Medical/Rx Benefits

Education Colleges Universities Medical/Rx Benefits Benchmarks

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159Employers
463Plans
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Medical/Rx benchmarks

Education Colleges Universities Employee Benefits Overview

Updated November 2026

Medical benefits typically represent the largest share of employer benefit spending and are a key factor in employee recruitment and retention.

Our database includes 159 education colleges universities employers offering 463 verified benefit plans. HDHP plans are the most common (40% of employers), followed by PPO (38%). Funding approaches are mixed, with fully-insured (49%) and self-insured (46%) both common. Most employers offer three or more plan options to employees (59%).

Medical plan benchmarks include deductibles, copays, coinsurance, out-of-pocket maximums, and employer contribution rates.

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Education Colleges Universities plan design & cost benchmarks

In-Network Cost Sharing: sample layout
In-Network Benefits
LimitedBalancedRobust
Your Plan
Individual Deductible
$644
$1,825
$2,744
$1,82552Bal
Family Deductible
$1,648
$4,142
$5,880
$4,14252Bal
Individual OOP Max
$3,371
$5,014
$6,373
$5,01452Bal
Family OOP Max
$7,434
$11,027
$12,976
$11,02752Bal
Coinsurance
10%
23%
28%
23%52Bal
Primary Care
$23
$37
$50
$3752Bal
Specialist
$41
$56
$74
$5652Bal
Emergency Room
$185
$277
$435
$27752Bal
Urgent Care
$52
$82
$95
$8252Bal

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Real plan-design and cost benchmarks for education colleges universities, with percentile rankings and exportable data.

What's inside the full report
In-Network Cost Sharing

Deductibles, copays, coinsurance & out-of-pocket maximums

Employee Contributions

Monthly employee premium contributions by tier

Gross Premium Rates

Total monthly premium costs by coverage tier

Prescription Drug Coverage

Rx copays, deductibles & mail-order options

Plus full benchmarks for Life, Voluntary Life, Short- & Long-Term Disability, and Stop-Loss.

Percentile rankings (25th / 50th / 75th)
Live, real-time data (this preview refreshes monthly)
Exportable to PDF & CSV

Plan Type Mix

% of employers offering each

VERIFIED
HDHP40%
PPO38%
HMO11%
POS6%

Plan Funding

% of employers by funding

VERIFIED
Fully-Insured49%
Self-Insured46%
Level-Funded4%

Plans Offered

% of employers by plan count

VERIFIED
Three or More Plans59%
Two Plans31%
One Plan10%

Education Colleges Universities Benefits Landscape

Industry trends and benchmarking considerations

Higher education institutions traditionally offer comprehensive benefits as part of total compensation, partially offsetting lower base salaries compared to private sector alternatives. Our benchmarking data shows universities typically provide multiple plan options with competitive employer contributions. Many participate in state systems or consortiums that influence plan design.

Key Trends

Multiple Plan Options

Colleges and universities in our database commonly offer three or more medical plan options, often including HMO options more prevalent than in private sector.

Higher Employer Contributions

Educational institutions typically show above-average employer contribution rates, reflecting benefits as a key recruitment tool.

Public vs Private Variation

Public universities often participate in state employee health plans, while private institutions have more flexibility in plan design.

Benchmarking Considerations

Higher education benefits vary significantly between public and private institutions. State university systems may have standardized benefits with limited flexibility. Consider institution type when evaluating benchmarks.

Frequently Asked Questions

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