<p>I would never recommend paying with a credit card if there is a fee. The two schools I pay do not have a fee, so I do use a credit card to get the mileage points and for the convenience. Someone suggested that the schools should give a cash discount, as much as 10%, and I pointed out that many schools have an agreement with a bank so that the schools aren’t charged a 3-4% merchant charge, and therefore the cash discount would be more appropriately 1%. Many schools, like many merchants, would rather have the payment by credit card because they get paid very quickly and don’t have to deal with the cash.</p>
<p>It’s insane to think that thousands of kids and parents are paying in cash as in post #18. I’m sure most pay with a check, but to think the school would prefer people to walk into the accounting office with $15000 in cash is insane. They would have to work with a bank to accept the $15000 x however many students paid that day. Someone would have to count it, give a receipt, somehow get it safely to a bank. Paperwork for deposits of over $10,000 in cash. Nuts. Most schools and businesses would think a 1% fee is worth it to have it all paperwork handled for them.</p>
<p>Speaking of which, did anyone see the article in the NYTimes about small businesses who made routine deposits under $10,000 on a regular basis (say, a restaurant or a doctor’s office where the proprietors might deposit daily or near-daily) and then the govt came after and confiscated their money because it looked as though they were trying to hide deposits of over $10,000? </p>
<p>I don’t believe for a minute ANY college really wants people walking in with $15,000 or whatever in cash. That’s asking for so much trouble. </p>
<p>I think the woman was purposely depositing less than $10,000 per deposit so that she didn’t have to fill out the forms. It’s not illegal to deposit more than $10,000 cash, you just have to fill out a form so that they can investigate to see if it is money laundering. A university would have to fill out the forms if people paid in cash.</p>
<p>I have deposited > $10,000 and had to complete forms a time or two, even when it wasn’t cash. I did read about a cash restauranteer who was in an article and claims IRS took $33K and is “holding it,” but hasn’t yet charged her with a crime. I’m sure there’s more to the story but plan to use checks and plastic for most of my transactions, as we gave been. </p>
<p>There was a big expose in the Washington Post recently about law enforcement seizures of cash–there is almost an industry of this, and it’s so hard to get your money back that many people settle in order to get some of it back.</p>
<p>I agree that colleges most likely don’t want to see cash payments.</p>