Health Insurance Options for Students: What Families Need To Know Before College Starts

Health insurance is mandatory for many college students in the United States, so it’s important for young adults to carefully evaluate their health insurance options. You can often obtain a student health insurance plan directly through your university, though you may also be able to secure coverage through your parents, your own Health Insurance Marketplace or other private health plan or a government-sponsored health care program.

Keep reading for more information about health insurance for students, including why it’s important and how much it typically costs.

On This Page

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  Do College Students Need Health Insurance?

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  What Health Insurance Options Do I Have as a College Student?

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  What Happens if I Don’t Have Health Insurance as a Student?

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  How Much Does Health Insurance Typically Cost for Students?

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  How To Choose the Right Student Health Insurance

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  How To Save Money On Health Insurance if You’re a Student

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  FAQs

Do College Students Need Health Insurance?

College students often need to have health insurance to comply with enrollment requirements and protect against substantial out-of-pocket costs stemming from common injuries and illnesses. Examples of health problems that frequently affect college students and are covered by health insurance include accident-related injuries, mental health problems, heart diseases and respiratory diseases.^[1]

Is Health Insurance Required in College?

Health insurance for college students is commonly required. While recent figures are not available, a 2007 survey found that about 38% of public universities and 79% of private universities required prospective students to be insured, with many other colleges indicating that they were considering making health insurance a mandatory condition for enrollment.^[2]

In addition, students in California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Washington, D.C., will incur a tax penalty if they fail to maintain health insurance.^[3]

What Health Insurance Options Do I Have as a College Student?

Throughout the following sections, you’ll learn about the various recommended ways of obtaining health coverage for students.

University-Sponsored Health Plans

In many cases, you will have the option to enroll in a health insurance plan through your college. It’s estimated that as many as 3 million people are covered by student health plans obtained directly from their universities, accounting for roughly 16% of all undergraduate college students in the United States as of 2024.^[4][5]

College-provided health care coverage is often administered by existing health insurance companies and may come with unique benefits. For example, if your school offers student health coverage from Aetna, you may have access to Aetna’s entire nationwide health insurance network, meaning you may be fully covered even when you’re out of town.^[6]

Parent’s Insurance

Without qualifying for an exemption, you may not be able to reject your school’s health insurance plan unless you can show proof of coverage under another health plan, potentially including employer-sponsored or other health insurance through a parent. Generally, you are allowed to stay on your parent’s health insurance until the end of the year you turn 26.^[7]

ACA Marketplace Insurance

If you are over the age of 26, you may need to purchase your own health plan through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplace. This may also make sense if you go to school out of state because the network for your parent’s health insurance plan may not extend to different parts of the country. Depending on your household income, you may qualify for a premium tax credit subsidy that lowers the monthly cost of your Marketplace health plan.^[7]

You may only be able to buy Marketplace coverage during open enrollment from Nov. 1 to Jan. 15 or a special enrollment period triggered by a life event, like moving to a new home.^[8]

Medicaid

Low-income college students may qualify for cheap or free government-sponsored health insurance coverage through Medicaid. In most states, you are eligible for Medicaid if your household income is below 138% of the federal poverty level (FPL).^[9] This is equivalent to an annual income of $21,597 or less for an individual in most states in 2025.^[10]

International Student Insurance Plans

It may be necessary to purchase a specialized international student health insurance plan if you intend to study abroad but want to obtain coverage from an American insurer. You may need to show proof of insurance to apply for a student visa, especially since you may not qualify for publicly funded health care in foreign countries. International student health insurance may cover a medical evacuation if you need to return home due to a serious health issue.^[11]

Short-Term Insurance

You may want to buy short-term health insurance from a private insurance carrier to fill a temporary coverage gap, like if you recently quit your job and lost your work-based health coverage but won’t switch to a student health plan until the beginning of next semester. However, these plans don’t meet the ACA’s minimum essential coverage standards, so you shouldn’t treat short-term coverage like a permanent solution.^[12]

What Happens if I Don’t Have Health Insurance as a Student?

Uninsured students run the risk of accumulating significant debt if they experience an unexpected accident or illness that requires medical treatment. Furthermore, you could have to pay a fine if you decline to buy health insurance in a state that enforces individual mandate penalties. Finally, going without coverage may violate your school’s registration policies, so you could be automatically enrolled in and forced to pay for a student health plan.

How Much Does Health Insurance Typically Cost for Students?

According to a 2024 survey, university-sponsored health plans cost an average of $254 per month for public school students and $343 per month for private school students.^[13] Keep in mind that student health plans are often more affordable than standard health plans because they cover a younger and healthier population, which means that policyholders are less likely to require medical care and file claims on their health insurance.^[14]

How To Choose the Right Student Health Insurance

You should take the following factors into account as you decide which type of health insurance makes the most sense for you going into college:

• Total costs: While it’s important to pay attention to a plan’s monthly premiums, you should also look at how much it requires you to spend on deductibles, copays or coinsurance each time you receive care. Estimating the total costs associated with a given plan will help you more precisely evaluate whether it fits within your budget.
• Expected health care needs: Plans differ in terms of the level of coverage they provide, so you should be sure to enroll in a plan that matches your coverage needs. For example, if you are in good health and don’t expect to need medical care outside of an emergency, a lower-tiered bronze or silver plan with low premiums may make sense for you. However, if you have a chronic illness and need regular medical attention, you may want a higher-tiered gold or platinum plan that covers more of your out-of-pocket costs.
• Network size: Generally, it’s cheaper to receive health care from an in-network provider, so you should pay attention to the size of a given plan’s network. A smaller, regional network may be fine if you don’t expect to receive routine care outside of your campus health clinic or another facility in your college town, but a larger, national network may be necessary if you travel a lot or spend your summers in a different state from your university.
• Eligibility: The best health coverage for a college student may depend on what types of insurance they qualify for. For example, Medicaid or a parent’s plan may be very cost-effective options, but you may not be eligible if your family income is too high or you are too old.

How To Save Money On Health Insurance if You’re a Student

There are several steps college students can take to save money on health insurance, including the following:

• Scale back on coverage: Make sure you aren’t overinsured because this could put an unnecessary strain on your finances. For instance, if you have an emergency fund in place to cover your deductible and minimal expected health care needs, you can likely afford to switch to a lower-tiered plan that will allow you to pay less on a monthly basis in exchange for paying more anytime you receive care.
• Stop smoking: Health insurance companies are allowed to charge tobacco users as much as 50% more than people who don’t use tobacco, so quitting smoking is a crucial way to improve your health and prevent exorbitant health insurance premiums.^[15]
• Check if you qualify for government assistance: Depending on your income, you may qualify for tax credits that lower your premiums or cost-sharing reductions that lower your out-of-pocket expenses through the Marketplace. Alternatively, you could receive coverage at little or no cost through Medicaid or — if you are 18 or younger — the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).
• Join someone else’s plan: If you can’t afford to pay for a health plan by yourself, you may want to see if you can join your parent’s plan, as long as you are under the age of 26. Similarly, if you are married, it could be cheaper to join your spouse’s plan, depending on the circumstances.
• See if you can get coverage through work: On average, employers cover upwards of 80% of the premiums for individual group health insurance plans covering their employees.^[16] As a result, if you are employed, it will likely be much cheaper to get a plan through work than to buy the same plan on your own.
• Shop around: Different insurance companies have different methods for calculating rates, so you should compare quotes from multiple insurers before settling on a health insurance plan. SmartFinancial offers an effective and simple insurance comparison shopping process. Click here to start comparing health insurance quotes for free!