While the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) directors reexamine several policies amid controversy about how student athletes are treated, one of the nation's fastest-growing insurance brokers has moved to protect high school athletes who have received a verbal offer for an athletic scholarship or grant from an NCAA Division I or Division II sports program. EPIC Insurance Brokers and Consultants today announces Education Protector(SM) from EPIC, the first insurance product of its kind.

With the cost of a college education exceeding $200,000 in some cases, college-bound athletes dependent on athletic scholarships face major exposure to the loss of a scholarship in the event of injury prior to signing a letter of intent with an institution of higher learning. With Education Protector, students and their families can plan against this exposure to a lost education.

Education Protector(SM) is a unique insurance product designed specifically for eligible high school athletes under 21 years old and who have received a verbal athletic NCAA scholarship offer. Education Protector(SM) offers insurance coverage for the window of time between the extension of a Verbal Offer and the formal signing of the Letter of Intent or an athletic grant from an Institution of Higher Learning.

The policy provide funds for tuition reimbursement in the event the athlete is injured between receiving the verbal offer for an athletic scholarship or grant and the signing of the Letter of Intent, which binds the athletic scholarship or grant. Education Protector will initially be available in the state of California and will eventually be made available elsewhere across the country.

“As a student-athlete who had the opportunity to play at the university level, I witnessed first-hand how scholarships and grants could change the trajectory of a young athlete's life,” said Chris Price, EPIC's Program Manager for Education Protector. “Our goal with this unique new product is to ensure young athletes receive the education that will ultimately fuel their future.”

Education Protector exemplifies the entrepreneurial spirit at EPIC, a company with roots as a Silicon Valley start-up that has quickly grown to $150 million in revenue with more than 600 employees across 18 offices in the United States.

“We are committed to delivering new and innovative insurance products and consulting services that deliver substantial value to customers, and Education Protector fills an unmet, yet important, need in the market,” said John Hahn, co-founder and CEO of EPIC.

Facts about athlete scholarships: * Divisions I and II colleges and universities provide more than $2 billion in athletics scholarships annually.* * More than 126,000 student-athletes receive Division 1 or 2 scholarships each year.* * High school athletes account for an estimated 2 million injuries per year.** * In 2012, the California State Senate signed the nation's first Student-Athletes Bill of Rights which protects student athletes from financial risks.

What student-athletes' parents are saying about Education Protector:

“You never know what's going to happen to your student athlete. In one phone call, one second, everything changed- we went from the potential of Zach being a Division 1 athlete to the reality of him not being a Division 1 athlete. If he had a verbal offer and we knew that type of policy existed we would have looked into something like that – your athletic skills are an asset as an athlete – and that asset pays for a college education. Parents pay thousands of dollars for programs that will give their kids potential for a scholarship – that's a huge investment on their part. This policy is a great idea and the cost is worth the comfort of knowing your kids will get an education either way.” – Todd Pickett, father of Zach Pickett, a water polo player and swimmer badly injured in a diving accident.

“Isaiah has been an athlete since he was very young and our hope was always that he would do well academically and athletically and one day earn a college scholarship. He's on the path to make that happen which is huge and something that we've been counting on to help him get a quality college education. No one wants to think about an injury but unfortunately it happens. It would be a real comfort and reassurance to know there is some sort of affordable coverage to give you peace of mind.” – Molly Minnette of Sacramento, mother of Isaiah Bailey, Jesuit High School Senior, currently being recruited for both football and basketball.

More about Education Protector and how to purchase the coverage can be found athttp://www.educationprotector.com/.

About EPIC: Headquartered in California's Silicon Valley, EPIC Insurance Brokers and Consultants has nationwide presence with a depth of industry expertise across key lines of insurance including commercial property and casualty, employee benefits, unique specialty program insurance, and private client services including individual risk and personal insurance portfolio management. Since its founding in 2007 EPIC has driven revenue growth from $5 million to $150 million through both organic growth and strategic acquisitions, and remains a fixture on the insurance industry's “Best Places to Work” lists. Its strategic partners include private equity firms The Carlyle Group and Stone Point Capital. To learn more, visithttp://www.epicbrokers.com/.

Sources: *NCAAhttp://www.ncaa.org/sites/default/files/NCAA%2BAthletics%2BScholarships.pdf.

**Center for Disease Controlhttp://www.cdc.gov/Mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5538a1.htm.

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