University of North Carolina Wilmington Enhances Student Support with Tuition Insurance
The University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW) offers tuition insurance to help students and families protect their investment in higher education. GradGuard Tuition Insurance integrates with TouchNet’s Bill+Payment to offer a tuition protection and payment solution within one system.
Katie South, Assistant Director of Student Accounts, says she was relieved when she first learned about GradGuard.
“It was a great option, and I enjoy getting to talk about it with families,” South said.
South introduces GradGuard during new student and parent orientations, emphasizing its value in how it can provide reimbursement for withdrawals due to covered reasons, including serious illnesses, injuries, and mental health conditions, when institutional refunds are limited. She says families were more drawn to the program recently, as aging parents and job market uncertainty add to the challenges of paying for college. GradGuard Tuition Insurance also includes loss of employment of a tuition payer and death of a tuition payer as covered reasons.
UNCW offers GradGuard Tuition Insurance directly through its TouchNet payment solution, Bill+Payment. Through this integration, students and families can easily view and purchase GradGuard Tuition Insurance while paying tuition and managing their student account. This seamless connection within their existing payment system provides convenient access to important financial protection tools — promoting financial wellness and peace of mind without adding administrative burden for the school.
Bringing the tuition insurance and billing solutions together was smooth for UNCW. Once a student is logged into their account, they must review and acknowledge the university’s refund policy before seeing the insurance offer, boosting financial literacy and informed decision-making. Reinforcing financial literacy ensures students and families are aware that school won’t provide a refund for withdrawals past a certain date, so that they can make decisions that are best for them.
“There’s no heavy lifting on our part,” South said. “As the person who manages it, that part is super easy. And it helps the students and families.”
South is also a fan of GradGuard’s “consent manager” feature, which records policy acknowledgement and supports transparency.
“It reassures us and helps families understand the limits of what we can do as a state institution.”
BOTTOM LINE
By partnering with GradGuard, UNCW empowers students and families with the knowledge and tools to navigate the financial risks of college life.
“It’s nice to be able to point to that option for people who have concerns,” South said. “We’re not selling it. And parents are pleased or relieved to have that option available to them because it’s a big investment for their students to go to school.”
GradGuard Tuition Insurance promotes financial literacy by helping schools disclose their refund policy and can protect families from a financial loss if their student is forced to withdraw due to a covered reason.
Together, TouchNet and GradGuard help institutions advance financial wellness by making it simple for students and families to access affordable protection against unexpected financial losses — all within the same secure solution they already use to manage their education expenses.
