The health, safety, and well-being of our graduate students is the foundation of student life. Success in professional activities, academics and research, as well as personal activities comes from this foundation.

A new university-wide initiative to standardize financial support for doctoral student health care insurance premiums was adopted in the fall of 2020. The health and wellness of our students are priorities and key areas identified in Carnegie Mellon's Strategic Plan 2025, the Graduate Student Assembly's Strategic Plan and through the Task Force on the Student Experience. For more information, please visit our section below on Standardized Support for Doctoral Student Health Care Insurance Premiums.

Over the past several years, CMU’s leadership, the academic units and the Graduate Student Assembly (GSA) have collaborated through a genuine partnership to establish more uniform practices and minimum standards intended to enhance the experience of our doctoral students. The first phase of this effort was implemented three years ago when we established consistent, minimum health care coverage representing 50% of individual premium costs paid by the university for all eligible doctoral students.

Following the success of the first phase, these groups have continued to work together to study a set of strategic priorities, develop a holistic view and prioritize possible doctoral support elements, which culminated in the spring of 2022 in a proposal for the next phase. At its March 1 meeting, the university Deans’ Council voted in favor of the proposal to implement phase two of a holistic support model. The GSA Executive Committee also affirmed support at its Provost Graduate Advisory Board meeting following an update by Vice Provost for Education Amy Burkert at the March GSA general body meeting.

The key changes offered to all qualifying doctoral students are:

• Increasing university support to 100% of individual premium cost for coverage through the Student Healthcare Insurance Program (SHIP);
• Establishing a university-wide minimum monthly stipend of $2,250/month for qualifying, stipend-supported, doctoral students during the period of their enrollment based on the individual program structure and policies; and
• Setting guidelines for annual time-away-from-program of seven days for nine-month programs and 10 days for 12-month programs, in addition to official university holidays, to encourage student well-being and balance.

Qualifying doctoral students are defined as having full-time enrollment in a CMU doctoral program, are making satisfactory progress toward their degree in line with program policy, and are stipend-supported and not receiving full external support from another source.

While maintaining their autonomy and addressing the specific needs and contexts of both students and departments, individual graduate programs will apply these new minimum levels of support to their existing doctoral support packages for the fall semester.

 Student Health Insurance Requirement

• The Fall Open Enrollment period is earlier than in past years: July 5 - August 25, 2023*.

An earlier Open Enrollment period will allow most students to complete their health insurance requirement before classes and insurance coverage begin and before semester invoices are sent.

*International students arriving into the U.S.  will be permitted to enroll in or waive the CMU Student Health Insurance Plan until August 25, 2023. 

• Waiver application requirements are fewer.  

Students with medical insurance that meets university requirements will still need to complete an online waiver application, but will only need to provide one piece of documentation: proof of active coverage. 

• The Health Insurance Portal in SIO has been updated for easier navigation and a better user experience.

During Open Enrollment, new full-time students (and some part-time, degree-seeking students, depending on program requirements) must either enroll in medical CMU Student Health Insurance Plan (SHIP) or apply to waive it, if they have insurance that meets university requirements. All students who require health insurance will receive this information via email over the next several weeks.

The 2023-2024 CMU SHIP rates are now available; plan documents will be available soon. CMU SHIP coverage is effective August 1, 2023 – July 31, 2024. 

(CMU employees enrolled in a degree-seeking program and taking coursework will see a health insurance charge on their SIO account, but are not eligible to enroll in CMU SHIP and are not required to submit a waiver application. The insurance charge will be removed from their SIO once Human Resources processes tuition remission).

To fulfill the CMU student health insurance requirement, students need to:

•   Log into SIO, select Campus Life, and select Health Insurance.
•   Click the Highmark link.
•   Select the option to either enroll in CMU SHIP or apply for a waiver and submit required information and documentation.

New Student Immunization Requirements: Before August 1, 2023

New Pittsburgh campus students* need to provide documentation for required immunizations/vaccines.

To fulfill the immunization requirement, students need to:

•       Log into HealthConnect.
•       Select Medical Clearances in the left menu.
•       Review and submit all required health information. 

More information can be found on the University Health Services website.  Insurance questions can be directed to shinsure@andrew.cmu.edu and immunization questions can be directed to health@andrew.cmu.edu. Students may also find our Insurance Frequently Asked Questions helpful.

 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's)

University Health Services Insurance Plans