tuition insurance

<p>A little cautionary tale:</p>

<p>Well, a few weeks ago, H & I got a mailing from D's school about tuition insurance. We shook our heads, rolled our eyes and said something about YET ANOTHER way schools have of getting money from $$. </p>

<p>Fast forward to today: DD has come down with a bad case of mono. Doctor advises her to take a medical leave & withdraw for the rest of the semester, come home to recover & start up again in January. We haven't approached the school yet with the financial details if in fact she comes home. </p>

<p>But we're sure not rolling our eyes now... Feeling rather foolish, in fact.</p>

<p>The school may very well have something in place to help save the semester financially. Check on line, call the Dean of Student's office...they are there to help. Good luck. Hope your daughter gets better fast. Cyber hugs to the worried parents. Lorelei</p>

<p>We bought the tuition insurance.</p>

<p>BUT... call the dean of students. Most schools will refund a percentage of tuition depending how far into the semester you are. At this point you should be able to get SOMETHING back, although it may be half of what you paid at best.</p>

<p>I hope your daughter feels better! My D has a friend who just lost an entire sports season to mono, she's really bummed.</p>

<p>Katliamom - gosh that is horrible. I feel so bad for you and your daughter. The daughter of a dear friend of mine also is coming home because of mono. I am sure your daughter is not a happy camper right now. While it would feel good to come home and have mom take care of you, it has to be upsetting leaving campus. </p>

<p>Keep us posted & you take care of yourself!</p>

<p>katliamom, so sorry your d. is going through this.</p>

<p>Yes, we bought tuition insurance at school my son attended the last 2 years--at 40K/year, I thought it was worth it. Ended up that he had 2 emergency surgeries in the 2 years and though he didn't have to withdraw, we came close.</p>

<p>You should be able to get back a percentage at this time. Check on the dates. My d. just withdrew for a semester and missed the 50% refund date by one day!!</p>

<p>When my son was talking about a medical withdrawal, one thing the dean mentioned was giving a "medical permission" (not sure of correct term) to drop below full-time hours. That would allow them to maybe finish up a couple classes while allowing time for rest and recuperation too. The sticky point with that was no tuition refund and just get 6 or so hours. Also, if your child is on your family health plan, many require full-time status and you need to get them a temporary policy. (we just bought d. one through Assurant)</p>

<p>Hope she recovers quickly and without any additional problems. I had mono as a 23 yo and it sure wasn't fun.</p>

<p>We bought for the first year because we were unsure of his new surroundings and work load. The cost is such a small percentage of the tuition that foregoing it seemed petty. </p>

<p>I remember my bro in college, he was so love sick for his hs girlfriend that he almost flunked out of P. I think the insurance company has a exclusion love related illnesses.</p>

<p>S1 had mono one year and instead of withdrawing he decided to work it out with the professors. For about 3-4 weeks he missed some classes, did some on-line chat with profs, got notes and did critical homework as agreed with prof. Dropped one class and went to just the level for full time - it does affect insurance. The biggest problem was the weight lifting class he was supposed to do and the marching band. But since he had it at the beginning of the term he even worked those out.</p>

<p>This has been discussed at length on these boards in the past.</p>

<p>Before you jump to buy, READ THE FINE PRINT. In most cases, you are insuring the difference between what the school refunds and what you paid, not the full amount paid. Most policies also have pretty strict requirements, including a tough medical certification and exclusions for drug and alcohol related problems. So, would they exclude withdrawing due to an accident while drunk? Dunno, but I'd ask.</p>

<p>finally, check on a school's incomplete policy with an opportunity to complete the work after recovery at no additional cost.</p>

<p>FWIW, these policies are pretty profitable for Dewar, who underwrites most of them.</p>

<p>Katliamom, Hope D recovers quickly. Mono is a really disruptive illness.</p>

<p>How much do those policies usually cost? We have one on D's high school tuition, but that's to cover it if the wage-earners lose their job or die. I had no idea a policy could be purchased to cover medical withdrawals from school.</p>

<p>The insurance is a "drop in the bucket" compared to tuition, so it's definitely worth it.</p>

<p>StickerShock, our insurance cost $249/year. D's annual college tuition (not room & board) is about $33,000/year.</p>

<p>As mentioned above, it covers the difference between what the college will refund and what we paid. It does NOT cover room and board. (For an extra $50 we could have covered the room fee only). The later in the semester a student withdraws, the less the college refunds and the more the insurance would pay out. The policy spells out that there has to be certification from a doctor that the student is physically unable to complete the semester. You are reimbursed for 100% of tuition (less what the college refunds) for a physical illness; or 60% for a psychological/emotional problem requiring at least 2 days of hospitalization and a diagnosis in the DSM-IV manual. </p>

<p>We received a mailing from the college the summer before DS was a freshman, otherwise we never would have known about it.</p>

<p>We bought the policy with the posibility of mono in mind. Hubby and I also had a friend who came down with encephalitis early in a semester and had to go home.</p>