tuition insurance: not even kidding–3 reasons you NEED it

It’s crazy, all of the things we need to think about as parents, isn’t it? Healthcare, school community, family dynamics. Vaccinations, online safety, and friendships. It can be so much. 

So, when I come across something that is recommended to me by a reliable source or good pal, I tend to go with it. 

I didn’t have the bandwidth to do the legwork and research needed to find an orthodontist, so when we realized that Maddy was in dire need of some teeth-straightening, I reached out to a friend of mine. She had just gone through the ortho-research process. She interviewed local orthodontic practices, and she figured out the best fit for her family.Knowing my pal was a pretty thorough researcher and that we were on the same page about many things, I went with the same practice she chose. And now, we couldn’t be happier with our ortho. We love them. 

In the same way, I know that as we get closer and closer to the college search process (HOLD. ME.), I’ll again lean on those friends of mine who have already walked through the process. And why not? There is so much to learn when it comes to college these days. It is a totally and completely different ballgame than it was for us almost 30 years ago.

Several of my friends have recently been talking about college Tuition Insurance. Yes, you heard me: College Tuition Insurance. I’m not even kidding. 

If you haven’t heard of it, you’re not alone. 86% of parents don’t know about it, but they should.

Research shows that more than half of all parents are worried about the financial investment of college and that over a quarter of parents have already been saving for ten or more years. 

Let me share a bit about what I have recently learned about Tuition Insurance—Liberty Mutual Tuition Insurance, specifically—because before this summer, I had never heard of it before, and now I’m pretty convinced we won’t go without it.

Here’s the skinny. . . 

Tuition Insurance: Not Even Kidding–3 Reasons You NEED It

Friends, I’m going to keep this pretty darn simple because, if you’re anything like me, even the mere mention of college is enough to move me into a full-fledged panic attack. 

First, what even is Tuition Insurance? 

Tuition Insurance is simply a new product offered by Liberty Mutual Insurance to help protect families if a student has to withdraw from school. With this kind of coverage, students will be protected should the following arise and they have to unexpectedly withdraw, including: 

• Illnesses such as mono or a severe case of the flu;
• unexpected situations such as suffering from a broken leg that require surgery. Crazy to think about, right? But when you start to think about how often life throws us curveballs, it kind of makes sense. 

Here are my quickie 3 reasons you should strongly consider looking into Tuition Insurance:

(I know we’re all busy, so know that there’s a boatload of more detailed info you can find on the Liberty Mutual website!)

1.) You need Liberty Mutual Tuition Insurance because college is a huge investment.

College is a craaaazy-huge investment. Like, we will start getting the biggest bills for our kids that many of us have ever seen–ever. 

I am no expert here, but a quick Google search led me to this, from US News & World Report:

The average tuition and fees at an in-state public college is 73 percent less than the average sticker price at a private college, at $9,716 for the 2018-2019 year compared with $35,676, respectively, U.S. News data show. Among U.S. News-ranked private institutions, more than 100 private colleges charge at least $50,000 or more in sticker price for the current academic year, according to tuition and fees data reported to U.S. News by 737 ranked private institutions. Only a few ranked private colleges and universities—49—list a full rate price of less than $20,000 for 2018-2019.

If your child is accepted into an in-state private college, the tuition could be $35,676 for one year. That. Is. Insanity.  So, imagine what that bill would look like before the semester begins? Many of us will put every, single cent we have saved into that first semester payment. And then it’s gone. 

We really need to consider having that kind of investment protected if we can. If we are able. With Liberty Mutual Tuition Insurance, the entire cost of tuition is protected for only 1% of the cost of tuition, making it an affordable and reliable way to protect your college investment.

2.) You need Liberty Mutual Tuition Insurance because life is unpredictable. 

I know about a dozen people who were hit with mono during their college years. Some had to miss weeks and weeks of classes, and some had to pull out for the semester. Imagine if they paid for the semester and then got ill after the deadline for tuition reimbursement or a safe withdraw? That’s a lot of money lost.

I can’t even get into all of the instances of life being unpredictable, throwing you a right hook when you were bracing for a leftie. In the scheme of things, we can control only a fraction of our life. At this point in the game, I’m willing to do just about anything I can do make this as easy a ride as possible!

Tuition Insurance is purchased before classes begin in order to offer protection for the entire semester or school year. It’s one thing we can do to set our minds at ease. 

3.) You need Liberty Mutual Tuition Insurance because so much has changed since we’ve been in college.

College is different today than it was 30 years ago, so we need to adapt and change accordingly. We can’t assume our kids will have the same kind of experience that we did since they’re walking a totally different walk.

They’ll do absolutely everything different than we did; from the college search to meeting the college roommate or from registering for classes to submitting classwork, it’s all new. So one new thing we can do, as parents, to make totally rock this process can start by heading to LibertyMutual.com/tuitioninsurance to get a quote.

All you have to do is answer a few short questions, and you’re on your way. It’s super easy.

We can do this. 

Friends, I know we can do this. 

College may be here for your kiddos, or it may be looming on the horizon. Either way, I know we can do this because we can do hard things. Let’s take whatever we can off our plate so that we all can enjoy this new and exciting ride.

Learn more here: libertymutual.com/tuitioninsurance

Connect with the good people at Liberty Mutual:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/libertymutual
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/LibertyMutual
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/libertymutual/
• Follow the hashtag:  #TuitionInsurance

fyi: This post was written as part of a partnership with Liberty Mutual Insurance, but as always, my ideas and opinions are all my own, influenced only by my experience as a parent and educator.