Federal aid comes with reporting rules, and the claims follow the reports.
We insure small private colleges, seminaries and specialty colleges, from campus liability and residence halls to educators legal liability, abuse coverage for minors on campus, and cyber.
Tell us the situation.
One licensed human replies the same business day — not five agents, not an auto-responder. If the policy you have is already the right one, we will tell you.
We use this to quote and service your insurance, and we do not sell it or pass it to lead networks. Privacy policy.
Send us what you have. We’ll tell you if it’s right.
Your current policy paperwork, a renewal notice, or nothing at all. A licensed agent reads it and replies the same business day.
What college businesses actually need.
Educators legal liability
Claims against the college, its trustees, faculty and staff over academic decisions, admissions, discipline, discrimination and employment.
Without it — General liability covers injuries. A student suing over a dismissal or a professor suing over tenure is an educators legal liability claim.
General liability
Injury on campus, at events and in athletic facilities, and the additional insured wording event renters and partners require.
Without it — A campus is open to the public, and every facility rental and partnership agreement asks for it.
Abuse and molestation
Allegations involving students, including minors in summer programs, camps and dual enrollment.
Without it — Excluded from standard general liability, and asked about wherever minors come on campus.
Cyber and privacy
Breach response for student records, financial aid data and research data, plus ransomware recovery.
Without it — Colleges hold student financial and identity data and are frequent ransomware targets.
Property
Academic buildings, residence halls, libraries, labs and equipment, including what federal research grants paid for.
Without it — Grant-funded equipment must be insured at least as well as your own property.
Student housing liability
Residence hall injuries, fires and security claims.
Without it — Housing brings fire safety reporting duties and a separate set of claims from the classroom.
Commercial auto
Team vans, shuttles and staff driving students to events and placements.
Without it — 15-passenger vans and student drivers are the auto risks underwriters ask about first.
Workers compensation
Faculty, staff, facilities crews and student workers on payroll.
Without it — Required with employees, and student workers on payroll count.
What the regulators actually wrote down.
No person may be excluded from, denied the benefits of, or discriminated against on the basis of sex in any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.
20 U.S.C. 1681(a), Title IX · checked 2026-10-04
By October 1 each year, a college in the federal student aid programs must distribute its annual security report to all enrolled students and current employees, plus an annual fire safety report if it has on-campus student housing.
34 CFR 668.41(e)(1), U.S. Department of Education · checked 2026-10-04
Clery crime statistics cover campus buildings, noncampus buildings and property, and public property within or immediately adjacent to the campus.
34 CFR 668.46(c), U.S. Department of Education · checked 2026-10-04
If the Department of Education finds that a college engaged in substantial misrepresentation, it may revoke, limit or deny the college’s participation in federal student aid programs, or start fine or termination proceedings.
34 CFR 668.71(a), U.S. Department of Education · checked 2026-10-04
An organization that buys or improves real property or equipment with federal grant funds must insure it at least as well as the property and equipment it owns outright.
2 CFR 200.310, Uniform Guidance · checked 2026-10-04
The claims we actually see.
Ordered by how often we see them, not by how dramatic they are. Each one names the coverage that answers it — and the policy people wrongly assume already does.
Common
A student sues over dismissal, discipline or a Title IX process
Covered by Educators legal liability
General liability does not cover these claims. They are the most frequent serious claims at small colleges.
Common
A ransomware attack locks student systems
Covered by Cyber
Recovery, notification and lost revenue all fall outside property and liability policies.
Common
An injury at an event or in athletics
Covered by General liability and participant accident
Varsity athletes, club sports and summer camps are rated differently. Each needs to be on the application.
Less common, severe
An abuse allegation in a program for minors
Covered by Abuse and molestation
Summer programs often bring minors to campus under policies written for adults. Tell the underwriter about every program for minors.
What the insurance company will ask about your college business
We read the applications the markets use for businesses in this field and pulled out what they actually ask. Have these answers ready and a quote takes a day instead of a week, because nobody has to come back to you for the missing piece.
About the business
- What do you teach or train people to do?
- When did your organization start?
- What is your current annual enrollment?
- What are your current annual revenues?
- Is your organization recognized as tax-exempt by the IRS?
How you operate
- Do you have a gymnasium or athletic facilities?
- Do you offer any hands-on labs, clinical training, or internship programs?
- Do you require students or clients to sign a waiver before participating?
- Do any interns work for you, and if so, are they paid?
- How many football players do you have at the senior high and junior high levels?
Safety and controls
- Do you have working fire extinguishers available throughout your buildings?
- Do you have working smoke detectors in all spaces?
- Do you have armed security or firearms on your premises?
