Requirements for New Students

Welcome to Tufts! We're excited to have you as a new student on the Medford/Somerville and SMFA campuses. If you're an incoming first-year, a transfer student, or an incoming graduate student, you’ve come to the right place to find answers to questions about health requirements, health insurance, and any other health-related concerns. 

To maintain the health of our Jumbo Herd, we have several pre-entrance health requirements that you need to complete. Pay attention to these deadlines, as missing them could result in a hold on your registration or additional charges that cannot be refunded. 

 

Deadlines

Form	Date When Available	Deadline to Complete	Where to Complete or Upload
Pre-entrance Health History Form	June 1, 2023	July 1, 2023	Patient Portal
Required Immunizations/Vaccinations	June 1, 2023	July 1, 2023	Patient Portal
Tuberculosis (TB) Risk Assessment Questionnaire	June 1, 2023	July 1, 2023	Patient Portal
Health Insurance (Waive Student Health Insurance or be automatically enrolled)	June 1, 2023	July 31, 2023	Student Information System (SIS)
Optional Tuition Insurance	TBD; summer 2023	September 5, 2023	Dewar Tuition Refund Plan

 

Mandatory Medical Forms (Patient Portal)

Your Patient Portal will be available to you June 1, 2023. You will need your Tufts username and password to log in. It should take you 30 minutes or less to complete these three forms. Note: your completed Required Immunizations Form AND TB Risk Assessment Form will need a medical provider’s signature, so print both out and get them completed as soon as you can and before July 1st. 

Pre-entrance Health History Form

For Health & Wellness to have an idea of your needs, we ask that you complete a Health History Form. This information is kept completely confidential and is not shared outside of the Health Service or Counseling and Mental Health Service. None of your professors, coaches, advisors, or anyone else will have access to your info. More information about patient confidentiality is here. 

Required Immunizations

To complete this requirement, you will need to get a signature from a medical provider indicating that you have received all required immunizations, and the month and year when you received them. 

Accommodations and Waivers for Immunizations:

• Massachusetts law does not allow philosophical exemptions for immunizations.
• To request a medical or religious accommodation, please complete the applicable immunization accommodation request form.
• All students living in a dorm or other group housing are required to receive the meningococcal vaccine unless they sign a waiver or qualify for an exemption.

Tuberculosis (TB) Risk Assessment Questionnaire

If you answer yes to any of the 3 TB risk assessment questions, you will need further testing; you will need to have been tested between March and September 2023. If you require further TB testing and you have paid the Health and Wellness Fee, you can contact the Health Service at 617-627-3350 for an appointment.

All three of the above requirements must be completed by July 1, 2023. 

If you miss this deadline, there will be a hold placed on your Student Information (SIS) account and you will not be able to register for classes. The hold will be removed after the requirements are completed.

• Please allow 10 business days for us to review the records you submit. If we need additional information, we will contact you via the Patient Portal. 
• Once your submitted forms have been approved, you will receive a message via the Patient Portal and will see a green checkmark on your checklist indicating that the registration hold will be lifted within 48 hours.
• If a required immunization isn’t available in your country, or the timing of getting your next immunization dose means you won’t meet the July 1 deadline, contact the Immunization Reviewer via the Patient Portal after June 1 for next steps. 

Create your Student Health Insurance Account

Insurance requirements and waiver found on Student Information Systems (SIS)

All undergraduate and graduate students in Massachusetts are required by law to have health insurance. On June 1, you will be automatically enrolled in the University’s student health insurance plan through UnitedHealthcare Student Resources (UHCSR). 

If you’re covered by another insurance policy that meets our requirements for coverage that’s comparable to UHCSR, you can opt out/waive the UHCSR insurance through your SIS/Bursar account before the July 31 deadline. Disenrollment and/or refunds are not available after July 31. 

Every year, the charge will appear in your SIS account at the beginning of July. You can waive out every year if you have comparable coverage.

How to opt out of UHCSR/Student Health Insurance before July 31

1. Visit your Student Information Services (SIS) account.
2. Click on the Bills & Balances tab to access the Health Insurance Waiver.
3. Clicking on the Submit Waiver hyperlink will transfer you to the UnitedHealthcare Student Center where you will answer questions and provide your insurance policy information (a scanned and legible copy of the front and back of your current insurance card). 
   1. We partner with United HealthCare for the waiver process, but you are not enrolling in their insurance by going through the waiver process on their website. 
4. Once the waiver is approved, a credit will be applied to your SIS account within one business day.
5. If your waiver is denied, you can send an email to studenthealthinsurance@tufts.edu with the reason for appealing your denial. We will get back to you with a response. 
   1. Some insurance plans that market themselves to international students do not meet the requirements for comparable coverage, so it is important to review the requirements carefully. 

Parent/Family Help with Insurance Waivers

We know these processes can be confusing. Your family can help you out with insurance waivers if you are not enrolling in UHCSR. 

To give them access through SIS:

• Grant them access as an “Invited Viewer” to your SIS account. 
  • You will want to give them access to both Bills and Balances AND Insurance Waiver
  • For more information about this process, please visit the Registrar’s Invited Viewer Access webpage.
  • Making them an Invited Viewer will not give them any access to your private health information. 

If you are automatically enrolling in UHCSR/Student Health Insurance 

• Don’t waive the student health insurance in SIS. 
• You won’t see a green checkmark on your checklist next to insurance waiver, as you have not waived
• You will be able to download your insurance card from the UHCSR portal after August 17. 
• You do not need to upload a copy of your insurance card to the Patient Portal.

If you are waiving the UHCSR health insurance, your waiver and documentation must be completed by July 31, 2023. 

Disenrollment and refunds from UHCSR will not be available after this date.

For more information about health insurance, contact studenthealthinsurance@tufts.edu. 

 

Tuition Insurance (Optional)

Tufts offers an Optional Tuition Insurance plan that many students and families have found useful. Tuition insurance allows students who need to take medical leave (for physical or mental health reasons) to recoup some tuition payments for that year. 

Tufts’ Tuition Refund Plan (TRP) is administered by A.W.G. Dewar, Inc. The updated application with costs will be available later this summer. If you wish to enroll for the Fall semester, please submit the application and payment before the first day of classes, September 5, 2023.

 Applications cannot be accepted after that date. Questions can be directed to Dewar at 617-774-1555.

• Learn More about Coverage
• View the Application

Health Service

If you have paid the Health and Wellness Fee, we are your primary health care site and offer in-person or virtual appointments, depending on your health care needs and schedule. Office visits are covered for all undergraduate and graduate students who have paid the Health and Wellness fee. We have a lab on site as well as a pharmacy that delivers. For more information you can visit our website.

Counseling and Mental Health Service

Counseling is available to all Tufts undergraduates and to graduate students who have paid the Health and Wellness fee. Learn about the services offered by Counseling and Mental Health. 

Health Promotion

Through education and prevention initiatives, we provide resources related to alcohol and drugs, nutrition, physical activity, sleep, and stress management among others. We utilize a public health approach focusing on the impact of the environment on healthy communities and work collaboratively with undergraduates, graduate students, and student groups. For more information you can visit our website.

• Contact Us with Health Insurance and Billing Questions
• Health Insurance Waiver Process and Tuition Insurance 
• After-Hours Information
• Fletcher Admissions
• GSAS Admitted Students