Coronavirus Pandemic Has Some College Students, Parents Considering Tuition Insurance
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - The uncertainty about COVID-19's impact on the upcoming school year is especially prevalent among college students.
That's because tuition averages between $25,000 to $50,000 per year and often is nonrefundable.
It has some students and parents considering tuition insurance.
"The most important thing I would tell everyone even before going after coronavirus is to know what the refund policy is at the college or university," said John Fees who started a GradGuard, a tuition insurance company.
Fees says only 6% of higher education schools offer full refunds.
The tuition insurance is for college students who drop out for medical reasons that now include COVID-19.
"So we pay for claims for students who test positive and choose to withdraw from school and they're not well enough to continue," said Fees.
Fees said his company is only offering the COVID-19-related coverage for a short time.
The cost of premiums is one percent of tuition.
So if tuition is $10,000 a year, the premium amounts to about $106 per year.
"My view is if you can buy a travel insurance for a $300 investment, you should be able to do the same thing just as easy for a $30,000 investment, right, and that is really what GradGuard is doing.
The COVID-19 provision in the insurance policy only covers students who test positive and not those who miss time because of a quarantine or a sick family member.
"There are 8 million undergraduate students in the country, and we estimate that 80,000 or so a year, have some unexpected events that will disrupt your education," he said.
SMU and Baylor are two of the Texas schools that currently offer GradGuard tuition insurance which must be purchased before classes start.