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 for the duration of their contract. Please note that the cost of dependent and dental coverage are NOT eligible for the University subsidy, and those costs are paid directly to Aetna.
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.
The insurance charge will be added at the time of enrollment in the Plan. If at the time of enrollment the assistantship appointment has not been processed, the full cost of the insurance will be posted to the student’s account. This will be adjusted down by the amount of the university’s subsidy when the assistantship appears in the Virginia Tech system, as audited by the Student Medical Insurance office.
The insurance charge will be added to the student's account at the time of enrollment. If, at the time of enrollment, the student's assistantship paperwork has not been processed, the full cost of the insurance will be posted to the student's account. This will be adjusted down by the amount of the university's contribution to the cost of insurance when the assistantship appears in the Virginia Tech system, as audited by the Student Medical Insurance office.
Information on the many ways students can pay their student bill can be found on the Hokie Wallet site. Additional questions can be directed to the Bursar’s Office at bursar@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 (note that this is only available to those with an assistantship). 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.