<p>Once a kid has been accepted and has committed to the school, when does Mom have to start writing checks? When is the first tuition and housing payment due? You pay by the semester, right?</p>
<p>It depends on the school, Missypie. There are often payment options available, by the semester, trimester or even quarterly or monthly. Usually, a check is needed when the kid lets the school know he is coming. Sometimes the room deposit is included in the amount, but there are also many schools who want a separate deposit for the room. In fact, there are schools where it is advised to send a room deposit immediately even if you are not sure kid is going there if there is a chance he is because of the room shortages.</p>
<p>In our case, there is the initial deposit when you actually commit to attending the school - anywhere from $100-$500. Then the first fall semester bill for tuition, room and board came in early August. The spring semester bill came at the end of December or early January. Then, of course, you have your costs for textbooks each semester. I'm sure it depends on the school and the dates of their semesters.</p>
<p>Usually, the housing deposit is due around May. PAY THIS EARLY!! DON'T WAIT FOR THE DUE DATE. Housing is a priority. Along with the housing deposit, you'll have to complete health forms specific to the college which means a visit to the doctor. Usually, tuition/room/board/fees for the Fall semester is due in August.</p>
<p>So little check ASAP in the spring; big check in August, right?</p>
<p>At some point, I need to stop putting money in the 529 and just keep it in an account frmo which to write the first checks.</p>
<p>Those who are later on the housing list get put in outer Siberia, are tripled, or put in hotels or makeshift quarters. So it is important to get that housing deposit in early.</p>
<p>An enrollment deposit (a few hundred) is usually due May 1st when you accept a spot in the class. There will also be a housing deposit due at that time, although to secure a bed you sometimes need to send this in earlier, even before you decide to attend. Full tuition bills come out in the summer and are due prior to the start of classes (I have one due the end of July and 2 due in Aug). Second semester bills are usually due in December. Some schools allow you to spread the payments out monthly for a small surcharge.</p>
<p>On the tuition payment plan I use you have a choice of 10 payments (July through April) or 12 payments (monthly). I think the plan for freshmen year started in July. Might not want to forget books which is another 800+/- we put out in August and January.</p>
<p>Our tuition checks were due in July and December.</p>
<p>Write the housing check RIGHT NOW! Delaying even a week for some large, state schools can mean the difference to getting on campus housing or not! I know it used to be that UT encouraged you to reserve even before the apps went in.....</p>
<p>No UT wannabes in my house....No large state schools at all.</p>
<p>Depends upon the school - as to when you do this - but certainly once your kid has decided on Big State U or wherever they decide to go, I would write the check at that moment. If housing checks are refundable in the event that s/he changes his mind, I'd write it now for the first choice university.</p>
<p>That check is normally small (in comparison) - like $300. The big check in my DS case was due the first of August. Usually these dates are available online at the university website - for planning purposes you might want to do a sample of the top 2-3 choices.</p>
<p>missypie, it was an example. Even small, LACs have limited space in "good" dorms. Delaying the deposit can result in her living in a really divey dorm or far away from her classes. UT, big state school or private, get that housing deposit in ASAP!</p>
<p>Some payments are split even within the semester. S goes to Case. They require that half the tuition/room and board for the semester be paid before the start of school and the second half in Oct (example for Fall semester). All the scholarship money is applied first so that first payment can be small or none. This is without a payment plan (which generally involves some form of fees which I avoid). </p>
<p>Also, I can make the payments straight from the 529 so you might want to check that. Some of the 529s can electronically send payments while others are checks. There are restrictions on withdrawals within 30 days of deposit for the OH 529. Also, in some cases you can initiate withdrawals from the college end instead of from the bank end. DS is very happy not to hassle with the payments themselves so I find it easiest to do straigh 529 to the college.</p>
<p>I just emailed all the schools on Son's list. Here's the rundown so far:</p>
<p>Baylor: not allowed to submit deposit until admitted; after that, send ASAP.
Austin College: not a problem - all freshman guaranteed housing (tiny school)
Southwestern: same as Austin College</p>
<p>According to my CPA, it is preferable for payments from the 529 to go directly to the school. I'd check with your CPA on that as it may vary by who the administrator of your 529 is. What my CPA said was "it's like a IRA rollover - much better if you never have any appearance of the money being co-mingled with your regular money."</p>
<p>More replies. The one state school to which he has applied said to go ahead and send in a refundable housing deposit.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone!</p>
<p>We don't have a CPA! I just requested a check from 529 in my D's name for the cost of the first semester less the $2200 we will pay to qualify for the Hope credit. It could have also been made out to the school, but since it was not the full amount of our bill, I preferred to pay that together in a lump sum. The amount we paid for required books for the first semester we will include in the December withdrawal. I have to double check the rules again, isn't it that the money must be withdrawn in the same calendar year which it is paid?</p>
<p>Scualum, we don't have enough money in the 529 to pay for all four years of school. No matter what kind of merit aid Son gets, housing will be paid for out of pocket. We've been putting roughly the equivalent of a year of housing into the account every year, so it won't be a hardship to pay it out of pocket. The Utah 529 has his money 50% in money markets, 25% in bonds and 25% in stocks. I'd just as soon leave the money in for a while to see if the stocks rebound in a few years.</p>
<p>I remember looking on each college's website for this information when our daughter was applying. It might be on the bursar's page. Different schools have different deadlines for when payments are due.</p>