Colleges Universities Professional Schools Insurance Policy Information
Colleges Universities Professional Schools Insurance. Higher learning institutions face a variety of unique risks that require specialized insurance protection. From students participating in sports to the inherent dangers of running chemistry classes and taking students on field trips, there's a lot that higher educational institutions need to manage and protect.
And that's in addition to the typical issues most businesses prepare for like property damage or loss of critical files and records.
Colleges & universities provide educational services for beyond the elementary and secondary levels. A university generally consists of two or more colleges, each devoted to a particular area of study such as education, liberal arts, or business.
They may be publicly funded from state and federal tax dollars or privately funded through donations, particularly donations from alumni. Additional funding comes from tuition, fees, bookstores, admissions to sporting and cultural events, fund raisers, and licensing of miscellaneous goods and apparel bearing the institution's name or logo.
Exposures vary depending on the type of student, courses offered, and whether meals and dormitory facilities are available to students.
As a higher learning institution, finding the right colleges universities professional schools insurance program is just as important as finding the right teachers, books, and curriculum. Colleges, universities, and professional schools insurance provides coverage to all your resources, as well as your students.
Colleges universities professional schools insurance protects your institution from lawsuits with rates as low as $47/mo. Get a fast quote and your certificate of insurance now.
Below are some answers to commonly asked colleges, universities & professional schools insurance questions:
- What Is Colleges, Universities & Professional School Insurance?
- How Much Does Colleges, Universities & Professional Schools Insurance Cost?
- Why Do Colleges, Universities & Professional Schools Need Insurance?
- What Type Of Insurance Do Colleges, Universities & Professional Schools Need?
- What Does Colleges, Universities & Professional School Insurance Cover & Pay For?
What Is Colleges, Universities & Professional School Insurance?
Colleges, Universities & Professional School Insurance is a type of insurance coverage designed specifically for educational institutions. It provides protection against various risks and liabilities that educational institutions face, such as:
- Cyber liability
- Fraud and embezzlement
- Legal defense costs
- Liability for personal injury or property damage to students, staff, or visitors
- Liability for sexual abuse or molestation
- Property damage or loss
- Reputation and privacy protection
This insurance coverage is designed to help colleges, universities, and professional schools protect their assets, reduce their exposure to potential risks and liabilities, and ensure that their operations continue smoothly in the event of unexpected losses or claims.
How Much Does Colleges, Universities & Professional Schools Insurance Cost?
The average price of a standard $1,000,000/$2,000,000 General Liability Insurance policy for small colleges, universities and professional schools ranges from $47 to $89 per month based on location, number of enrolled students, serviced offered, payroll, sales and experience.
Why Do Colleges, Universities & Professional Schools Need Insurance?
here are some reasons that Colleges, Universities & Professional Schools need insurance:
Liability Protection: Colleges and universities are vulnerable to lawsuits from students, employees, and third parties. Insurance provides liability coverage to protect against potential claims and lawsuits.
Property Coverage: The physical assets of colleges and universities, such as buildings, equipment, and grounds, are valuable and need to be protected against losses due to natural disasters, theft, or vandalism.
Cybersecurity: With the increasing use of technology in education, colleges and universities are also at risk of cyber attacks and data breaches. Insurance provides protection against potential losses due to cybercrime.
Student Health and Safety: With students living and studying on campus, colleges and universities need to provide insurance coverage for students' health and safety in the event of an emergency.
Financial Protection: Insurance also provides financial protection to colleges and universities in the event of a crisis, such as a natural disaster or pandemic, which could result in a loss of revenue or significant expenses.
Overall, insurance provides peace of mind to colleges, universities, and professional schools by providing protection against potential losses and risks.
What Type Of Insurance Do Colleges, Universities & Professional Schools Need?
Here are some of the different types of insurance policies that colleges universities professional schools insurance can purchase:
General Liability Insurance: This type of colleges universities professional schools insurance covers things like accidents, injuries or property damage on school grounds.
General liability insurance may also cover some types of non-physical harm, such as damage to reputation or other kinds of professional disputes which can be brought against a school. A common claim for schools is slip and fall type incidents.
Professional Liability Insurance: This policy helps to protect institutions if a student believes they've suffered a loss due to a mistake or error made in a professional capacity. AN example would be something the student was taught caused the student to injure himself or others.
The learning institution may have contracts that require professional liability coverage (also know as errors and omissions (E&O).
