DeKALB | Today is the last day for NIU students to either sign up for or waive the NIU Student Health Insurance Plan.

Students who take at least nine on-campus credit hours, as well as all international students, are automatically enrolled in the plan by Health Services; however, students with at least six, but fewer than nine, on-campus hours must sign up. International students are not eligible to drop the plan.

The NIU insurance plan, which doesn’t include dental or vision coverage, costs $327 a semester and covers up to 80 percent of all costs related to injury or illness.

“We encourage students not to waive the insurance, because it’s better to have more coverage,” Student Insurance supervisor Regina Crosby said. “And we actually encourage graduates to keep it because it covers them for three additional months.”

Crosby said that the NIU Student Health Insurance Plan will help pick up what some family plans won’t. Students must have an alternate insurance plan to waive NIU’s.

Rather than going to the Health Services building, students can fill out the insurance waiver at NIU’s Web site, which Crosby said is more convenient for students.

“We felt we had a better opportunity to distribute information online and have gotten positive feedback.”

For more information, students can visit the Student Insurance Office in the Health Services building, Room 201, or call 753-0122.