Those of us on our parents’ health and car insurance are probably used to the calls.
The calls badger and annoy, but they come from a place of love, we hope.
“Are you sure you’re taking 12 hours? If you’re not taking 12 hours and get kicked off of our insurance, I’m going to disown you.”
But the situation is the same for all of us, regardless of whether we have our own policy or are on our parents’.
The requirement to be a full-time student to be covered by health and car insurance is an understandable one. Many college students do not work, so going to school to prepare themselves for when they will work is the closest thing to being a productive citizen an insurance company can expect from college students.
While some policies account for students taking classes in the summer and will cut them some slack in the fall, many others do not.
Currently, the number of hours required to be a full-time student, as both Auburn and insurance companies recognize, is 12. Two semesters of 12 hours is 24 hours a year.
But, if a student takes 12 hours in the spring, 17 hours in the summer, but then takes 10 in the fall, that student could possibly lose their insurance coverage, despite taking 15 more hours than the number expected of them for the whole year.
It just does not make sense and punishes those who want to get ahead.
We think all insurance companies should switch to a system requiring students to take a total number of hours per year and not just use a by-the-semester quota. Or they could at least be somewhat forgiving and look into the student’s previous semester transcript to see if they have been taking classes during the summer.
Our Policy
The opinions of The Auburn Plainsman staff are restricted to these pages. These unsigned editorials are the majority opinion of the eight-member editorial board and are the official opinion of the newspaper. The opinions expressed in columns and letters represent the views and opinions of their individual authors and do not necessarily reflect the Auburn University student body, faculty, administration or Board of Trustees.
