SHIP Fees and Enrollment

Fall 2026 coverage is effective 8/1/26 for registered students who are enrolled in a minimum of 0.5 units.

All eligible 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.

Note: Incoming Graduate Students - SHIP Eligibility 

Eligibility for SHIP is determined by registration in classes. Some graduate programs do not offer class registration until the week, or even the day, before classes begin. As such, SHIP eligibility and access to UHS medical care might be delayed until the end of August or early September. If you are currently taking a prescribed medication, please contact your previous health care provider for a refill to last until September. If your program does not allow for early class registration but you need to be seen for medical care at UHS in August, please contact the SHIP office at 510-642-5700.

Who is automatically enrolled in SHIP?

Effective Fall 2026, all registered undergraduate and graduate students at UC Berkeley, including registered international students, are automatically enrolled in the Berkeley Student Health Insurance Plan (SHIP). 

If you are in a graduate program that was excluded from SHIP in previous semesters and have a comparable alternate plan, you will now have to apply for a waiver during the open waiver period if you do not wish to have dual coverage.

Note: Students who are academically dismissed will remain on SHIP for the remainder of the SHIP term.

SHIP Enrollment Periods

Registered Students 

Effective Fall 2026, all registered students are automatically enrolled in SHIP when they enroll in classes. Students must enroll in at least half of a unit 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 fees, 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 July 1 - September 1 August 1 - December 31
Spring December 1 - February 1 January 1 - July 31

Period of Coverage

Coverage for the Academic Year for Undergraduate & Graduate Students
Fall Semester August 1 - December 31
Spring Semester January 1 - July 31
Master of Financial Engineering (MFE) Graduate Students
Spring Semester (incoming students) March 1 - July 31
Fall Semester (continuing students) August 1 - December 31
Spring Semester (continuing/graduating students) January 1 - May 31

Cost of SHIP 2026-27

Undergraduate Rates Per Semester
Undergraduate Student  $2,533
Spouse or Domestic Partner $2,533
1 Child  $2,533
2+ Children* $4,966
Graduate Rates Per Semester
Graduate Student  $4,103
Spouse or Domestic Partner  $4,103
1 Child  $4,103
2+ Children* $8,070

*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 2026 Programs include:  

  1. Master of Law (LL.M Executive Track)

  2. Incoming and returning students in the following programs: 

    • Master of Advanced Study in Engineering
    • Master of Information and Data Science 
    • Master of Information and Cybersecurity 
    • Master of Molecular Science and Software Engineering 
    • Online/On-Campus Master of Public Health 
    • Master of Public Affairs 
    • Master of Real Estate Development + Design
    • Master of Computational Social Science
    • Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT - BTEP & PLI)
    • Master of Urban Design
    • Master in Biotechnology
    • 11-month Master of Public Health

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 view this PDF for more information about eligibility and how to proceed.

Obtaining an Insurance Card

Fall 2026: Enrolled students may create a member account on the Aetna website or Aetna Health app to access their ID card. Additionally, students may request a PDF version of the ID card on the Aetna website to be sent to their email. 

Please note, the MetLife (dental) member ID and VSP (vision) member ID is the same as the Aetna member ID (nine digits after the "w"). 

Topics

SHIP Insurance topic page