While college enrollment in the U.S. declined in recent years, roughly 19 million university students head back to campus during the fall of 2024, and an additional 3.2 million people are enrolled as graduate students, according to Forbes Advisor.

Related: Top 10 U.S. colleges for insurance and risk management in 2024

Those who choose higher education will likely experience personal growth and improved self-esteem in addition to setting themselves up for future career success. "Earning a degree is empowering," Shayna Joubert in a 2020 article posted to the Northeastern University website. "It boosts confidence and provides a sense of achievement." That may be true, but more people now opt to forgo college for other career paths. Overall college enrollment fell 12% between 2010 and 2021, Forbes Advisor reports. Top reasons for thinking twice about higher education include its rising cost, the fear of taking on exorbitant student loans, the perception that college degrees may not be worth the money, the availability of on-the-job training and apprentice programs, and "wage compression," or the idea that today's new employees earn close to the same amount as some long-time workers. Whether recent high school graduates choose to work or continue their education, young adults face an array of lessons about adulthood, both in and out of the classroom. They also may learn a thing or two about insurance. The slideshow above illustrates basic college insurance-coverage concerns, according to the Insurance Information Institute (Triple-I). Here are some additional tips from the Triple-I for protecting student belongings once they're on campus:

• Leave valuables at home, if possible. While it may be necessary to take a computer or sports equipment to campus, other expensive items — such as valuable jewelry, luxury watches or costly electronics — should be left behind or kept in a local safety deposit box. These items may also be subject to coverage limits under a standard homeowners policy, so if they must be brought to campus, consider purchasing a special floater or endorsement to the homeowners policy to cover them.
• Create a "dorm inventory." Before leaving home, students should make a detailed inventory of all the items they are taking with them, and revise it every year. Having an up-to-date inventory will help get insurance claims settled faster in the event of theft, fire or other types of disasters.
• Engrave electronics with IDs. Permanently engraving a name and other identifying information on computers, televisions, smart phones and other electronic devices can help police track stolen articles.
• Always lock dorm room doors. Keep the keys with you at all times. Know that most dorm thefts occur during the day, and even if you leave briefly, lock up. Share the theft statistics with your roommates, and get agreement that they'll do the same.
• Don't leave belongings unattended on campus. Classrooms, the library, the dining hall or other public areas are the primary places where property theft occurs, so keep book bags, purses and laptops with you at all times.
• Buy a laptop security cable and use it. A combination lock that needs decoding may be just enough to dissuade a thief.
• Be aware of fire hazards. Most campus fires are cooking related so be careful about the types of hot plates or microwaves you to bring to school, and how you use them.

See also:

• An insurance education: College RMI program directory
• Why do young adults in college need property insurance?
• How colleges, carriers are rising above the insurance talent gap