Recent attacks in Europe have targeted the most popular region for American study abroad students.

Inside Higher Ed reports.

Terror attacks in Europe strike at epicenter of American study abroad

The University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign had 53 undergraduate students in Belgium at the time of the terrorist attacks at the Brussels airport and a subway station last week. All the students were quickly accounted for.

“Our communications protocols worked well,” said Andrea Bordeau, the assistant director of international safety and security for Illinois International. “The phone lines were jammed, cell phones weren’t working, so I relied heavily on email and social media platforms to get students checked in with me as soon as I became aware of the attacks, and that was around 3:30 or 4 in the morning, local time here. I had the majority of students checked in with me, I would say, within 45 minutes.” A few students took slightly longer to check in because they were on planes traveling to other European cities for their spring breaks.