Student health insurance is a health plan designed specifically for college and university students, typically offered through the school itself. These plans, often called Student Health Insurance Plans (SHIP), cover medical, mental health, pharmacy, dental, and vision services and are built around the campus health center as your primary source of care. Most schools that offer a SHIP require enrolled students to either join the plan or prove they already have comparable coverage elsewhere.
How Student Health Insurance Works
A SHIP functions differently from a typical commercial insurance plan. The campus student health center acts as your primary care provider, and many services there are covered at 100% or with a small copay, with no deductible. At the University of Tennessee, for example, nearly all on-campus health center visits are fully covered under SHIP, while off-campus care requires a referral and comes with copays, deductibles, and coinsurance.
This referral structure is common. If the student health center can’t handle your needs, whether that’s a specialist visit, imaging, or a procedure, a provider there writes a referral for outside care. Skipping the referral and going directly to an off-campus provider usually means paying significantly more out of pocket. If you visit an emergency room, you’re generally expected to follow up with the campus health center before seeing any specialists you were referred to during the ER visit.
Many university plans are self-funded, meaning the school pools premiums from students across the system rather than purchasing coverage from a traditional insurer. This structure avoids costs like stockholder dividends and premium taxes, which helps keep prices lower than comparable individual market plans. At some schools, students participate in the plan’s design, shaping what it covers and how it’s structured.
Who Is Required to Enroll
Requirements vary by school, but the general pattern is consistent. Domestic students enrolled at least half-time in a degree program are typically required to either select the school’s plan or complete a waiver process each academic year. At Georgetown University, most full-time students must enroll in the school’s plan, and eligibility requires carrying at least eight or nine credit hours depending on graduate or undergraduate status. Home study and primarily online courses usually don’t count toward eligibility.
International students face stricter rules. Students on J-1 visas (and their J-2 dependents) are required to carry health insurance to maintain legal immigration status in the U.S. Students on F-1 visas aren’t federally required to have insurance for immigration purposes, but universities almost universally mandate it as a condition of enrollment.
The Waiver Process
If you already have health coverage, such as a parent’s plan or an employer plan, most schools let you opt out of the SHIP by completing a waiver. This isn’t automatic. You need to actively submit proof of coverage before a deadline, or you’ll be enrolled in the school plan by default and charged accordingly.
At Ohio State, for instance, students must show that their existing insurance will remain active for the entire academic year, including the summer semester, and that it provides in-network access to medical, mental health, pharmacy, dental, and vision providers near campus. If you miss the deadline, the SHIP fee posts to your student account for each semester you’re eligible. Each school sets its own waiver deadlines, so checking your university’s specific dates early in the year is essential.
What Student Plans Typically Cost
Premiums range widely depending on the school and whether the plan is mandatory or voluntary. At the University of Georgia for the 2025-2026 year, a mandatory student-only plan costs $2,936 annually, while a voluntary plan with broader coverage runs $4,414. Adding a spouse or child costs roughly $3,229 to $4,525 each, and covering all dependents can push the total above $13,000 per year. These premiums are often bundled into your tuition bill each semester rather than paid separately.
Some schools offer financial aid that can be applied toward insurance costs. It’s worth checking with your financial aid office, because this isn’t always advertised prominently.
SHIP vs. Staying on a Parent’s Plan
Under the Affordable Care Act, you can stay on a parent’s health plan until age 26. Whether that’s a better deal than your school’s SHIP depends on a few practical factors.
The biggest one is geography. A parent’s plan is built around providers near their home. If you’re attending school in the same metro area, that network likely works fine. If you’re going to school across the country, most doctors near campus will be out of network, meaning higher costs for routine care. A SHIP, by contrast, is designed around local providers and the campus health center, so in-network care is easy to access. Emergency room visits for true emergencies are always billed at in-network rates regardless of what plan you’re on, so that’s less of a concern.
Cost is the other major factor. If a parent’s employer pays a significant share of the family premium, keeping you on that plan may cost the family very little extra while also helping the family reach its deductible faster. A SHIP adds a separate premium on top of tuition. On the other hand, if the parent’s plan has a high deductible or limited mental health coverage, a SHIP with low copays at the campus health center could save money over the course of a year.
One privacy consideration worth knowing: on a parent’s plan, explanation of benefits statements and medical bills can still be sent to the policyholder (the parent). Under a SHIP, those documents go directly to the student. HIPAA prevents providers from sharing medical information about adult patients, but insurance paperwork can still reveal that care was received. For students who want more privacy around their healthcare, a SHIP provides that by default.
What These Plans Are Required to Cover
Student health insurance plans are regulated under the Affordable Care Act. They must provide the same core protections as individual market plans, including coverage for preventive care, mental health services, prescription drugs, and hospitalization. Annual dollar limits on essential benefits are prohibited. Plans cannot deny coverage for pre-existing conditions, and they must cover dependents as well.
In practice, most SHIPs go further than the minimum. University of California’s plan, for example, covers medical, pharmacy, dental, vision, and mental health and substance use services for students and eligible dependents. Mental health coverage is a particularly important feature, since campus counseling centers often have long wait times and session limits, while insurance-covered therapy provides an additional pathway to care.
Enrollment Timing
SHIP enrollment typically follows the academic calendar, not the federal marketplace schedule. Schools set their own deadlines, usually tied to the start of fall semester, with a required renewal or selection each academic year. Missing the deadline generally means automatic enrollment and a charge to your student account.
If you lose your existing coverage mid-year, such as aging off a parent’s plan or a parent changing jobs, that qualifies as a life event that may allow you to enroll in a SHIP outside the normal window. On the federal marketplace, losing coverage, getting married, having a baby, or moving all trigger a Special Enrollment Period that lets you sign up for a new plan within a set timeframe. Similar provisions often apply to school-sponsored plans, though the specific rules depend on your university.