Information for Families

Health Documentation

Please be aware that per Vermont State law and College policy, your student needs to meet certain health-related requirements before they arrive at Bennington College. In order to occupy campus housing or register for classes, students must provide one of the following: immunization records, other proof of immunity, or a signed medical or religious exemption form. In addition, they must submit a health history and complete a consent for treatment. This information will not be used to exclude students but to plan for their care, and will be kept entirely confidential.

Please note that making the appointments and gathering the documents often takes more time than one expects, so you might want to assist your student so that everything is ready for submission.

Staying Healthy

One of the biggest differences between high school and college is that at Bennington, students are expected to take responsibility for their own well-being—which means learning to be their own best advocates and asking for help when they need it. There are many resources available on campus and off, and their advisors will do everything possible to connect them to the help they need—but it’s important that they reach out to ask.

One of the most important resources available to them is the Bennington College Health Center, which has grown into a newly renovated, stand-alone space for the promotion of health and well-being. The Health Center provides students with direct and preventative health care, psychological and psychiatric care, health counseling, and women’s health care. 

Health Insurance

Having health insurance that works in all of the places you may receive care as a student at Bennington, including at the Student Health Center on campus and Southwestern Vermont Medical Center, improves your care and lowers your overall expenses. 

All students attending colleges in Vermont and most students attending colleges nationwide are required to prove that they have insurance that is valid in the state in which they are attending school or to use the institutional-sponsored plan.

For more information, including information on the institutional-sponsored plan, please visit the Student Health Insurance page on our website.

Please note that international students must purchase the IFS Secure Plus plan by August 1 for coverage starting August 15. If policy info is not provided by August 1, the College will purchase the IFS plan on the student’s behalf and will post the cost to the student bill with a $100 administrative fee.