Student Drivers

In general students are not considered agents of the University and, thus, are not covered by the University's insurance. Exceptions to this statement are students renting cars for authorized student activities.

Renting a Car for Authorized Student Activities

Students are considered agents of the university if they are renting a vehicle for authorized student activities. That means that the rental has been authorized by a school, department or center and will be paid for or reimbursed by the University.

Students renting a car for authorized activities must meet the following requirements:
They must:

• Meet the age requirements of the rental car company
• Have a valid driver's license and clean driving record
• Rent vehicles no larger than mini-vans unless specifically authorized
• Must abide by the mileage guidelines listed below
• Have completed Penn Drivers' Education Program; and
• Rent from National or Enterprise. The corporate ID numbers reduce the age to 21 years of age and include CDW/LDW protection.

Failure to meet any of these requirements may result in the car rental authorization being declined.

Students Registering for Car Sharing under a Penn Account

Students who wish to register for car sharing with PhillyCarShare or ZipCar under a Penn account must be 19 years of age and have taken the Fundamentals of Driver Safety course which can be found on Knowledge Link.  (see next section)

Penn Driver Education Program

Students renting cars for University business purposes must take Penn's Fundamentals of Driver Safety Online Course that can be found on Knowledge Link. For questions, contact the Office of Risk Management at ext. 8-4327.
The University will not authorize or complete any Additional Insured Endorsement forms on behalf of student drivers.

Guidelines for students renting cars for authorized student activities

When students are driving in rental cars for authorized student activities the following guidelines should be adhered to:

HOURS NOT TO EXCEED

# of Drivers	Hours not to exceed
One driver per vehicle	4 hours
Two drivers per vehicle	8 hours
Three or more drivers	12 hours

       Anything over 12 hours for three or more drivers requires an overnight stay.

Student Groups charging car rentals to a central bill account

If a student group is renting a vehicle and the department has approved a central bill arrangement, the following procedures should be followed:

1. Make the reservation on NationalCar.com with the corporate ID number (5001856).
2. Email the reservation request to their Business Administrator
3. The Business Administrator should authorize the car rental by emailing it to the Travel Procurement Manager, Monica Kinney, at travel@exchange.upenn.edu along with a 26 digit account number.
4. The rental car will be charged directly to the club, organization or department account number.