Health Insurance Literacy Among College Students at The University of South Carolina

Authors

• Emma J. Smith, University of South CarolinaFollow
• Lorie Donelle PhD, RN, FCAN, University of South CarolinaFollow
• Robin Dawson, University of South CarolinaFollow

Abstract

Purpose: This study aims to investigate the health insurance literacy skills of graduate college students and undergraduate college students.

Methods: A cross-sectional research design incorporated a 20-item questionnaire to examine college students’ knowledge of common health insurance terms and definitions, as well as their perceived understanding of health insurance. Descriptive analyses were conducted of participant demographics, health insurance literacy scores were summarized, and common health insurance policies were tested through a readability checker.

Results: The majority of students were between the ages of 18-25 and undergraduate students. More than half of the participants were female, and more than 25% of participants were nursing students. The average health insurance literacy score was 12.15.

Discussion: There was no statistical significance or correlation between average health insurance literacy scores and age or level of study among participants. This suggests that older participants, specifically those above 26 years and required to have their own health insurance, do not have better health insurance literacy than those that can still qualify as dependents. Therefore, college students are not experiencing an adequate transition from being a dependent on a guardian’s health insurance to being a policy holder of their own health insurance.

Recommended Citation

Smith, Emma J.; Donelle, Lorie PhD, RN, FCAN; and Dawson, Robin (2026) "Health Insurance Literacy Among College Students at The University of South Carolina," Caroliniana Undergraduate Research Journal: Vol. 1: Iss. 1, Article 10.
Available at: https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/usc-curj/vol1/iss1/10