Well, she will ride on a US highway that is mostly country roads. She would not be at high speeds for long stretches as the road goes through several communities with lower speed limits.

I guess I am just wanting to make sure she is as safe as possible.  I guess I am a worrying dad.

Preach

The Savage/s40 is plenty of bike for anyone starting out, and then some. The highway can be a scary and dangerous place for a novice rider. Lot's of cars, trucks, debris and speed. With all that to deal with, a light nimble scoot can be a lifesaver. Also, it isn't a chore at low speed, is forgiving and durable. And did I mention, it's affordable...

A 250 is a perfect beginner bike. The S40 is a perfect intermediate bike and a pretty good beginner bike if you respect it.
Lot of low end torque which makes it perfect around town and on secondary roads and highways. It will run 70 all day long on the superslab.
Master the throttle and clutch friction zone and keep in mind the 'little' 650 is what the BIG road bikes used to be not so very many years ago.

Disrespect it and the torque will snap your head back and try to roll you off if your not hanging on...lol
Excellent around town bike as it has plenty of power to get you out of jams and leave most cages behind. But not so much its a beast to handle. At 5'6" 200lbs she'll be fine on it.

I don't think twice about hitting the highway at 70. Only thing is wind will buffet you a bit more and you need to kind of plan your passing. Most of em top out around 85 or so.
Mine doesn't get buzzy until about 75 and then its not bad.

Its a bike small enough to learn on and big enough to do about anything you want to with it. And big enough to keep you interested for several years.
Biggest drawback is its about to small for a lot of two up riding.
That and a small tank. Id love a 6th gear as well.
Not a lot of aftermarket add ons.
Perfect for one up or commuting. Kinda sips at the gas if your not heavy handed. Easy maintenance and fairly easy to mod if your handy with tools.

I am going to take her to sit on a S40 this afternoon.  We will see how it fits her.  

Based on what most have stated here, she should be able to do alright by getting one.  Her highway riding will be limited and mostly commuting to and from campus.

Thanks for the input

Preach  

I think the S40 is a reasonable bike to learn on.  I actually encouraged the lady friend I mentioned above to just go with a GZ250 versus a big scooter to learn on.  If you want to ride anything bigger than a scooter, you'll eventually HAVE to learn how to handle the clutch/manual/throttle, etc....might as well just go ahead and learn it right the first time.

I first snagged a cheap Chinese 250cc cruiser (a Roketa MC-51 Tonga)...it looked cool and had a nice exhaust sound for a 250...but that's about it.    The engine was rev-happy, but rattled and buzzed at higher revs like it was going to fly apart.  (It didn't...if just sounded like it.)  The transmission was geared very short, especially in 1st gear...even feathering the throttle could take you from stalling to lurching forward to dropping the bike. Plus, it was heavy...it weighed about 440 lbs (the same weight as an 800cc Suzuki S50!).  After reading some of the book "Proficient Motorcyling", I think the steering geometry on that Chinese bike had some issues...even after moving, it always felt "twitchy" like any minor mistake and I'd end up on the ground.  I sold it after about a month for what I had in it.  That said, it did get me started, and I got two of my drops over with on that Chinese bike    I don't think I'd recommend it to anyone though.

By comparison, the S40 is lighter, has much more torque, geared much taller, sits lower, and just *feels like* it wants to go straight (versus it *wants to* turn and fall over...LOL).  

That said, I think a GZ250 is a better choice for my lady friend to start out on...if she drops that little 330 lb bike, she can actually pick it up.    It doesn't have enough torque to get her into too much trouble.  I think she could probably graduate to an S40 or Savage and be happy with that for quite a while after maybe a few more months.  She has a lot of basic skills still to practice and fully master (but don't most of us?  I certainly do), but the biggest problem right now is her irritating cars behind us by poking along too slow...which I think is just as bad as going too fast...people get impatient and do stupid things (like a mini-van trying to pass us both on a left turn. Don't ask how I know.   )  At some level, I think having enough torque and HP to get you out of someone's way is a good thing, given that it's delivered in a manageable and forgiving way (as it is on the S40).

Dave

Just curious preach, but has she had any riding experience at all? Friends or family members bikes?
The MSF course would be a real good place to start and then practice practice practice.

You might be better off buying her a cheap beater bike like a ninja 250,cbr 250, gz 250 or honda rebel 250 to learn on untill the school bills are taken care of. Much more forgiveing if you F up.
You can pretty much get your money back out of them when you resell as well. Then move up to the 650.

Ninja 250 has the same HP as the S40 IIRC.

Different flavours but same concept.
Great Beginner/Intermediate bikes

I commute about 70 miles a day on mine.
I find 55-60 mph to be the sweet spot but it will get up and do 75-80 mph but it feels really fast and a little twitchy.