<p>This ensures that you'll be reimbursed in case the student doesn't finish the year. It sells for about $220 and with my son's annual bills of $42k, it's something for me to think about. Pros/cons? Thanks</p>
<p>Good option play for a 1st year student. We took the insurance for 1st year, b/c
a. 100% FC
b. Long way from home.
c. ****ible adjustment problems.
d. Illness possibility related to new environment stress.
e. Big loans for tuition.
f. 9/11 just one year earlier.
g. Economy stank.
h. Not a good fortune teller.
i. $220</p>
<p>I wonder if this insurance would have covered the posting in the scholarship forum "ARMY ROTC PROBLEM"</p>
<p>Don't remember the particulars, but as always, read the small print and of course understand the conditions. Unfortunatedly the friend of "ARMY..." did not read or understand her contract with ARMY and U$ taxpayers. </p>
<p>We also took the student theft and damage insurance with a low deductible, about $50/term. Loss of a new $2500 laptop computer and violin would not be pleasant occurance. </p>
<p>Con.
1. $220
2. Small chance.</p>
<p>Yes, we got this for son's college tuition. We also do this for high school private school tuition. </p>
<p>I agree with analysis above. You should definitely read the contract: it only covers full tuition if student leaves school for very specific reasons.</p>
<p>My own personal experience: if your child becomes ill and is unable to continue in school, you will still owe that year's tuition. Several years ago my younger child was faced with a diagnosis which would have meant he could not have attended his private school for the duration of the year during treatment. When his surgeon advised me I should look into the home tutoring options, I realized we would still have to pay the private school tuition. Anyways, the happy news was that the ultimate diagnosis was the best possible. But we've gotten the insurance ever since.</p>
<p>Who offers these policies? Where could I find out about it?</p>
<p>I would check the school's refund policy before buying the extra insurance. S's school spells out the acceptable reasons for withdrawing (as opposed to expulsion) and how much they refund, depending on how many weeks of the semester have passed. It seemed pretty reasonable, so we declined the tuition insurance. Odds are working in our favor so far - he left this weekend for jr. year!</p>
<p>The insurance is from a for-profit vendor - like the linens sales - that may or may not be promoted by the school. They may just sell their mailing list to these companies, and the info may or may not come to you in school-sponsored mailings.</p>
<p>Our homeowner's insurance covers both kids' belongings at school for theft and damage...no extra charges. Some insurance companies require you to add a rider to your policy for computers, expensive jewelry, cameras, musical instruments, etc....but chances are, if you do have to get one, you need it for those items whether they are in your child's dorm room or sitting in your own living room.</p>
<p>In my experience, both the high school and college included brochures describing these policies (offered by a third party) with the tuition bill. I'd check with the college.</p>
<p>I just bought tuition insurance at Cornell...it's $102 ($51 per semester)...it reimburses me for S's tuition ONLY if he (1) completely withdraws from Cornell and (2) if the w'drawal is for illness or injury reasons.</p>
<p>VERY limited coverage. But still seemed worth it to me. The letter started by acknowledging that there will be NO refund for any reason unless the insurance kicks in, and it also acknowledges that the coverage is very limited. It goes on to explain that Cornell has to pay its faculty and for the cost of its facilities whether a registered student attends or not...</p>
<p>In short, the relatively small cost and the very honest and straightforward approach persuaded me...plus, I'm supersticious--decided if I bought the coverage the chances that S would get so sick or hurt that he'd have to w/draw would go way down!</p>
<p>I hope I never find out whether it's good insurance or not!!!</p>
<p>We bought the tuition insurance when S#2 (bipolar) started his freshman year. He withdrew on advice of the psychiatrist and we got 80% of the first semester tuition refunded. Mental illnesses are not 100% covered, as opposed to breaking a leg. I don't want to get on my soapbox, but when will mental illnesses achieve parity with physical illnesses in the eyes of insurers?</p>
<p>Keep in mind that you are really only insuring one quarter or one semester, as no (reputable) college will collect from you for a semester you did not attend. Since they are tuition insurance programs, you'd also have to deal with room and board separately.</p>
<p>Since most colleges have refund policies for departure early in a semester, you really need to look at the true amount at risk, which would be the difference between what the U. would refund and what the insurance would refund. I bet you find a rather small difference.</p>
<p>The insurance is $110 a semester (Cornell's is a bargain at $51). I view that as a really minimal amount compared to [fill in the blank with any number of thousands of $$]. </p>
<p>In my son's case, he had surgery in late January and could have missed the rest of the school year. We would have owed the entire semester's tuition at that point. As I said above, having faced it once in a very stressful situation, we don't want to again. Obviously I'm a bit more sensitive to it since I did face this situation.</p>
