The U.S. Department of State has had travel warnings for Kenya for years, but that hasn't stopped American colleges from sending students and professors there to study.

So when post-election violence erupted in the African country last week, some colleges called on the security firm International SOS, which swooped in to set up evacuation operations for its clients, a growing number of which are from higher education.

As more college students look to study abroad in regions of the world where natural calamities, political strife and unrest are possible, universities are turning to security companies like SOS and iJET Intelligent Risk Systems to help with everything from getting a medical prescription in a foreign country to emergency evacuations. Also, an ever-changing global environment is forcing universities to constantly evaluate their travel policies and to set up contingency plans to help students in need.

"There has been a big change in study abroad post-9/11," said Laura Angelone, director of scholastic programs at International SOS, with more than 150 college clients. "It was really the start of risk management on college campuses, which allowed schools to feel more comfortable sending students abroad."

Angelone said it's not unusual for colleges to have programs in countries on the State Department's warning lists because college administrators use other experts, including their own faculty, to determine if a region is safe.

"What Kenya is showing us is that while someone is advising that it's safe, good precautions are important," Angelone said. "All it takes is one incident and things move faster than anyone in the academic world can imagine."

In 2006, the company evacuated two Princeton students studying in Beirut, Lebanon, when Israeli forces launched attacks against Hezbollah. "We evacuated four to five days before the State Department did their first evacuation," Angelone said about the Lebanon operation, which included more than 300 evacuees.

Princeton and Rutgers universities are among a number of colleges across the country closely monitoring the situation in Kenya to decide whether to cancel planned study abroad trips this spring or summer. Princeton offers a tropical biology program at the Mpala Research Centre in central Kenya, far from the political violence, according to university officials.

Nancy A. Kanach, associate dean of the college and director of the study abroad program at Princeton, said Kenya was under a State Department travel warning when the program was initiated.

"There was a thorough review of the details of the program by university officials, a discussion of the security concerns with government agencies, and an outside assessment of the risks in running the program before the program was approved," Kanach said. "Princeton faculty had a lot of experience working at the Research Ranch where the program takes place."

If the students do go, the university has many safeguards to minimize risk, said Cass Cliatt, a spokeswoman for Princeton.

"While in the country, program administrators consult regularly with colleagues around the country, as well as individuals in the U.S. Department of State and other governmental and nongovernmental agencies, to determine what issues may be developing," she said.

The number of American students receiving academic credit for study abroad has increased 150 percent in the past decade, with some 223,500 students in programs around the world in 2006, according to the Institute of International Education.

The trend has been fueled in part by an increasing interest in global affairs and in programs that offer study for shorter periods of time, experts say. The Institute found increases to nontraditional destinations, as well, including a 20 percent jump in travel to India, 22.5 percent to Israel, 31 percent to Peru, 32 percent to South Korea, 81 percent to Jordan and 19 percent to Tanzania.

Colleges are increasingly pressured to open up more travel opportunities by students like Jeremy Dery, of Livingston, who is pushing Drew University to approve travel to Israel.

Dery is concentrating in Judaic and Middle Eastern studies and protested when the university in the fall rejected his plans to study for a spring semester at Tel Aviv University. Drew cited safety concerns but Dery argues that despite the State Department's travel warning, other experts and colleges think Israel is safe enough for students.

"I've been on the campus in Tel Aviv," said Dery, who is taking a leave of absence to study in Israel despite the university's decision, "and the security level is like going through an airport in America."

As a result of Dery's complaints, the university set up a committee to reconsider the policy that prohibits travel to countries on the State Department's warning list.

Paolo Cucchi, dean of the College of Liberal Arts at Drew, said security was his top concern, and he noted that Drew's insurance company through the United Methodist Church refused to underwrite a trip to Israel because of safety concerns.

"We're weighing the pros and cons," Cucchi said. "We're looking at other services (beyond the State Department) that give ratings for risks for study abroad. We're looking at the possibility of having waivers that students and families can sign if students decide to go to countries that are more risky."

The university recently sought the advice of Max Kleinman, executive vice president of United Jewish Communities of MetroWest NJ, who thinks the State Department travel warning is "an overreaction." He said there are more than 8,000 Jewish-American students studying in Israel representing more than 100 institutions.

Kleinman said he told Drew officials that they should allow travel to Israel, particularly because of their offerings on the Madison campus, including a Jewish studies program, Hebrew and Arabic studies, a Theological Seminary and a Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies.

"If students don't have an opportunity to study in Israel," Kleinman said, "they're really not reaching the culmination of their studies. Because Israel is where the sacred spots are."

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