The Student Health Insurance Plan (SHIP) plays a vital role in supporting the university's commitment to student health and well-being. For the 2025–2026 academic year, The New School will continue to partner with Aetna Student Health (ASH) to provide student health insurance coverage.
The SHIP is available to:
- Degree students (including online-only students)
- Visiting and mobility (study abroad) students
- Maintenance-of-status students
- ESL+ certificate students
- Graduate credit certificate students
- Undergraduate and graduate non-matriculating students enrolled in credit-bearing courses
Students enrolled in Continuing and Professional Education are not eligible for the SHIP and are not charged for the plan.
The enrollment and waiver forms for the spring 2026 semester are available at universityhealthplans.com/tns. The deadline to waive the student health insurance for the spring 2026 semester is February 3, 2026.
How Student Health Insurance Works
- All students must have health insurance that provides comprehensive coverage where they are located. Insurance can be U.S.-based or international; it does not need to be ACA-compliant.
- All eligible students are charged for student health insurance automatically upon registration but must submit an enrollment form to be enrolled in the SHIP.
- We recommend submitting the enrollment form at least two weeks before the date coverage begins, to ensure that your member ID card is available when coverage begins.
- Fall coverage continues automatically in the spring semester, provided you are registered for spring classes. Delays with spring registration can delay spring health insurance enrollment.
- Students with their own health insurance coverage must submit a waiver form if they do not wish to be enrolled in the SHIP.
- The fall 2025 waiver deadline was September 30, 2025 (extended from September 9).
- Students need to submit a waiver form once every academic year. Waivers submitted in the fall apply to both the fall and the spring semesters.
- If no action is taken, students are enrolled by default in the SHIP after the waiver deadline and are responsible for the health insurance fee.
2025–2026 Health Insurance Plan
- The annual premium is $4,310, which is divided into two payments:
- Fall 2025 premium: $1,748 (coverage period August 20, 2025, through January 14, 2026).
- Spring 2026 premium: $2,562 (coverage period January 15 through August 19, 2026).
- Health insurance provider: Aetna Student Health, which administers the insurance plan and pays the claims.
- Plan type: Aetna Open Choice PPO.
- Broker: University Health Plans, which handles enrollment and waivers, including dependent and OPT enrollment.
- Health insurance card: View or print on the Aetna Student Health website.
- Dental and vision benefits are included for all enrolled students.
Medical benefits:
Dental benefits:
Vision benefits: