Graduate Assistantship
Graduate students, with or without assistantships, are not required to have health insurance to attend Virginia Tech unless they are an international student, Veterinary Medicine student, or VTCSOM student.
Graduate Assistantship Subsidy
Full-time graduate students with an assistantship of 10 hours or more are eligible to enroll in our Aetna Student Health Insurance Plan and receive subsidies from the university. Please note that dependents are NOT eligible for the University subsidy.
How to Enroll
Open enrollment is closed. Please contact the Student Medical Insurance Office for assistance.
Bursar Billing
Beginning with the Fall 2024 semester, students enrolled with the Virginia Tech Student Medical Insurance Plan will be billed through the Bursar’s Office.
This change means that students can enroll in the plan with no money due at the time of enrollment. Instead, insurance charges will be posted to the overall student bill, creating a more unified billing experience for students. More detailed information can be found at this list of FAQs. For additional questions, please contact smi@vt.edu.
GAs, GTAs, and GRAs with at least a 10 hour assistantship (a .5 assistantship) are eligible for an 88% subsidy of their student medical insurance cost (dependents and dental are not subsidized by the university). The criteria for this benefit have not changed.
Once enrolled, the student share of the insurance premiums will be charged to the student account (the university’s portion of premiums will be shown on the student’s pay stub if needed for tax purposes). The student can then choose to pay the insurance charge, along with university fees, through the Graduate Comprehensive Fee Payment Plan. While this is a change from the current payroll withholding process, since the Graduate Payment Plan debit dates line up with payroll dates, the net impact to graduate students is minimal.