PVCC Puma Press: December 2006

This past October, the Maricopa County Community College District introduced a new student tuition payment plan. Students at PVCC and other District colleges now have the option to pay their tuition in installments over the course of a semester.

“The District wanted to give students more flexibility,” says Ed Kelty, dean of Information Service of Rio Salado College and coordinator for the district-appointed Student Tuition Plan project.

For a nonrefundable $20 service fee, students may sign up for the plan run by Nelnet Business Solution’s e-Cashier software regardless of the number of units or types of classes they enroll in during a semester. The $20 applies to one semester at one college. Students taking courses at more than one MCCCD college must pay $20 each time they use the plan to pay tuition at a different school. In addition to tuition, students can pay for their lab fees, including the $15 Computer Commons fee, through the plan.

Students who prefer paying their tuition up front may still do so through PVCC’s cashier’s office or, for a $1 service fee, through e-Cashier. For those who choose the installment plan, Nelnet will draft monthly payments on the fifth day of each month from a credit card or checking account provided by the student. Nelnet establishes an electronic connection to the account by drafting the initial $20 service fee from it.

The number of installments in which a student pays tuition varies depending on when he or she signs up for the program. The sooner students register for classes and sign up through e-Cashier, the greater the number of installments will be.

Students who sign up for the plan this November, for example, will pay a total of six installments (one each month from November through April). Students who sign up one month later will pay in five installments, and so on.

In addition to spreading out payments further, signing up early offers students another advantage. Anyone who chooses to pay for spring classes in the month of November will avoid a down payment. After that, a down payment is required. The sooner one signs up, the lower the down payment.

Signing up early for the payment plan will not complicate tuition payment if a student later changes his or her class schedule. Once Nelnet drafts the $20 service fee, no further service fees are required in order to add the tuition costs of additional classes to the plan. If a student later drops classes, the college’s refund polices apply exactly as they are for students paying tuition up front.

Refunds are deposited back into the credit or checking account the student uses for the payment plan.

Nelnet charges a $25 service fee for overdrafts. Nelnet communicates with students whenever an attempt to draft an installment fails so that the student has time to replenish the account before a second attempt to access the account takes place on the 20th of the month. If at any point during a semester a student wishes to pay off the remainder of his or her balance, he or she can do so through the cashier’s office in person, over the telephone or by mail.

PVCC administrators believe that the new tuition payment option will benefit students and the college alike. They envision the plan as aiding students in managing both their budgets and their class schedules.

“I think it gives them (students) the ability to perhaps choose more classes than they would likely have done before if payment in full was an issue,” says Sandy McDill, Director of Business Services.