give your kid some help in a crisis. If, say, the school doesn’t have a coordinator who can help, and you have no relatives there, maybe you can persuade your kid to go to religious services, and maybe the pastor, priest, rabbi, etc. could be that person. Or, try to set up some kind of relationship with a lawyer, accountant or social worker there. Just anyone who could visit your kid or offer advice in an emergency.

How many US public high schoolers could actually succeed in a foreign university's courses taught in their chosen language, even through AP?

You're responding to me. Sorry; I was unclear. What I meant was: It's OK for a U.S. kid, who's not bilingual, and who has had three or four years of French to do an English-language bachelor's program in France, or in some other place where most people speak French. NOT that the kid should try to do a bachelor's degree French.

Along the same lines, a U.S. kid who's not bilingual, but who has had four years of high school Spanish, could consider doing an English-language bachelor's degree program in Spain.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids might want to go to Canadian or British universities in the next couple of years, and I fully expect that Covid will be endemic, with regular waves of cases, regular booster shots and perhaps occasional travel restrictions.

1. If your child was able to go in person to a foreign university during the pandemic, how did you manage travel or other restrictions? Were parents allowed access to campus to visit their child?

2. Going forward, what do you think about letting your child enroll in a foreign university if there's a possibility you might be prevented from going with them to set up or to fetch them home in case something happens?

Thanks for your thoughts.

Keep in mind that there are a lot of English-language bachelor’s programs outside of English-speaking countries. I wouldn’t send a kid who speaks only English to those places, but, if you have a kid who’s had four years of French, Spanish or German, I’d look at programs in countries that match the kid’s second language.

I think a typical good Canadian university probably handles COVID just like a U.S. school. The same for an English school with dorms

Universities in other places may have dorms only as a courtesy to international students. They generally think of university students as independent adults, and the students may end up in apartments, rather than dorms. Visiting students in those places would be like visiting any other relatives there.

European countries tend have the same jumble of COVID rules we have. Some places have tougher rules than others, and how well people abide by the rules varies from place to place. My experience is that European countries make it a lot easier for parents to visit their university student kids than for ordinary tourists to visit. So, as long as you’re vaccinated, even if the rules change, you’ll probably be able to visit your kid. The situation won’t be any worse than if you were visiting a child at Stanford.

I think the ideal would be to send a kid to a country where you have relatives.

If that’s not possible, maybe it’s worth it to focus on schools with a lot of American students, that have people who handle this stuff, or pay for the kind of consultant that may charge a lot but does stuff like help your kid get a cell phone and has some people in the target country.

In general, if a kid is going to another country for a bachelor’s that should be a mature, independent kid who has done things like handling the college application process and going to medical checkups independently, and who understands that hurricanes, earthquakes and pandemics happen. You should go to the target country to use your credit cards and ID to help your kid deal with move-in bureaucracy, but your kid should also have some ability to deal with bureaucracy and buy airplane tickets.

Assuming your kid is a resourceful, mature kid, your kid should be in charge of dealing with ordinary emergencies, like booking a flight home. You shouldn’t have to go over to get your kid.

In case your kid got very sick, your kid should have the best possible insurance for the target country. Pay a fee to an insurance consultant there, if necessary, to get the coverage and understand the limitations. Don’t assume European countries will be so wonderful about health coverage for non-EU students. The cheap student policies are often trash.

You should also try to see if your kid can have a full year of the kind of medical evacuation coverage that comes with travel policies. That kind of coverage might have benefits you could use to travel to your child in an emergency. If you post in the money forum here, maybe people there would know which policies are the best.

And I think that if you can, it would always be good to have someone in the target region who could give your kid some help in a crisis. If, say, the school doesn’t have a coordinator who can help, and you have no relatives there, maybe you can persuade your kid to go to religious services, and maybe the pastor, priest, rabbi, etc. could be that person. Or, try to set up some kind of relationship with a lawyer, accountant or social worker there. Just anyone who could visit your kid or offer advice in an emergency.

If the student is in England, they will be covered by the NHS so health care is free - as it is for everyone else living there. Same for places like Germany. You need to look deeper into this before you waste money on a private health insurance package. The only people with health insurance in these countries are the chronically ill and wealthy who need to be seen more quickly.

TWO comments about English health care (I have a kid at Cambridge). It’s not effective for the first six months the student is there so keep them on your home policy. Second, terms are very short. Our student is returning in very early Dec and not retiring to Cambridge until Jan 18 so you need to keep them in your own health care - or their own policy back here in the states during breaks and summer. Are they going to travel to other countries? Keep
them on their own policy. And, finally, the British system is fine for colds but if your student needs surgery or has a unique condition requiring a specialist, you’ll want to bring them back here for that. For the same reason you can take your student off your auto policy but you must have them back on if they are going to drive here during breaks and summer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids might want to go to Canadian or British universities in the next couple of years, and I fully expect that Covid will be endemic, with regular waves of cases, regular booster shots and perhaps occasional travel restrictions.

1. If your child was able to go in person to a foreign university during the pandemic, how did you manage travel or other restrictions? Were parents allowed access to campus to visit their child?

We were not allowed into Canada until recently, but haven't been yet. Our daughter could have come back to the US if necessary, but re-entry to Canada depended on the opinion of the officer at the point of entry into Canada. Some kids whose classes were all online were having problems re-entering Canada if border officers believed students technically did not need to be in the country in person to do their lessons. There were quarantine rules which made quick trips difficult. Now, I think it is easier, and classes are back in person. This Christmas will be the first time we have seen our daughter in 2 years.

2. Going forward, what do you think about letting your child enroll in a foreign university if there's a possibility you might be prevented from going with them to set up or to fetch them home in case something happens?

It depends which country. Do you have to fly (Australia or UK) or can you drive (Canada)? Will countries reimpose lockdowns, or close borders again - I don't know. Have the countries had rules to exclude non-citizens and non-permanent residents? (Australia/New Zealand/Canada)?

In summary, any foreign study is going to be a risk with constantly changing rules. Even local universities in the US were a risk with kids forced into online classes last year, even when they lived a mile away.

Thanks for your thoughts.