Student Accident Insurance: Protecting the health and welfare of students is a concern that all schools face each and every day. Student accident insurance helps ease those concerns by providing benefits for injuries that occur during school hours and or school-sponsored and supervised activities (i.e., athletics, gym class, playground, field trips, etc.).
This colleges universities professional schools insurance provides coverage in respect of all the medical expenses resulting from an accident regardless of blame.
For a claimant / injured party to be successful they will have to take legal action against the school and prove the school was negligent in their duty of care.
Contents Insurance: As a educational institution, the challenges you face each day can be complex - dealing with safety issues, aging infrastructure, and more. The contents insurance product addresses those risks so you can focus on what matters most. It covers the schools contents, equipment and any stock items that are kept on the premises.
To make sure that sums insured are accurate, it is a good idea to carry out an inventory of replacement costs of all items. These can then be placed in to separate sections helping the insurer distinguished between general contents such as tables, desks & chairs and high risk items such as computers & electrical equipment. Examples of covered hazards are:
- A pipe bursts in the library, destroying computer equipment and many books.
- A fire in the academic building causes significant property damage and requires classes to move to a nearby facility.
Loss of Business Income Protection: This colleges universities professional schools insurance coverage will help your school compensate for the loss of money you would have earned if you are forced to temporarily close your doors due to a covered loss.
Computer and Data Coverage: Protection for your school's computer hardware, data processing systems and software if damaged or destroyed by a covered loss.
How To Buy Education Insurance
The education sector requires specialist attention from insurance brokers with an in-depth knowledge of the different exposures and coverage requirements of individual organizations. The legal liability exposure of different institutions is different and identification of these individual exposures, together with the risk management controls in place, is key to a broker's ability to secure a competitively priced and appropriately worded comprehensive insurance program.
Universities' And College's Risks & Exposures
Premises liability exposures are significant due to the age and number of students on premises. Furnishings and recreational equipment must be well maintained to prevent injury to students. Slips and falls can be prevented with good housekeeping and by maintaining floor coverings in good condition, with no frayed or worn spots on carpet and no cracks or holes in flooring, and prompt cleanup of spills.
Sufficient exits must be provided and be well marked, with backup lighting systems in case of power failure. Parking lots and sidewalks need to be in good repair with snow and ice removed, and generally level and free of exposure to slips and falls. Procedures for all emergencies should be posted, with employees trained to use them. Evacuation drills should be practiced on a regular basis.
Security issues are becoming more critical in educational settings. Access to the building must be limited during the hours of operation to prevent unauthorized access or kidnapping. If there are dormitories, supervisors' references must be verified, including a criminal background check.
Immunizations should be required for each student, along with an emergency medical contact. There should be written policies regarding when a student is too ill to attend class, and when the facility will contact parents or medical emergency providers in the event of illness or an accident. If the college or university has an on-premises medical clinic or police staff, professional liability coverage may be needed. Off-premises exposures can include athletic or academic competitions, musical or theatrical performances, field trips, class trips, overseas semesters, and research and development activities.
Personal and advertising injury exposures include wrongful expulsion, invasion of privacy, unauthorized or intrusive searches, failure to prevent intimidation, humiliation, hazing or bullying by instructors or other students, false arrest or detention, slander and libel from publishing or broadcasting activities, professor publications, including research stealing and disputes, or copyright or patent infringement. Written procedures should be in place.
Directors and officers exposure arise from decisions and actions of board members. Policies and procedures should be published and consistently followed, especially as they relate to election of officers, and removal of officers.
Professional liability exposure is high due to the number of professors, counselors, nurses or doctors employed by the educational institution. Verification of professional credentials is critical. Educational standards must be in writing and meet all criteria for state and federal licensing and accreditation.
Abuse and molestation exposure is moderate as most college or university students are adults, but must be considered if there is a day care on premises or students are sent to schools or other facilities with young children as part of their education and training.
No coverage is available for the abuser. While there is some coverage available in the standard market for the college or university where the abuse takes place, it is very restricted. More complete coverage should be purchased through specialized markets. The college or university must take all care possible to protect children from predatory adults through background checks, monitoring and supervision, and reporting all allegations of abuse to the proper authorities.
Workers compensation exposure is moderate due to the use of equipment and interactions with students. Use of computer keyboards can result in repetitive motion injuries. Workstations should be ergonomically designed. Laboratory research can result in burns, explosions, contact with pathogens, and respiratory illness. Moving equipment can result in strains and sprains. Items can fall, injuring workers.
