Health Insurance Subsidy
Graduate Assistants (GAAs, GIAs, GTAs, GSLs, and GRAs) and Graduate Research Fellows 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.
Definition of Fully Funded:
For Academic Year 2024-2025
- Master's students: receiving a minimum of $8,550 (for fall, spring or summer semester) or $17,100 (for the entire academic year) in a combination of assistantship service payment and/or stipend.
- Doctoral students: receiving a minimum of $13,050 (for fall, spring or summer semester) or $26,100 (for the entire academic year) in a combination of assistantship service payment and/or stipend.
The total amount of the subsidy is 80% of the health insurance cost for the fall and spring/summer 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.
If a student is enrolling in summer-only health insurance coverage and meets the above eligibility criteria, the health insurance subsidy will be applied to their summer bill.
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].
External Fellowships Eligible for the Health Insurance Subsidy
In addition to funding awarded directly by GW, there are several external fellowships that qualify a student to receive the health insurance subsidy if they meet the definition of fully funded as defined above. Full funding must come in the form of a living stipend or salary (please note tuition awards do not count).
Eligible External Fellowships:
- ARCS Fellowship
- Cybercorps Scholarship for Service
- Clarke DS Fellowship
- Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship
- Fulbright U.S. Student Program
- NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program
- Donald M. Payne International Development Fellowship
- Thomas R. Pickering Foreign Affairs Graduate Fellowship
- Rangel Graduate Fellowship
- Wenner-Gren Dissertation Fieldwork Grant
If you are receiving from one of the external fellowships listed above, please contact the Office of Graduate Student Assistantships and Fellowships at [email protected] to receive a health insurance subsidy. Please note that students studying in the Milken Institute School of Public Health and the School of Medicine and Health Sciences (SMHS) are not eligible for the OGSAF health insurance subsidy.
This external fellowship list is subject to change. Please contact the Office of Graduate Student Assistantships and Fellowships at [email protected] if you believe your external fellowship meets the definition of full funding and could be added to the eligibility list.
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 coverage 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.