- If you have a building with circuit breakers, are they up to code?
- Does every staff member go through a background and criminal check before being hired?
Your history
- Has your organization had any employment-related claims, lawsuits, or wrongful acts in the last five years?
- Has your organization acquired, merged with, or created any new entities in the past year?
- Have you closed or eliminated any academic or athletic programs in the past year?
- Have any officers, directors, or board members resigned in the past year for reasons other than health, promotion, retirement, or term expiration?
- Who is your current insurance company, or if you don't have coverage, who was your last insurance company?
Money and people
- How many full-time and part-time students do you have?
- Do you have an employee handbook with policies on hiring, discipline, harassment, termination, and equal employment?
- Does your organization have a written conflict of interest policy for the board?
- Does your organization have an attorney on retainer or on staff?
Have these ready
- Your last five years of claims history from your current or former insurance company
- Your last three years of financial statements showing revenues, expenses, and surplus or deficit
- A copy of your current insurance policies for each type of coverage you want
- Your employee handbook and written policies
- A list of all certifications your staff holds
You answer what you can; a licensed agent fills the rest with you.
What our college clients ask us.
Who writes college insurance, and can we go to them directly?
Philadelphia Insurance Companies — PHLY, part of Tokio Marine, rated A++ by AM Best — is the carrier that has told us in writing it wants private academic colleges, and it is where most of our human-services submissions go first. PHLY does not sell to organizations directly: it works only through appointed agents, and we hold that appointment, so your file reaches their underwriter with our name on it rather than through a second intermediary. What their underwriter wants to see is specific and we assemble it before anything is sent — their supplemental application for your class, the standard applications, three years of valued loss runs (a report from each prior insurer showing every claim and its reserve), photographs of the premises, and your brochure or website. Payment plans are available once the annual price reaches $2,000. None of that is a promise to bind — every quote is subject to their underwriting review — but a complete file is the difference between a quote and a list of questions.
Is this student health insurance?
No. This page is about insurance for the college itself: its buildings, liability, board and staff. Student health insurance is medical coverage for individual students, and we do not offer it here. If you are a student looking for health coverage, your college’s student health office or the health insurance marketplace in your state is the place to start.
What is educators legal liability, and do we need it?
It covers claims against the college and its people for wrongful acts rather than injuries: discrimination, wrongful dismissal of a student, an admissions or grading dispute, and employment claims by faculty and staff. General liability does not cover these. For most small colleges it is the coverage that pays most often. It usually combines board coverage with employment practices, so check whether your D&O and employment coverage are on the same form or separate policies.
Does Title IX or Clery create insurance claims?
Both create lawsuits, from both sides. Title IX prohibits sex discrimination in any education program that receives federal aid, and complaints come from complainants and from respondents who say the process was unfair. Clery requires an annual security report by October 1 and crime statistics covering campus and nearby property. A missed report is a federal compliance problem. A crime the college failed to warn about is a lawsuit. Educators legal liability and general liability respond to different parts.
We run summer camps for high school students. Are minors covered?
Only if the policy and the application say so. Programs for minors change the abuse and molestation exposure, and many college policies were priced for adult students. List every program that brings minors on campus: camps, dual enrollment, pre-college programs and facility rentals to youth groups. Underwriters will ask about background checks, supervision and housing arrangements. A rental to an outside youth group should require that group’s own certificate naming the college.
How is the price set?
On enrollment, the number of residential students, building values and payroll. Residence halls, athletics, programs for minors, international travel and research labs each move the price. Educators legal liability is priced on enrollment and staff count, and claim history matters a great deal. Three years of loss runs (a report from each prior insurer listing every claim), your Clery report, your Title IX procedures and your cyber controls tell the underwriter most of what they need.
What does a college insurance application ask for?
The applications for college businesses ask about 4 things above all: what do you teach or train people to do; do you have a gymnasium or athletic facilities; do you have working fire extinguishers available throughout your buildings; has your organization had any employment-related claims, lawsuits, or wrongful acts in the last five years. Have your last five years of claims history from your current or former insurance company and your last three years of financial statements showing revenues, expenses, and surplus or deficit ready and a quote takes a day instead of a week.
Commercial insurance is 96% of what we do — it is not a department here, it is the whole business. Not ready to talk? The guides answer the questions this page raises in more depth. Already insured with us and need a certificate or a policy change? Ask the service team rather than starting a quote — it is faster and it goes to the people whose job it is. We also write home and auto, which is usually cheaper alongside the business policy than apart from it.
Handed a lease, a vendor packet or a client contract with insurance requirements? Paste it into the COI Requirements Decoder to see what each one means for your business, or read what the requirements mean.