Actually PAYING for college - By semester, quarterly, monthly?

Parents Forum
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<p>I apologize in advance if this has been asked recently, but I didn't find a thread about it.</p>

<p>How do most schools require you to actually pay (as in write the check, etc.) for your son or daughter's college expenses? Do they need a full semester's worth of tuition, room & board paid in advance before the child can check into the dorm/attend classes? Are there any schools that allow monthly payment plans?</p>

<p>And . . . none of you are required to pay for the entire year up front, are you?!?! </p>

<p>Thanks for any guidance. This is new territory for me, and I need to do some advance planning.</p>

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<p>Many colleges allow monthly payments, sometimes for an add'l fee of $50 or so. Or you could pay a semester in advance and get a slight discount on tuition. Some but not all let you charge your monthly payments, which is good if you are building up frequent flyer miles! Each college has its own rules about payments.</p>

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<p>Our S's university allows us to pay monthly. They add up everything (dorm room, board, fees) for the semester and divide by 5 to get monthly payments. I think they charge a small fee to do it this way. We pay online. Don't forget to budget for book expenses at the start of each semester/quarter. S's books have ranged from $350 to $500 per semester.</p>

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<p>Thanks for the guidance!</p>

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<p>We pay quarterly, that is, before each quarter starts. Haven't heard of monthly payment plans at our Big State U:) </p>

<p>But I'd say, check with the particular college. Worst case is quarter/semester due at a time -- I haven't heard of anyone asking for the full <em>year</em> in advance!</p>

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<p>Most every school we've seen have various payment plans where you can opt to pay monthly, quarterly, by the semester etc. </p>

<p>momof2inca - I just came to the realization that your screen name refers to living in California, and not being the mother of Incans!! Shows you how swift I am.</p>

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<p>haha roshke, yes, that's been pointed out. But how do you KNOW I don't have two Incas! ;)</p>

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<p>One's son's school asked for a semester at a time, but you could charge it--great frequent flyer miles. Other son requires semester at a time but won't take credit cards. My D.s school lets you put it on a charge card and they bill each semester over 3 even payments.</p>

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<p>ColoradoMom,
We are on a 10 month payment plan. There is a small administrative fee to enroll. We decide at the beginning of the year how much we want to pay up front, and then divide the balance up into monthly payments.</p>

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<p>Thanks again for all of the replies. I hadn't thought about the frequent flier miles - that's another thing to take into consideration.</p>

<p>Nice to know that so many schools have monthly or quarterly payment plans; hopefully the school that D decides to attend will have one as well.</p>

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<p>Middlebury has the option to pay for all four years upfront so you dont have to endure those pesty annual increases!!!:) (no kidding)</p>