Health Insurance Information for Graduate Students

All graduate students who are enrolled full-time (9 credit hours or more), who are employed as Graduate Assistants, or who are international students are required by the University to either purchase the University-sponsored health insurance plan or provide evidence of coverage on another comparable health insurance plan. Part-time students (enrolled less than 9 hours), who are neither Graduate Assistants nor international students, are eligible to purchase the University-sponsored health insurance plan, but enrollment is not required. Students who have health insurance coverage through another policy and who do not wish to purchase the University-sponsored policy must fill out a USC Health Insurance Hard Waiver Information & Request Form. Detailed information about the Hard Waiver policy and links to the form are available at the Student Health Services website: http://www.sa.sc.edu/shs/insurances_hardwaiver.shtml.

Students appointed on Graduate Assistantships will receive a subsidy from the Graduate School in the amount of $100 in the Fall and $125 in the Spring toward the premium on the University health insurance plan. Some colleges/schools provide additional subsidies to their graduate assistants. You should check with the director of your program to find out the amount of your health insurance subsidy. It is the intention of the University to increase the amount of the subsidy in future years. If you are eligible to receive a health insurance subsidy, it will be subtracted from the premium amount on your bill for the semester and the difference will appear as “Subsidized Health Insurance Fee” on your bill.