New Student Health Requirements

New first-year and transfer students must complete all three required steps listed below in order to fulfill all Student Health Center requirements. New graduate students must complete steps 1 and 2.

Required Steps

  1. Download the Pre-entrance Immunization Form. The student's doctor must complete the first page of the form; the student and their parent should complete the second page.
  2. Log on to the Online Student Health Portal, and complete the applicable required Pre-Entrance Medical Forms, listed under "My Forms".
  3. Complete two required on-line education programs, as detailed below under "On-line Education Program Requirements."

Note that failure to complete any of these requirements may result in:

  • Delays at housing and registration check-in
  • Being de-registered from courses for non-compliance with New York State immunization law
  • Having a medical hold placed on your student account, preventing access to grades and registration for spring 2024 classes.

Requirements

Rensselaer requires these vaccinations and will accept all vaccines approved by the WHO (World Health Organization).

  • MMR (combined measles, mumps, rubella)
    • NYS Health Department Law – TWO doses required after 1st birthday and at least 28 days apart and after 01/01/1968
  • MEASLES (if MMR not given)
    • ONE of the following is required, per New York State Health Department law:
      • TWO doses required after first birthday and at least 28 days apart after January 1/1968, OR
      • Titer (blood test, serology) confirming immunity. REMEMBER TO ATTACH LAB RESULTS.
  • MUMPS (if MMR not given)
    • ONE of the following is required, per Rensselaer's requirement policy:
      • TWO doses required after first birthday and after January 1, 1968, OR
      • Titer (blood test, serology) confirming immunity. REMEMBER TO ATTACH LAB RESULTS.
  • RUBELLA (if MMR not given)
    • ONE of the following is required, per New York State Health Department law:
      • ONE dose required after first birthday and after January 1, 1968, OR
      • Titer (blood test, serology) confirming immunity. REMEMBER TO ATTACH LAB RESULTS.
  • MENINGITIS (MenACWY or MPSV4)
    • Required for students 34 years old and under
    • Booster required if meningitis vaccine received prior to age 16 years
  • TETANUS/ DIPHTHERIA (DTP, Td, DT, TDaP)

    • Rensselaer requires students to have received a booster within the last ten years

     

Student immunizations are entered by the student via the Immunization Verification form (on-line portal). Then the immunization report provided by the student's physician's office must be uploaded to the on-line portal. If you are playing a varsity sport you will also need to have your physician fill out the physical exam form and submit this documentation before you will be cleared to participate. Students who are not participating in varsity athletics do not need to have a pre-entrance physical.

*Required immunizations are available either at the Student Health Center for a fee or can be obtained at an off-campus pharmacy. If you will be receiving immunizations from the Health Center (or a pharmacy) when you arrive on campus, please enter and upload the immunization information you have now.

All full-time Rensselaer students must have health insurance that will provide on-going, routine care in Troy, NY. To meet this requirement, all full-time students must either enroll in the Rensselaer-sponsored Health Insurance plan, or waive out of the RPI plan by providing proof of an existing insurance plan that will provide for the student's routine, ongoing care in Troy, NY.

 

Deadline

  • For fall enrollment, deadline is September 1
  • For spring enrollment, deadline is February 1.

Please refer to the Student Health Insurance webpage for more information.

New first-time and transfer undergraduates are required to take the following two on-line courses:

  • "AlcoholEdu"
  • "Sexual Assault Prevention for Undergraduates" (formerly Haven).

Each course has two parts. For each course, students must complete Part 1 by August 30; after a 30-day intersession, students must complete Part 2 by September 30. Failure to complete both parts of each course will delay the student's registration for Spring 2024 classes.

Note that the above course requirements do not apply to graduate or exchange students.

Courses will be assigned and released to students on July 24th. 

Please note that students who have completed these courses at another college will still need to complete the RPI versions, as both courses include important RPI-specific information regarding support services and campus polices.

Frequently Asked Questions

In such a case, you can wait and submit the Local Contact Information form after you know your fall 2023 address.

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