<p>So DS is going to be a freshman at RPI in the fall. We just received a piece of mail sent out by the Bursar's office describing an insurance policy you can buy that would provide a refund in the event that the student had to withdraw due to illness or accident.</p>
<p>Under the plan, which costs $335 for the year, tuition, room and board would be fully refundable by a private insurer throughout each semester. The school's own refund policy allows for decreasing partial refunds through the ninth week of the term, and nothing thereafter-- this insurance would supplement the school's refund so that you would get a full refund. For example, if the kid withdrew after the six weeks, RPI would normally refund 60%, but if you bought the insurance you would get 100% back.</p>
<p>The policy would only cover withdrawal due to mental health issues at 60%.</p>
<p>My first thought is that this is a lot like those insurance policies that stores try to sell you when you buy an appliance or piece of electronics. Those are usually not worth getting because their relative cost is high compared to the likelihood that you would actually use them. We almost always turn them down (much to the irritation of a lot of sales clerks who must make commissions based on them).</p>
<p>On the other hand, we have a cruise coming up and we did buy trip insurance because of the (admittedly small) possibility that one of us could be ill or injured and require evacuation and hospitalization in a foreign country, which could cost many tens of thousands of dollars.</p>
<p>Has anyone else here ever bought the tuition insurance? Is it worth it?</p>
<p>My college roommate didn’t take it out. Her full-pay daughter dropped out halfway through her second year of college because of serious mental health issues. When the daughter had her act together and returned the next year, the family did sign up for the tuition insurance plan. They recommend it for anyone who can afford the additional expense.</p>
<p>A bit more than $300 each year doesn’t seem like an excessive investment to me when you consider what the tuition and fees are.</p>
<p>Never bought one; wouldn’t consider it unless we were dealing with a chronic illness with potential for exacerbation.
And definitely not with the restricted mental health terms; without any underlying chronic illness, mental health issues are the most likely cause for withdrawal.</p>
<p>its not the cost of the insurance but the cost of the lost tuition. </p>
<p>Yes, 1st year at CMU. Not sure if our then 17yo kid could handle the pressure and environment which would result in an illness. We were full pay retail parents. He did fine and we did not purchase the other years. </p>
<p>We also bought travel, medical insurance when he interned with Microsoft-India. I’m sure that Microsoft would take care of DS, but its one of those things that makes one feel that you’ve done everything that you can do.</p>
<p>We did not have tuition insurance when our D had to leave school for a semester due to mono. We did not get a refund - but the school did apply our already-paid tuition to the following semester. Check with your school if that’s an option before making the decision on insurance.</p>
<p>I am an insurance professional. About to be parent of college frosh. Just received solicitation for such a plan. Didn’t know they existed but shouldn’t be surprised. You can buy insurance for just about anything. Some more thoughts:</p>
<p>Do NOT rely on a brochure to assess what is/isn’t covered. My brochure says to contact the school for a full copy of the policy. Do NOT rely on what other people tell you about the plans offered by their school. Ask for your school’s full policy. If it confuses you, ask for help.
Review the financial strength of the insurer who offers the coverage. Google the company’s name. Look for an AM Best S&P or Moody rating of A or better
Understand your school’s tuition policy in detail before you make any insurance decision. It is probably outlined somewhere on your school’s website.
Unless you signed a document that says the school can compel you to buy this insurance as a condition for accepting installment payments, the school cannot force you to buy the insurance. Check your tuition payment terms documents.
Payment up front versus installment shouldn’t really be a decision making criteria. The difference between the two is really just time value of money.
Check your school’s freshman retention rate. Compare it to other schools. The rate does differ. Not a perfect stat but may offer you some indication of drop out rates.
The decision to buy or not buy insurance is a personal one and is borne out of two many factors to go into here. That’s why some insurance is called “sleep at night” insurance. If you don’t have this insurance, ask yourself if can you sleep at night.
