SHIP Fees and Enrollment

All registered UC Berkeley students, including registered international students, are automatically enrolled in the Berkeley Student Health Insurance Plan (SHIP) and charged a health insurance fee on their CalCentral account.

Voluntary SHIP plans are available for concurrent enrollment undergraduates, filing fee graduate students, and students who have a formal medical withdrawal status or are on approved pregnancy leave. Dependent plans are also available for qualified dependents of current SHIP members.

Who is enrolled in SHIP?

All eligible registered undergraduate and graduate students at UC Berkeley, including registered international students, are automatically enrolled in the Berkeley Student Health Insurance Plan (SHIP).

Groups eligible for Voluntary SHIP include:

  • Non-registered graduate students at UC Berkeley on Filing Fee
  • Undergraduate students on Concurrent Enrollment status 
  • Students on medical withdrawal status or approved pregnancy leave 

The following UC Berkeley programs are currently not eligible for SHIP*:

  • Master of Advanced Study in Integrated Circuits
  • Master of Information and Data Science
    • Note: 5th year Masters of Information and Data Science are eligible for SHIP.
  • Master of Information in Cybersecurity
  • Evening and Weekend Master of Business Administration
  • Executive Master of Business Administration

*Changes to eligibility are coming in the 2024-25 academic year. More information will be available soon. 

How to enroll

Registered Students 

Eligible registered students are automatically enrolled in SHIP when they enroll in classes. Students must enroll in at least half of a unit in order to trigger enrollment in SHIP each semester. The fee for SHIP is billed as part of students' registration fees in CalCentral. Note: Students can waive enrollment with proof of comparable insurance.

Non-registered Students 

Students on filing fee, concurrent enrollment, medical withdrawal status, and approved pregnancy leave are not automatically enrolled in Voluntary SHIP and must manually enroll. For more information and to enroll, see SHIP for non-registered students.

Enrollment period for Voluntary SHIP:

Semester Enrollment Period  Period of Coverage
Fall 2023 July 1, 2023 - September 1, 2023 August 1, 2023 - December 31, 2023
Spring 2024 December 1, 2023 - February 1, 2024 January 1, 2024 - July 31, 2024

Period of Coverage

Coverage for the Academic Year for Undergraduate & Graduate Students
Fall Semester August 1 - December 31
Spring Semester January 1 - July 31
Coverage for Continuing/Graduating Students in Master of Financial Engineering (MFE)
Spring Semester January 1 - May 31

Cost of SHIP 2023-24

Undergraduates Rates Per Semester
Undergraduates $1,929
Spouse/Domestic Partner $1,929
1 Child $1,929
2+ Children* $3,749
Graduate Rates Per Semester
Graduates $3,078
Spouse/Domestic Partner $3,078
1 Child $3,078
2+ Children* $6,009

*Metlife caps dental premium at 1 child.

Cost of SHIP and Period of Coverage for Special Summer Programs

Please see Special Summer Programs.

Special Summer Programs includes: 
  • Master of Financial Engineering (MFE) - incoming March class only
  • Master of Laws (Executive Track LLM)
  • Incoming students in the following programs:
    • Master of Public Affairs (MPA)
    • Masters of Arts in Teaching (MAT)
    • Master of Real Estate Development + Design (MRED+D)
    • Master of Urban Design (MUD)
    • 11-month Master of Public Health (MPH)
    • Master of Biotechnology
    • Master of Computational Social Science (MaCSS)

Qualifying Life Events 

A Qualifying Life Event is a major life change that may affect your health insurance needs. Qualifying Life Events may make you eligible for a special enrollment period outside the open enrollment period. Please click here for more information about eligibility and how to proceed.

Obtaining an Insurance Card

2023-24 Plan Year beginning August 1, 2023: New and continuing registered students enrolled on SHIP will have a new medical and prescription ID card with a new member ID. Enrolled students may access their new ID card at wellfleetstudent.com and on the Wellfleet Student mobile app. Log into your Wellfleet account or create a new account using your email registered with campus, student ID, and date of birth.