Health Insurance
(For Academic Year 2023-2024)
Enrolling in GW Student Health Insurance
Mandatory Eligibility: All undergraduate, graduate, law, medical, and doctoral students, who are matriculated in a degree-granting on campus program and all international students on a J1 or F1 Visa are required to have health insurance while they study at GW. This includes students on the Foggy Bottom, Mount Vernon, VSTC, and Corcoran campuses. These students will be automatically charged and enrolled in the GW SHIP and must submit a waiver form if they have another insurance plan that meets the required waiver criteria. If you have other acceptable coverage you must waive by September 12, 2023 at University Health Plans.
Voluntary Eligibility: All undergraduate and graduate student on Arlington or Alexandria campus, all non-degree seeking students with 9 or more credit hours, students on continuous enrollment, students on a school-approved leave of absence, and all online Medical and Nursing students who participate in clinical rotation on campus are eligible to enroll on a voluntary basis in the Aetna Student Health Insurance Plan directly with University Health Plans. Benefits-eligible GW employees are not able to enroll in GW SHIP.
2023-2024 GW SHIP Plan Details and Benefits Summary (pdf).
Interested students can learn more about health insurance policies, enrollment and costs on the Student Health Insurance Program website.
Leave of Absence
Graduate students are eligible to enroll in the GW Student Health Insurance plan if they take a Leave of Absence (LOA). Note that a graduate student on LOA must sign up voluntarily for GW Student Health Insurance. Please contact Student Health ([email protected]) if there are questions about taking a LOA while on GW Student Health Insurance.
Health Insurance Subsidy
GW Doctoral Fellows, Graduate Assistants (GAs) and Graduate Research Assistants (GRAs) who have enrolled in the GW Student Health Plan and are fully funded (GWSPH and SMHS excluded), will be eligible for a subsidy towards the cost of the plan.
The total amount of the subsidy is 80% of the health insurance cost for the fall and spring semesters. The Office of Graduate Student Assistantships and Fellowships (OGSAF) will apply the subsidy to the student's account in two payments (one payment in Fall and one payment in Spring) proportional to the cost of health insurance coverage in each semester. Please contact OGSAF at [email protected] if you have questions about the subsidy.
Receiving the Health Insurance Subsidy
Schools and/or departments will send a list of all of their eligible students to the Office of Graduate Student Assistantships and Fellowships. Eligible students do not need to take any action to receive the subsidy. If you believe you are eligible for the health insurance subsidy and it has not been added to your account by the first day of classes, please contact OGSAF at [email protected].