There are more students in the US today than ever before, and the number of students is expected to continue to grow over the coming years. Both the domestic student population and the international student population are growing, as more US citizens take advantage of the opportunity to study at postsecondary levels and more international students choose to study in the US.
That has led schools to focus on two new concerns: How they can provide for their diverse student population, and how they can increase their enrollment by continuing to recruit new students. Luckily, these two concerns overlap in one easy solution: Schools should mandate their student insurance.
Plenty of schools offer insurance for both their domestic and their international students. But these plans are often voluntary; that is, students can choose to enroll in the program or not. This is good in some cases as it relates to US domestic students because they may have better coverage provided by their parent’s benefits plan.
However, this is often not the case, which means many students do not have adequate insurance coverage. Further, when students are left to shop for insurance on their own, they may not know what they need. They’re more likely to simply purchase a plan with a low price, which could mean they end up paying a lot out of pocket later on when they actually need health care.
The most effective solution to this situation is creating a mandated policy. This means the student insurance plan offered at your school is non-optional: Students must be enrolled. By mandating the policy, you ensure that every single student at your school has the same level of insurance coverage.
As mentioned, students who are offered a voluntary program can choose not to enroll in the program. Supporters of voluntary programs argue that this gives students more choice in selecting a student insurance plan that covers their needs. More often than not, however, this means students either purchase inadequate coverage or simply skip buying insurance altogether.
What’s the problem? Well, for one thing, many students have limited funds, so plans with low price tags are immediately appealing. A bigger problem, however, is that students simply don’t understand what they need in an insurance plan.
Even seasoned school administrators can find themselves tangled up in a web of insurance jargon, trying to sort out what the plan does or does not cover. Now imagine an 18-year-old fresh out of high school or an international student who speaks a different language trying to sort out the same thing!
By mandating a policy, the school administration is saving the student from a confusing, potentially frustrating shopping experience. The school is also taking a step toward protecting students by mandating student insurance: Students will no longer be caught offguard by out-of-pocket costs because their coverage was inadequate or they didn’t fully understand their plans.
This is a scary situation for students. Mandating your policy can attract these students to your school as they attempt to avoid out-of-pocket costs and frustration.
Asking students to pay additional fees for a mandatory student insurance plan may seem like a surefire way to lose new enrollments; most students feel postsecondary education is expensive enough. But here’s the catch: Students like being offered the protection of a plan that’s been vetted by people in the know.
They know that school administration is looking out for their best interests by mandating a plan—and the school has reviewed the plan to make sure it meets certain criteria. That takes all the guesswork and frustration out of reviewing coverage on the students’ end.
That can make your institution look like a much better choice than a school that offers no plan or a voluntary plan—and it shows you’re invested in the well-being and success of your students!
