What Is A Good Student Insurance Discount?

Car insurance is designed to help you lessen the financial risk involved in driving. Due to their inexperience, young drivers are, as a group, the riskiest drivers on the road, and that has consequences in insurance costs. But one way to combat those high insurance costs is a good student car insurance discount.

Insurance companies have found that young people who are high-achievers in school are less likely to get into accidents than their peers who are not as accomplished with schoolwork. Because of that, virtually every major insurer the country offers some sort of good student discount.

“Good student discounts are typically extended to high school or college drivers who maintain at least a 3.0 Grade Point Average,” said Justin Yoshizawa, director of product management at Mercury Insurance. “Statistics show that student drivers who maintain better grades are less likely to become involved in an accident, which could translate into a discount of up to 14 percent.”

Those terms are representative of good student discounts offered by the major auto insurance companies. To prove you (or your student) qualify for the discount, you typically need to authenticate that the insured is indeed a good student. Each insurance company has slightly different rules about that, but generally, the criteria are very similar.

First, to qualify for a good student discount, the driver must be a student usually 16 to 25 years of age attending high school or college.

The student must be getting good grades, typically maintaining a B or 3.0 grade point average or better. Another way to demonstrate good student qualifications is by submitting standardized test scores like the SAT, ACT and PSAT. Some insurance companies will accept a Dean’s List or Honor Roll mention as proof of good student qualifications, and some will also accept a letter from a school administrator attesting to the student’s abilities. Typically the student must be ranked in the top 20 percent of her or his class.

Insurance rates are driven by statistics, and the statistics indicate that young drivers who are also high-ranking students are more responsible and safer drivers than others of the same age. If your child does not qualify for a good student discount, there are other opportunities to save — one is a family discount, another is encouraging your child to complete a driver’s education or driver training program. High school or other school-sanctioned driver’s education can qualify you for a discount. Some insurers, like GEICO and State Farm, for instance, offer their own driver training programs that enable qualification for a discount.

Students who are away at college also can qualify for a discount, and that discount might go on top of a potential good student discount. If the student’s school is at least 100 miles from home and they don’t have a car on campus with them, this discount could be available, depending upon the insurer and the state. Because access to a car is necessarily limited, the risk involved is minimized, enabling a discount.