Because the country of Lebanon is on the "travel warning list" issued by the US Department of State, Harvard University does not fund undergraduate student travel to the country or provide credit to students studying there.
The college says that in order to protect its individual travelers and itself as an institution, it must follow State Department advisories to determine whether to support student travel to countries in question. But some argue that following State Department policy does not allow enough flexibility for consideration of individual student circumstances. Some students think that a release form with the parents' consent should be enough if there is an awareness of the situation in a given country and knowledge of the possible implications of traveling there. The College's policy does support students traveling if they are under their parents' or guardians' care in the destination country, however.