Dear Continuing SoE PhD Student,

We hope you are having a productive summer! We look forward to welcoming you back to Tufts for the 2025–2026 academic year.

We are writing to remind you that all Tufts students are required to have health insurance (it’s a Massachusetts state law).

Students enrolled in a full-time PhD program are automatically enrolled in and billed for the Tufts Student Health Insurance Plan and the Health and Wellness fee.

However, full-time PhD students in the School of Engineering are provided a subsidy for the full cost of the Tufts Student Health Insurance and the Health and Wellness fee for up to 5 years assuming they maintain good standing. If you have questions about your subsidy, please contact your department chair.

There have been important updates to the Tufts Student Health Insurance Plan for the 2025–26 academic year. We strongly encourage you to review the changes to your health plan.

If you are covered by a separate policy through a U.S.-based insurance company that meets Massachusetts requirements including minimum creditable coverage  please apply for a waiver by July 31. If your waiver is approved, the student health insurance premium will be removed from your account.

Students with comparable health insurance coverage can apply for a waiver of the university’s plan between now and July 31 in the Student Information System (SIS). 

A waiver must be completed annually. If you had a waiver this past year, it is simple to submit your waiver again in SIS. If you have already completed the waiver process after we wrote to you in June, you can disregard this message.

If you do not apply for a waiver by July 31, you will be charged for the student health insurance and enrolled for this year. 

You can learn more on our Student Health Insurance website. 

Questions? Please reach out to StudentHealthInsurance@tufts.edu.

Sincerely,

Jennifer M. Berrios, MHA
Director of Administration and Operations