Students dropping classes that they are failing is an important decision. But the problem of losing financial aid and health insurance adds to the mix.

Students falling to part-time status -- below 12 credits -- could face the risk of losing health insurance for the semester if their individual carriers chooses to drop them from their policies.

Garry Burkle, associate registrar, said there are many students each semester who drop to part-time status.

Although the office is not allowed to release the total number of students who drop below 12 credits, Burkle said the university is required to release enrollment verification and individual student reports to the National Student Clearing House, which reports on student status.

"We typically send the report at the end of the semester, but it is all current information, since student status is updated at least every four weeks," he said.

Burkle said most loan agencies go to the clearing house to check on the status of students they are giving aid to. But insurance companies also have access to the information, which they can use to drop a student from a coverage plan.

Stephen Caulfield, chairman of the Chickering Group, a division of Aetna Insurance, specializes in student health insurance.

Caulfield said there are two ways students can be insured: by parents and spouses or through their universities.

When students are on their parents plan, it is typically employer sponsored.

The stipulations for those plans include age and full-time student status.

When a student receives insurance through a university, financial needs are taken into account.

Caulfield said he knows that most insurance companies ask for copies of students' schedules at the beginning of the semester, but he is unsure how many actually verify them.

Caulfield also said insurance plans are so different because they are so broad.

"There are as many as 1,000 different parental plans varying with geographic area and occupation," Caulfield said.

He said most students are insured on their parents' plans until the age of 23 or 24, at which time they are dropped.

John Hickey, vice president of legal and government programs at Keystone Health Insurance, said he does not believe that an insurance company has the ability to look at student status. He said in order to receive health insurance, a college student must have full-time status according to the accredited university he or she attends.

"Most of the decisions on health insurance are determined by the employer who provides it," Hickey said. "In the nine years I have worked here, we have never gone in and done a background check on any student."

Hickey added that in most cases, all insurance issues dealing with college students are done on the honor system.

"The chance of your carrier finding out you are not enrolled full-time will most likely occur if you tell them instead of them investigating it," he said.

Hickey said that although some employers or insurance companies might not discover if a student went part-time for one semester, if it is any longer, insurance fraud then comes into the picture.

Some students are aware of the problems of dropping to part-time status, but not clear on all of the details.

Kristin Tinari (junior-finance) said she has never had to deal with losing her insurance, but knows it could be an issue.

"I know that you have to have 12 credits or you get dropped," she said. "Right now I have 14 credits, and I am doing bad in one class, but if I late-drop it, I will drop to part-time."

Sarah Ozimek (junior-human development and family studies) knows people who have had to drop classes and risk losing their insurance.

"I don't know that much about it because it had never happened to me, but I still think its kind of messed up," she said.