How Morehouse College Uses Tuition Insurance to Support Student Success

For Michelle Burwell, Director of Student Financial Services at Morehouse College, GradGuard has become a valuable partner in helping students stay on track toward their degrees. "When students find themselves having maybe an issue that they have to stop this semester, GradGuard picks right up and helps," she says.

Before GradGuard came aboard, Morehouse did not offer any tuition insurance. There were situations where students might have needed that protection but had no idea it even existed. Burwell wants to make sure students who step away have the opportunity to come back and finish their education — and tuition insurance helps remove a barrier that would otherwise keep many of them from returning. As she explains it, GradGuard Tuition Insurance protects students from losing money against their tuition, reducing a barrier that would typically prevent them from coming back.

Burwell brought GradGuard to Morehouse based on her experience using the company at another institution, where she found them to be such a valuable asset that she wanted the same partnership at her current organization. The tuition insurance is embedded directly into Morehouse's Tiger Pay account, so when students log into their self-service portal, the insurance offer pops right up. Parents and students are now well aware of the product because Morehouse is very vocal about it, including advertising it during new student orientation. Participation has grown year over year as a result.

For Burwell, the partnership is something to be excited about because it directly reduces barriers and helps students continue their education at Morehouse. "I would definitely recommend tuition insurance through GradGuard," she says, "and the reason why I would do that is because you give your families peace of mind."