Best point and shoot around $300?

I strongly recommend:

https://shop.usa.canon.com/shop/en/catalog/eos-sl1-18-55-is-stm-lens-kit-refurbished

The SL1 is no bigger than many mirrorless models from some of the other makers (e.g., Olympus, Panasonic, Fujifilm) that are far, far pricier.  It is a fully fledged DSLR that can utilize the entire range of Canon EF and EF-S lenses.  Over the years I've purchased quite a few (too many) items from Canon refurbished- 2 camera bodies, several lenses, and 3 or 4 compacts.  Without exception they have always been impeccably clean, professionally packed with all-new accessories, and are indistinguishable from retail-new except for a modest number of shutter actuations.  And Canon supports their refurbished products with a full 1-year warranty, which is the same as the retail warranty.  You cannot go wrong with a refurb purchase.  Personally, I almost prefer refurbished because a human being has actually "gone over" the item, rather than it being something that just rolled off the assembly line and was popped into a box. This deal comes with the 18-55mm STM kit lens, definitely sufficient for an introductory photography class.  (By the way the SL1 also comes in white; it's there on the site as well).  If your friend gets "into" photography, I would recommend that she add the companion 55-250mm STM lens at some point, which sometimes goes on sale on the Canon refurbished site for as low as $129 (look for reviews; it's an excellent lens).  One last recommendation would be to add the 50mm f/1.8 STM, which can also be found at times on the refurb site for around $100.  This will allow your friend to experiment with shallow depth-of-field photography, and that focal length on a DSLR like the SL1 is perfect for portraits with great isolation of the main subject.  Last but not least, she could consider adding a small external flash (270EX II or 320EX) to learn about bouncing flash and off-camera flash lighting.  But this basic kit to start -- SL1 with the kit lens-- is both small and light for travel and will be more than sufficient for her class, and is in the right price range you specified.  I have the SL1 as well as 2 other DSLR camera bodies (a T3i and older 40D) and several high quality compacts, but I use the SL1 far more than any other.  I could live with it as my only camera.

Good luck!

Rudy