Carnegie Mellon University International Student Insurance

General Information

Carnegie Mellon University, located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was founded in 1900 as Carnegie Technical Schools with a one-million-dollar grant from industrialist Andrew Carnegie. Carnegie’s comment “My heart is in the work” that accompanied the donation became the school’s motto. In 1912, the school was renamed Carnegie Institute of Technology and began to offer four-year degrees. In 1967, CIT merged with the nearby Mellon Institute to become Carnegie Mellon University. The school colors are cardinal, black, gray, and white, and its athletic nickname is the tartan.

On Campus

Carnegie Mellon enjoys the reputation as one of the best research facilities in the nation. Research programs include the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center, the Robotics Institute, the Software Engineering Institute, the Human-Computer Interaction Institute, and the Language Technologies Institute. In addition, corporate research labs from companies like Apple, Google, Microsoft, Facebook, IBM, and Boeing have all established a presence on or near the campus.

The campus also has a storied history of events and traditions. One such tradition is “The Fence,” a fence in the center of campus that students guard around the clock and are allowed to paint in the middle of the night. The Spring Carnival is a four-day celebration that occurs every April. The Kiltie Band is a marching band that performs in full Scottish dress, including kilts and knee socks. Seniors involved with performing arts sign the walls and ceiling of the Green Room before they graduate.

Notable Alumni

Notable Carnegie Mellon alumni include artist Andy Warhol; author Kurt Vonnegut; mathematician John Nash of A Beautiful Mind fame; co-founder and chairman of Adobe Systems Charles Geschke; Stephanie Kwolek, the inventor of Kevlar; and James Gosling, creator of the programming language Java.

Carnegie Mellon University International Student Insurance Requirements

Exchange Visitors

All J-1 exchange visitors and J-2 dependents are required by federal regulations to have health insurance that meets the federal minimum standards. These minimum requirements include medical benefits of at least $100,000 per accident or illness, repatriation of remains coverage of $25,000, $50,000 for evacuation expenses, and a maximum deductible of $500 per accident or illness. 

International Students

F-1 and J-1 international students are automatically charged the premium for the university’s basic health insurance plan. Students may either upgrade to another university plan with better benefits, or obtain a waiver by providing documentation of health care coverage that meets minimum criteria. These criteria include: Insurance is provided by a company licensed to do business in the U.S. with a U.S. claims payment office and a U.S. phone number; insurance has unlimited annual and lifetime benefits; insurance lasts the full duration of the academic year; maximum deductible of $2,500/individual or $5,000/family; covers routine, urgent, and emergent care for inpatient and outpatient medical care, mental health treatment, and alcohol and substance abuse treatment in the city where the student is attending CMU classes; provides coverage for pre-existing conditions with no waiting period or limitations; and is NOT an HMO plan, an out-of-state Medicaid plan, a catastrophic plan, a children’s health insurance plan, or a Kaiser Permanente.

Please contact our office if you would like more information. This information may be subject to change based on a health insurance waiver or compliance form.