Kitchen workers can incur cuts, scalds, and burns. Instructors working with animals can be bitten or scratched. Instructors often travel with students and may intervene to prevent them from getting injured. Employees may need to intervene in student altercations, subjecting themselves to possible harm. Exposure to communicable disease can be high.
All employees should have up-to-date immunizations to prevent the spread of communicable disease. Unauthorized visitors can pose a threat to employees as well as students.
Property exposure is from equipment, machinery or wiring. All wiring should be well maintained and up to code. Business personal property includes paper, books, wood and/or plastic furnishings that increase the fire load.
Some classes increase the potential for fire, including cooking in home economics, wood and metal working in shop or art classes, and chemicals and burners used in chemistry classes. Flammables used for class and for cleaning must be stored in approved containers away from combustibles. Extinguishing equipment must be easily accessible. If meals are prepared on premises, all cooking equipment must be properly protected. Housekeeping must be excellent. Colleges are often targets for vandalism and malicious mischief. There should be after-hours security to prevent unauthorized access.
Business income exposure can be high if specialized classroom building, dormitory, research facility, theater or concert hall, stadium or arena is shut down after a loss. A disaster plan should be in place identifying temporary facilities and suppliers that could be used in the event of a loss.
Crime exposure is from employee dishonesty and theft of money and securities. Background checks should be performed on all employees handling money. If cash is received for tuition or from donations, receipts should be provided. Bank deposits should be made on a timely basis to prevent the buildup of cash on premises. Duties must be separated and books must be audited both internally and externally. The external audits should be conducted at least annually.
Should students assist in collecting cash in parking lots, concession stands, or for special events, there must be adequate supervision to prevent pilfering. Cash from bookstores and ticket booths must be periodically picked up, tallied, verified, and deposited in a drop safe pending transfer to a bank. Large cash deposits may require the use of an armored car service.
Inland marine exposure includes accounts receivable for payments from donors, parents and students, audio-visual equipment for items transported between classrooms, computers for offices and classrooms, contractors' equipment for machinery used to maintain the premises, valuable papers and records for student records and library books. Duplicates should be made of all data and kept off premises.
There may be fine arts, including paintings, sculptures and antiques. Security should be appropriate for the value of the items. Musical instrument coverage may be needed if the college or university owns instruments that are taken home by students or used off premises in performances. Because college or universitys often stage theatrical productions, a theatrical floater may be needed to cover costumes, scenery, and backdrops. An animal floater may be needed if the college or university offers courses in veterinary science or uses animals for research.
Commercial auto exposure is very high if the college or university regularly transports students. All drivers must have the appropriate license for the type of transport specified. MVRs must be acceptable and checked regularly. Procedures must be in place regarding trips, length of travel, sleep time for drivers and backup plans in case the driver becomes ill. All vehicles must be well maintained and records kept at a central location. If the institution hires contractors to provide transportation for students and staff, it must verify that the contractor has adequate insurance coverage.
What Does Colleges, Universities & Professional School Insurance Cover & Pay For?
Colleges, universities, and professional schools can be sued for a variety of reasons, including but not limited to:
- Discrimination: A student or employee may sue a school for discrimination based on their race, gender, age, religion, or other protected status.
- Sexual harassment and assault: A student or employee may sue a school for failing to prevent or address sexual harassment or assault.
- Wrongful termination: An employee may sue a school for wrongful termination or retaliation for whistleblowing or reporting misconduct.
- Breach of contract: A student or employee may sue a school for breach of contract, such as not fulfilling promises made in an enrollment agreement or employment contract.
- Negligence: A student or employee may sue a school for negligence, such as failing to maintain a safe campus or providing inadequate medical care.
To protect themselves from these and other risks, schools can purchase insurance coverage, such as:
General liability insurance: This coverage protects against lawsuits arising from bodily injury, property damage, or personal injury claims such as defamation or invasion of privacy.
Employment practices liability insurance: This coverage protects against lawsuits related to employment practices, including discrimination, wrongful termination, and sexual harassment.
Educators legal liability insurance: This coverage protects against lawsuits related to education, including claims of negligence in the classroom or failing to provide a safe learning environment.
Cyber liability insurance: This coverage protects against lawsuits arising from data breaches or other cyber incidents.
Directors and officers liability insurance: This coverage protects against lawsuits against the school's leadership, such as claims of mismanagement or breach of fiduciary duty.