One big difference between this insurance and consumer products extended warranty insurance is the difference between the cost and benefit. if you buy an electronic device for $200 and extended warranty for $50 the spread isn’t great. Insurance geeks call it payback. Accountants call it amortization. On the other hand, tuition at our school is $32k and the insurance is $300. That premium level to potential benefit is obviously much different and arguably a more favorable bet for you as the insurance consumer.
Once you assess all of facts I mention above only you can decide if the cost benefit is worth it.
P.S. We pay tuition in 8 installments. No service fee. Semester tuition is not refundable after week 8. I have not decided if I will purchase the insurance. Spouse wants to buy it for freshman year. Good luck all.</p>
<p>With both of my kids, we bought the insurance only for their freshman year, just in case there were unanticipated issues with adjustment to college life. Fortunately, we didn’t need to use the insurance & chose not to purchase it for subsequent years.</p>
<p>I would not buy insurance unless I had some reason to suspect that I might need it. If I wasn’t 100% certain that my kids could handle college I might consider it. Freshman fall is nerve wracking even if you have kids that are mature freshman, responsible and able to make the grades – that I will admit. I could sleep at night the anxiety wasn’t that great! I did just buy, for the first time, trip insurance for a vacation later this year because I have a 90 year old father that is a concern. It’s definitely a personal decision expenditure.</p>
<p>DD’s school can buy the insurance by quarter or year. The total payment is about the same, so I choose quarterly. I bought for her 1st freshman quarter also concerning the adjustment. The 2nd quarter I forgot about it. The 3rd quarter I decided not to buy it anymore.</p>
<p>After having been faced with potentially having to withdraw our younger son from junior high school (private school) because of a serious health issue that came out of the blue, we have purchased this insurance. In discussions with the private school about how to handle a return to school post surgery, they were supportive in many ways but it was clear the full year tuition was due in any event. Thankfully our son ultimately received a positive diagnosis, but this was just one more stressor at a very stressful time, and we’ve bought the insurance ever since.</p>
<p>Echoing katliamom’s post #5:<br>
If your child has not had mononucleosis,
and if either parent had mononucleosis while in college,
and if your tuition payments are high relative to income/savings,
and if your child’s college does <em>not</em> have the generous policy of moving your tuition payment forward (mentioned in post #5),
then I think tuition insurance is a good idea. </p>
<p>I never buy extended warranties. insureguy’s post #7 pretty much covers the issue.</p>
<p>I had mono in college. QMP had mono in college. We both toughed it out. However, if it had been a bit more severe, or if it had started at a different point in the semester, it would have been better to withdraw for the semester.</p>
<p>After the “mono semester,” we bought tuition insurance. Never used it, but didn’t regret it either.</p>
<p>Never bought it, one of my kids did get mono toward end of Fall Semester Freshman Year.
I contacted her advisor & advisor called me & made all arrangements with Dean of Students & the child’s professors. It all worked out with getting extensions etc. Despite this incident, we have never purchased the tuition insurance for our 4 kids.</p>
<p>D1 has a tough-it-out personality, is healthy, and if she had gone to an expensive LAC I would not have purchased insurance. D2, however, is tough in the classroom, but is a little fragile outside the classroom. And an illness could be disastrous. Had she not been going on merit aid, I would have purchased the insurance for freshman year.</p>
<p>The cost of the same company’s tuition refund insurance seems to vary a lot from school to school. At one college, it is $250/year, and the other it is $790. The former school has amazing financial aid, so perhaps the cost of the insurance is based on what would have to be refunded, which is much less at the first school than the second. Does anyone know?</p>
<p>We buy it due to chronic illnesses, and have so far used it twice in 3 years. For us, no question. </p>
<p>As to the mental health benefits being only 60%, the major insurer used by most colleges gives 100% refund for medical or mental health if the student is hospitalized for at least two days, and 60% if the student is not hospitalized. I would like to know for sure if any plan really does discriminate against mental health problems in the way that is described above.</p>