<p>jrpar, how would you have owed "the entier semester's tuition"? Cornell's policy for example, is: "if you take a leave within the first six days of a semester, registration being the first day, all tuition for that term will be refunded. After that, you are charged tuition as follows: seventh day after registration, 10%; second week, 20%; third week, 30%; fourth week, 40%; fifth week, 60%; sixth week, 80%; seventh week, 100%." Since a leave can be had for the asking, I'm puzzled.</p>
<p>I wasn't talking about Cornell. When I referred to the $51, I was just remarking on Post #7 above which mentioned that the policy that person obtained at Cornell was $51 a semester, which seems incredibly cheap to me.</p>
<p>I'm referring to my son's private high school, which is certainly reputable. By the end of January, we were 3 weeks into the second semester, and we were then on the hook for the entire second semester's tuition, with no % refund, by the terms of this school's contract. </p>
<p>I stand by my point for college tuition too: let's say it's the sixth week of the semester and your child at Cornell gets very sick: $51 vs. 80% of a semester's tuition? I'd pay the $51.</p>
<p>Generally I'm not at all big on over-insuring. As I said above, this is just a hot button for me. Finding out that I still owed a semester's tuition on top of a child's illness just added to the stress, and I personally don't want to be in that position again. Before I had been there, I just threw away the brochures for tuition insurance each year.</p>
<p>jrpar,</p>
<p>Private High School contracts are much more restrictive than higher ed. Of course the terms are tougher. </p>
<p>My problem with so called tuition insurance is that it is pretty limited in its coverage. It covers the difference between a college's normal refund schedule and the plan. It also has other restrictions:</p>
<p>For CMU: "Injury and Sickness Withdrawals
100% of the insured term tuition and fees, less any refund or credit due you from the college, will be refunded provided your physical condition is certified by a licensed physician and forces you to completely withdraw from all classes for the balance of the term.</p>
<p>Psychological/Emotional Withdrawals
60% of the insured term tuition and fees, less any refund or credit due you from the college, will be refunded provided you are confined in a hospital for seven consecutive days during the term and have completely withdrawn from all classes for any condition whose diagnosis is found in the DSM-IV Manual." Note that few mental health cases receive 7 day hospitalization. You can bet the 7 day period was not decided arbitrarily.</p>
<p>Dartmouth: "Injury and Sickness Withdrawals
90% of the insured term tuition and fees, less any refund or credit due you from the college, will be refunded provided your medical condition is certified by a licensed physician and forces you to completely withdraw from all classes for the balance of the term."</p>
<p>John Carroll: " * Injury and Sickness Withdrawals
75% of the insured term tuition and fees, less any refund or credit due you from the college, will be refunded provided your physical condition is certified by a licensed physician and forces you to completely withdraw from all classes for the balance of the term. </p>
<pre><code>* Psychological/Emotional Withdrawals
75% of the insured term tuition and fees, less any refund or credit due you from the college, will be refunded provided you are confined in a hospital for three consecutive days during the term and have completely withdrawn from all classes for a condition whose diagnosis is found in the DSM-IV Manual. "
</code></pre>
<p>Check out Dewar's (the insurer of a lot of colleges) website for more details: <a href="http://www.collegerefund.com/%5B/url%5D">http://www.collegerefund.com/</a></p>
<p>IMHO, this insurance is about as good as airline flight insurance, especially when you realize that the full contract, which I cannot find online, probably has more restrictions. Even with what I can find online, the hurdle is pretty high. Getting a doctor to certify that you cannot complete the academic term, AND getting the college to deny you incompletes, which would typically be offered late in the term, are high hurdles. Add to that language that says "the use of any drug, narcotic or agent which is similarly classed or has similar effects, (excepting when it is prescribed by a doctor)", so that if your kid falls from a balcony at an apartment party after a drink, and your odds of a payout drop even further. Good luck collecting.</p>
<p>I don't disagree that the circumstances this insurance covers are limited, and the materials/contract should be read carefully. I would only view it as helpful for a serious illness: in my experience there wouldn't be any problem getting a physician's certification for what I'd expect it to cover. (Not all that different than how I view my medical insurance - it's for really serious medical problems).</p>
<p>In retrospect, I think we were refunded 60%, not 80%, of the first semester tuition for a mental illness condition. But the policy did not require hospitalization. Just a certified note from the psychiatrist was enough proof. This happened 4 years ago, so maybe the insurance companies have toughened their standards.</p>
<p>Thanks for your input everyone</p>