If a school is sued, their insurance coverage can help pay for legal expenses and settlements or judgments against the school. For example, if a student sues a school for discrimination and wins a settlement of $500,000, the school's insurance policy may cover some or all of that amount, depending on the specific policy terms and limits.
Without insurance, the school would have to pay the entire amount out of pocket, which could be financially devastating.
Commercial Insurance And Business Industry Classification
- SIC CODE: 8221 Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools, 8222 Junior Colleges and Technical Institutes
- NAICS CODE: 611210 Junior Colleges, 611310 Colleges, Universities and Professional Schools
- Suggested Workers Compensation Code(s): 8868 School - Professional Employees & Clerical, 9101 School - All Other Employees
8221: Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools
Division I: Services | Major Group 82: Educational Services | Industry Group 822: Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools
8221: Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools: Colleges, universities, and professional schools furnishing academic courses and granting academic degrees. The requirement for admission is at least a high school diploma or equivalent general academic training.
- Colleges except junior
- Professional schools: eg dental engineering law medical
- Seminaries theological
- Service academies (college)
- Theological seminaries
- Universities
8222: Junior Colleges and Technical Institutes
Division I: Services | Major Group 82: Educational Services | Industry Group 822: Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools
8222: Junior Colleges and Technical Institutes: Junior colleges and technical institutes furnishing academic, or academic and technical, courses and granting associate academic degrees, certificates, or diplomas. The requirement for admission is at least a high school diploma or equivalent general academic training. Schools having junior college grades in conjunction with secondary grades are classified in Industry 8211.
- Community colleges (junior)
- Junior colleges
- Technical institutes
Colleges Universities Professional Schools Insurance - The Bottom Line
Economic and demographic developments are changing the way educational institutions are structured and operated. Since the 1980s, major risk factors have emerged in the education sector - including sexual molestation, inappropriate dealings with students and reputational damage. In this landscape, having the right insurance program is more important than ever.
Additional Resources For Education, Colleges, Universities & Schools Insurance
Learn about small business commercial insurance for educators that helps protecting your professional reputation and other legal liabilities arising from your educational services.
- Art School
- Beauty School
- Charter School
- Chiropractic Schools
- Colleges, Universities & Professional Schools
- Driving Schools
- Educational Services
- Language School
- Microschools
- Music Schools
- Private Schools
- Real Estate School
- Tutoring
- Specialty Schools And Education
Education, colleges, universities, and schools are integral parts of our society, responsible for shaping the minds and futures of our youth. These institutions have a significant impact on the community and play a vital role in the growth and development of our society.
However, as with any business, education institutions also face a variety of risks and challenges. These risks can range from accidents and injuries on campus to financial loss due to lawsuits or property damage.
In order to protect against these risks and ensure that they can continue to provide high-quality education to their students, it is essential for education institutions to have business insurance. This insurance can provide coverage for a variety of potential issues, including:
Liability: If a student is injured on campus or a teacher is sued for misconduct, education institutions can be held liable. Liability insurance can provide coverage for legal fees and settlements, helping to protect the institution's financial stability.
Property damage: Natural disasters, fires, and other unexpected events can cause significant damage to education institutions. Commercial property insurance can provide coverage for repairs and replacements, helping to minimize the financial impact of these events.
Loss of income: If an education institution is forced to close due to an unforeseen event, such as a pandemic, it can result in significant financial loss. Business insurance can provide coverage for lost income, helping to mitigate the impact on the institution's financial stability.
In conclusion, education institutions, such as colleges, universities, and schools, need insurance to protect against the various risks and challenges they face. This insurance can help to ensure that these institutions can continue to provide high-quality education and support to their students and communities.
Minimum recommended small business insurance coverage: Building, Business Personal Property, Business Income and Extra Expense, Employee Dishonesty, Money and Securities, Accounts Receivable, Commercial Articles Floater, Computers, Valuable Papers and Records, General Liability, Directors and Officers, Employee Benefits, Professional, Umbrella, Business Auto Liability and Physical Damage, Hired and Nonownd Auto & Workers Compensation.
Other commercial insurance policies to consider: Earthquake, Equipment Breakdown, Flood, Spoilage, Computer Fraud, Extortion, Animal Floater, Contractors' Equipment, Fine Arts, Musical Instruments, Theatrical Floater, Cyber Liability, Employment-related Practices, Stop Gap Liability and Active Shooter.
