Is your child a student? Does he have his car, or does he drive yours? Does he get good grades in school? Insurance companies are ready to offer affordable car insurance for students. For example, you can get a college student car insurance discount of 5-25% for excellent studies.
And although each insurance company has its own rules for car insurance for students, you should consider all offers to find the most optimal one.
Rates for Auto Insurance Can Be Compared
When buying a car, do you analyze the market and evaluate where to buy the cheapest student car insurance? The same applies to the registration of insurance. If you are a student or a parent of a student and want to get car insurance for college graduates, be sure to conduct a market analysis and compare the rates of different insurance companies to make sure you find the best car insurance for students.
Many companies have convenient online tools on the site that can be used to calculate car insurance for college students costs. It will directly depend on age, driving experience, type of car, presence or absence of a car, location, and other factors. All this will also affect the amount of car insurance for international college students and for local citizens.
The Most Affordable Auto Insurance for College Students
Insurance companies put forward many of their own rules, according to which they can provide college graduate car insurance discounts. But the most important thing is that they do it, which means you can save money. The good student discount progressive is also available for newly admitted students, but it will be an order of magnitude less.
It is impossible to unequivocally say which of them will be good car insurance for college students since it completely depends on the specific expectations of both you and your auto insurance student. There are many insurance companies, so let’s look at the most popular and, hopefully, simplify your selection process.
| Insurance company name | A few words about the company | Car insurance college student discount for good grades | Cheap car insurance for students for safe driving | Cheap insurance for students for car safety features | Other incentives to receive student car insurance | Application for tracking driving habits and characteristics |
| State Farm | On the market for several decades, offers affordable prices and high-quality service | | + | Does not affect the discount | Discount for taking driving courses and then enrolling in Steer Clear if the student only uses the car for holidays and/or is under the age of 25 | Drive Safe & Save allows you to reduce the rate with good driving |
| Geico | Most affordable car insurance for college students | + | Does not affect student auto insurance | + | Progressive student discount for taking driving courses if the student is at the college without a car and/or is part of a school group | No |
| Allstate | Technological insurance company | + (average grade B or higher) | Does not affect the discount | Does not affect the discount | No | Drivewise – allows you to lower the rate with good driving and carry out many operations |
| Progressive | Provides excellent discounts to students who study remotely and study well | + | + | Cheaper student car insurance for driving courses | Snapshot – allows profitable student car insurance quotes with good driving. | |
| Farmers | More suitable for drivers who drive a small car | Only for honorary students | Does not affect the discount | Does not affect student car insurance | Discount for children of active policyholders who are under 25 years old | Signal is a convenient policy management application |
| Nationwide | Has a very small number of complaints, which indicates reliability | + | + | Does not affect the discount | No | No |
Yes, finding the most affordable car insurance for college students is far from easy and not fast. But it’s worth it. After all, each of us wants a good offer for a reasonable price. If you follow the rules of the insurance company, you can get a student discount on car insurance, which means saving a lot of money.
Here is a more detailed picture of car insurance for college students prices at each popular insurance company:
| Company | Monthly rate |
| Geico | $384 |
| Nationwide | $480 |
| Progressive | $588 |
| State Farm | $644 |
| Allstate | $872 |
Source: Forbes
What Should Parents Know About College Student Insurance?
Before buying a college car for your student child, consider auto insurance and whether college students really get discounts on car insurance. We offer some tips for building student car insurance plans correctly:
- Possibility of keeping the child on your insurance: This will significantly save the family budget. In addition, some companies make it a mandatory requirement. But this is possible under three conditions: the child does not have a car, he is under 25 years old, and he lives with his parents. If one of these conditions is not met, the student must take out his insurance with significant car insurance for college graduates. In some insurance companies, if the conditions are not met, it’s enough to register the child in the parent’s policy not as a simple driver but as an additional insured person.
- Focus on whether the child will drive to college: Most often, children who do not drive to college have the best car insurance for college graduates on their policy. But if they drive, it will be smaller. Then it is better to leave the child in your policy.
- Student progress: If your student has a high GPA, the insurance company will reward him with a progressive good student discount. If not, again, you should keep him on your policy.
- Work of a student on a car: Many students earn extra money during their studies. More often than not, neither your insurance nor your employer’s insurance will cover everything. Therefore, clarify this issue with all parties and make a decision.
It is important to remember that the most affordable car insurance for high school students depends on individual circumstances. It’s always a good idea to compare rates and conditions from multiple insurance companies to find the best insurance for college students.
How Can College Students Save Money on Vehicle Insurance?
The main rule of savings is that it is better to spend more time and effort to find the cheapest insurance for college students than to act rashly. That is, you should never take the money to the first insurance company that comes across — do the research.
