Health Insurance for Graduate Students
Health Insurance Requirement
All graduate students registered full-time in a master’s or doctoral program at the University of Maryland, College Park campus must have health insurance coverage. Full-time students are those who are registered for at least 48 units for the semester or 36 units for a 12-week term. Part-time students, non-degree-seeking students, students enrolled in certificate programs, exclusively online programs, and/or programs at the Shady Grove campus are encouraged but not required to have health insurance, unless the student's immigration status requires insurance. Please view the full policy in the Graduate Catalog.
The default insurance plan is the Student Health Insurance Plan (SHIP). All full-time enrolled graduate students (including graduate assistants) must either opt in to the Student Health Insurance Plan (SHIP) or submit a waiver to opt out of the Student Health Insurance Plan (SHIP) during the SHIP open enrollment (see dates below). Some student groups such as part-time students, exclusively online students, and certificate students are encouraged, but not required to have health insurance. Those student groups are not required to participate in the SHIP enrollment/waiver process, but they are eligible to enroll in SHIP using the voluntarily enrollment process.
Fall 2025 SHIP Open Enrollment: June 17, 2025 - September 19, 2025
Insurance Options
The Student Health Insurance Plan (SHIP) is the default insurance. All full-time registered graduate students must either enroll in SHIP or submit a waiver to opt out of SHIP. The University partners with Academic HealthPlans (AHP) to manage the SHIP enrollment and waiver process. Please look for emails from AHP (info4students@myahpcare.com) for step-by-step instructions on how to enroll or waive out of SHIP.
- Full-time students at College Park are required to participate in the SHIP Enrollment / Waiver Process. Full-time students are those who are registered for at least 48 units for the semester or 36 units for a 12-week term. Calculate your units here. Students with full time status must choose to either opt in (enroll) in the SHIP or submit a waiver to opt out of the SHIP during the fall open enrollment.
- Part-time students, non-degree-seeking students, students enrolled in certificate programs, exclusively online programs, and/or programs at the campus other than College Park are not required to participate in the Enrollment/Waiver process. These students are encouraged to have health insurance, but are not required to enroll or waive. If enrolled in at least one credit, these students are eligible to enroll in SHIP using the voluntary enrollment process.
Students who hold a graduate assistantship are eligible to enroll in a State of Maryland Employee Health Plan. This is different from SHIP. About 3-4 weeks after the GAship starts, GAs will receive an email from the state (from the Workday system) that will provide instructions on how to opt in to a State of Maryland Employee Health Plan. More information about the State of Maryland Employee Health Plans can be found on the UMD Human Resources Benefits website. If choosing the State of MD Employee Health Plan, Graduate Assistants must submit a waiver to opt out of SHIP. Graduate Assistants can learn more here.
Students can enroll in a health insurance plan that is outside of UMD. It must be compliant with the Affordable Care Act and it must be underwritten in the United States. Students who have an insurance from an outside source must submit a waiver to opt out of SHIP. Please submit a waiver promptly in order to avoid getting charged for SHIP on your student financial account.