| Higher Education
Original version in Spanish: https://www.semana.com/cuanto-cuesta-un-seguro-educativo-en-colombia-y-como-funciona/79013/
Investing in educational insurance can keep your family finances safe when it comes time for your children to enter college. These are its benefits and why you should think about saving now.
If you still need to ask yourself, how much will the cost of higher education continue to increase year after year? It may be time to do it. One of the main faults that new parents have is that they leave critical financial decisions for the last minute.
For example, in a country like Colombia, where higher education in highly qualified institutions is quite expensive, foresight is essential. As in other countries where they have the most expensive education in the world , it is important to start asking yourself, What university would I like my children to study at? What would happen to their education in the event of unemployment? What would happen if, for some reason, you or your partner died?
Only some benefit from working in companies that finance universities; for the vast majority of Colombians, it is a challenge to obtain the resources to fund the careers of their descendants.
So, although it may be anxiety-inducing to think about the answers, guaranteeing your children's college from a young age can prevent you from having to worry about its cost in the future. In addition to protecting yourself from any eventuality that may happen.
These savings can be complemented with plans that include life, personal accident, and illness coverage of different types to make the investment much more profitable.
Several companies that offer this coverage have a minimum time to start saving, which can be, depending on the case, three to five years before the money is reimbursed.
The cost of insurance and coverage of each company vary but can range from 100% of the university tuition to a specific number of semesters. Financing plans can make you pay off the policy in up to eight years, depending on interest rates, which are between 1.3% and 2%, but always remember that the higher the payment, the faster you will get rid of this doubt.
Remember that the tuition fee varies each year, especially if the universities are private; a degree in Business Administration at an institution like Javeriana University costs around $13,000,000. College of Studies Administrative Superiors (CESA), which costs $15,000,000, will cost around $13,600,000 or $15,800,000 in 2020.
Here are some options for your children to be part of the 388,783 graduates that exist in Colombia from 2001 to 2017, according to the Ministry of Education:
Mapfre.
This policy ensures payment for the university degree chosen by the beneficiary without taking into account the place or date in which it is taken, and always depending on the value selected, which can be the educational income of ten or eight semesters, which is the average duration of college degrees in Colombia.
It does not contemplate payments for inter-semester subjects, leveling courses, or similar. For death coverage, suicide is excluded during the first two years of the policy. “Once compensation is made for disability coverage, the company will have no additional liability in the event of the insured's death,” they state on their page.
The frequency of payments of educational income is adapted to the frequency established by the authorized university or teaching center for tuition payments, generating an income equivalent to that initially contracted.
Global Insurance
Global University Guaranteed Platinum: this policy covers 100% of the tuition fee for any degree at an undergraduate university in Colombia. It has a coverage period of up to 5 academic years without exceeding ten payments of ordinary tuition. For example, if the expected year of entry to university is 2037, the total premium would be $106,009,000 on average, depending on the major selected. But if it is in 2025, it would be on average $128,895,000. This policy includes life or disability insurance.
Global University Guaranteed: this policy covers the same value and has the same guarantee period but does not have life or disability insurance. If the expected year of college entry is 2037, the total premium on average is $95,453,000, but if it is 2025, on average, it would be $127,902,000.
Global Semesters: This policy partially covers your child's university depending on a minimum salary amount. For example, if you choose up to 13 SMMLV, it would cost an average of $89,195,000, that is, $10,765,000 per semester.
Payments related to registration, processing, application, housing, books, equipment, uniforms, bonds, security deposits, and insurance premiums required by the institution, as well as fees and taxes established by the institution, are not included.
If, in the future, your child wants to change careers or universities, they can change as many times as they wish. Still, the number of semesters that Global Seguros will recognize will not exceed the coverage initially contracted. Additionally, if your child studies for an 8-semester degree, they can use the remaining two semesters for a postgraduate degree.
On the other hand, your child has five years from the calculated date of entry to the university to activate the benefits of their policy . Once they begin their studies, they have seven years to use all the academic periods acquired. If you want to cancel the policy, you will be refunded the value agreed in the educational insurance contract plus the annual CPI.
They have a 5-year financing plan or installments of 10% of the monthly policy value, and remember that your child must not be in a grade higher than fifth grade to become a beneficiary.
Before making a decision, we recommend that you quote as many insurance policies as possible to clearly see which one offers you the best benefits over time since it is a large investment. But it's definitely a crucial one!
Comments