But that’s not all. Let’s look at some tips on finding the best auto insurance for students:
- Safe car: Insurance companies rarely give the cheapest auto insurance for students who own sports cars and other cars that are very expensive to repair, and the risk of a possible accident is high. If you do not have time to buy a car, choose an option with a high safety rating and many built-in features to ensure it. For example, a complete set of airbags and anti-lock brakes — everything you can find in a safe car like a sedan.
- Compliance with the offer: Special cheapest car insurance for the student is available in many companies, but their filling conditions may differ. Here everything will depend on the student himself. For example, can he get a GPA above B, or what college club does he belong to? If yes, he will have the opportunity to get cheap insurance for college students, and if not, he must continue the search. There are many such nuances, so studying everything and finding the right one in a particular case is important.
- Exceptional driving skills: Today, insurance companies have technological capabilities to track driving skills. Most often, these are applications that will need to be installed. By demonstrating exceptional driving skills, the absence of fines, drunk driving, and speeding cases, a student may get car insurance cheap for students.
- Increasing the deductible: There is the concept of “deductible for car insurance for student drivers” — the amount deducted from insurance in case of an accident or comprehensive insurance. The higher the franchise, the lower the premium. In addition, with a large deductible, the risk of increasing personal expenses increases significantly. Therefore, before increasing it, consider whether it is necessary and how it will affect auto insurance for college students.
- Less coverage: A larger amount of coverage is only sometimes justified, but it will always affect your ability to get the best insurance for students. If the student car is already old and/or not on a car loan, you can opt out of your accident insurance.
By following these tips, college students can get a discount on auto insurance premiums while still keeping all the necessary car insurance quotes for students.
We also note that insurance companies are less trusting of junior students who do not have driving experience, so sometimes they give them not quite economical insurance conditions. That’s normal because there is a higher risk that such a student will have an accident or not follow the rules of the road properly. People over 20 with minimal driving experience are more likely to get the best auto insurance for college students. We can say that the college student auto insurance rate will directly depend on age:
Average car insurance for college students with full-age coverage
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do students pay more?
Students may pay more for auto insurance for several reasons. Given that insurance companies regulate them, the conditions may differ. But several reasons are generally accepted:
- Driving experience: The less time a student has had practical driving experience, the lower the progressive college student discount he can claim. All this is because of scanty experience. Besides, the risk of getting into an accident increases. But companies can’t take that risk. That’s why they can increase the insurance cost.
- Age: According to studies, young people aged 16 to 19 are 3 times more likely to be involved in a fatal accident. In addition, they tend to reckless driving and speeding. And given the weakness of young people to drugs and alcohol, car insurance discounts for college students should not be available at all.
- The location of the educational institution: If it is located in an area with a high crime rate, insurance will cost more.
- Type of car: If you have a sports car or other car, the repair cost will be higher than the average; you should not count on cheap student car insurance.
But everything is very individual, so pay attention to the conditions in a particular insurance company.
How long can college students stay on their parents’ car insurance?
It can be done as long as the student stays in their parents’ home. When a student moves to another housing, they should take out car insurance for college students away from home. That applies to students and any other drivers who first lived in the same house, used parental insurance, and then moved.
Here’s how the cost of full insurance coverage changes for a student under the parents’ policy and his own:
| Insurance Company | Bank rating | Average premium for full coverage with a discount for students under the parent’s policy | Average premium for full coverage without student discount on own policy |
| Geico | 4.4 | $2,523 | $4,048 |
| State Farm | 4.2 | $2,689 | $7,089 |
| Progressive | 4.2 | $3,163 | $7,088 |
| Farmers | 3.8 | $2,762 | $6,567 |
| Allstate | 3.8 | $4,184 | $7,089 |
*Prices are based on 18-year-olds who are either under a parent’s joint policy with a student discount or on their policy without a student discount.
Source: Bankrate
At the same time, you can get full-time student car insurance if you contact the insurance company where your parents issued the policy. For example, American Family and Westfield companies offer favorable car insurance quotes for college students in cases where the parents are already their clients. But these two insurers are not the only ones on the market, so it is worth looking for other companies with similar conditions.
But, in some companies, the conditions under which students can remain on their parents’ insurance are different. For example, some will prolong this opportunity until the student reaches the age of 25, and for some, everything will depend on the presence/absence of the student’s car. In any case, when analyzing insurance companies and searching for a car insurance discount for students away at college, be sure to pay attention to their special conditions.
Victoria is a Senior Content Writer at American REIA. She helps customers find the right educational material through easily-digestible blog posts and buying guides backing their insurance coverage choice. Victoria covers the latest industry news and various insurance topics, including auto, home, health, and life insurance.
