NSF GRFP 2011-2012

[Jana Olson]

Thanks to Anthroman, rng, and Pitangus:

It's good to hear reports of successful deferment from multiple commenters. Makes me feel a little less like I'm jumping off the diving board accepting the NSF award before I hear back from the DOE. Thanks guys/gals!

[AnnzPB]

Does anyone know whether we can use the cost of education (COE) allowance ($12,500) this year to cover the annual costs of student health insurance? My school requires all graduate students to have health insurance. Since I'm over 26, getting student health insurance through my school is my only option for coverage, so I'm wondering whether I can have that paid for through the COE allowance or whether I have to use my monthly stipend to cover the cost. Thanks in advance for the help, everyone! Really appreciate it.

[ImGrumpy]

From FAQs, March 2012 on NSF site

169. May my health insurance be charged to the COE allowance?

The actual use of the COE Allowance is at the discretion of the GRFP Institution.

I suggest you check with the CO at your institution and see if they use part of the COE Allowance to cover Medical Insurance.

Edited April 26, 2012 by ImGrumpy

[AnnzPB]

From FAQs, March 2012 on NSF site

169. May my health insurance be charged to the COE allowance?

The actual use of the COE Allowance is at the discretion of the GRFP Institution.

I suggest you check with the CO at your institution and see if they use part of the COE Allowance to cover Medical Insurance.

Thanks for the reply, ImGrumpy. I did see that too in the FAQs, but I'm wondering if anyone has had experience with this already. I'll be going to a school that doesn't get that many NSF award recipients (much more weighted towards NIH/NIMH grants), and so I'm hoping to have some sense of what other people have done at their schools before I go into having a conversation with my coordinating officer. I'd love to hear thoughts/experiences from any current/past NSF folks if possible. Thanks everyone!

[ImGrumpy]

Thanks for the reply, ImGrumpy. I did see that too in the FAQs, but I'm wondering if anyone has had experience with this already. I'll be going to a school that doesn't get that many NSF award recipients (much more weighted towards NIH/NIMH grants), and so I'm hoping to have some sense of what other people have done at their schools before I go into having a conversation with my coordinating officer. I'd love to hear thoughts/experiences from any current/past NSF folks if possible. Thanks everyone!

Since you are at a UT system school, the experiences from NSF folks outside of that system are not going to be any help to you negotiating insurance benefits. UT system has a documented insurance policy in place that is simply not up for negotiation. As of 2010 or 2011, the legislature (yes, in Texas the legislature dictates some of the guidelines) allowed graduate students with Fellowships of at least $10,000 per year to join the employee insurance program-BCBS (prior to this they had to use student insurance). The legislature had previously provided that GA/RA individuals would have 1/2 of their cost covered but that each individual campus could choose to cover the other half. I'm assuming those holding Fellowships of $10,000 or more now fall under the same guidelines. Again, assumption only.

Because Southwestern operates under so many NIH/NIMH grants that require insurance be provided and are actually allowed to bill for a portion of this seperate from the instituitional grant, they may simply extend that policy to all Fellowship recipients even if the money cannot be billed seperately to the granting organization. In that case, the department will have to pick up the remaining 1/2 of the insurance cost. Southwestern already has a policy in place that determines if they are picking up the extra 1/2 insurance costs that the state of texas does not cover. That policy will apply to you.

Regardless of whether the school has ever gotten a recipient of a grant from any particular funding source before, they have written policies in place that describe what will be covered in the event an institutional grant amount from ANY source does not cover all expenses. Those are the policies that will be followed and no negotiation is possible.

So, again I say, just check with your CO and your department. They will be able to explain the policies already in place at your institution.

And if you have chosen a school other than Southwestern, my guess is that school also already has written policies in place that will be followed and no negotiation on this matter is possible regardless of what anyone else's experience is.

[AnnzPB]

Since you are at a UT system school, the experiences from NSF folks outside of that system are not going to be any help to you negotiating insurance benefits. UT system has a documented insurance policy in place that is simply not up for negotiation. As of 2010 or 2011, the legislature (yes, in Texas the legislature dictates some of the guidelines) allowed graduate students with Fellowships of at least $10,000 per year to join the employee insurance program-BCBS (prior to this they had to use student insurance). The legislature had previously provided that GA/RA individuals would have 1/2 of their cost covered but that each individual campus could choose to cover the other half. I'm assuming those holding Fellowships of $10,000 or more now fall under the same guidelines. Again, assumption only.

Because Southwestern operates under so many NIH/NIMH grants that require insurance be provided and are actually allowed to bill for a portion of this seperate from the instituitional grant, they may simply extend that policy to all Fellowship recipients even if the money cannot be billed seperately to the granting organization. In that case, the department will have to pick up the remaining 1/2 of the insurance cost. Southwestern already has a policy in place that determines if they are picking up the extra 1/2 insurance costs that the state of texas does not cover. That policy will apply to you.

Regardless of whether the school has ever gotten a recipient of a grant from any particular funding source before, they have written policies in place that describe what will be covered in the event an institutional grant amount from ANY source does not cover all expenses. Those are the policies that will be followed and no negotiation is possible.

So, again I say, just check with your CO and your department. They will be able to explain the policies already in place at your institution.

And if you have chosen a school other than Southwestern, my guess is that school also already has written policies in place that will be followed and no negotiation on this matter is possible regardless of what anyone else's experience is.

That was really helpful, ImGrumpy. Thank you so much for the info! Really appreciate it.