Tuition Management Systems?

Paying for College
1

<p><a href="https://www.afford.com/(S(20v04uzj0dcl1v45zwkifp3c))/SchoolSearch/EnrollStart.aspx?P=Payment%5B/url%5D"&gt;https://www.afford.com/(S(20v04uzj0dcl1v45zwkifp3c))/SchoolSearch/EnrollStart.aspx?P=Payment&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>I got a pamphlet from my school regarding this aid. To my understanding, this is an interest-free loan with a one-time payment of $90 (per year), and must be paid back within the allotted time period (which is variable from school to school).</p>

<p>Isn't it better to borrow the whole cost of tuition from here, including NOT accepting the Unsubsidized Stafford Loan?</p>

<p>=================================================
Example:
Say the college is $40,000/year. Add to that $10,000 for room, board, and w/e the "other fees" are, totaling $50,000/year. Assume you get a $30,000 scholarship per year. This brings the cost down to $20,000/year.</p>

<p>Borrow $20,000/year from TMS, and pay back in 10-months with a monthly payment of $2,000, and pay $90.</p>

<p>-OR-</p>

<h1>Borrow $5,000/year (average Unsubsidized Stafford Loan, I believe) with a 6.8% interest, and borrow $15,000/year from TMS ($1,500/month for 10 months), and pay $90 in TMS fees, and $340 in interest (assuming you pay it back in 1 year).</h1>

<p>It seems more beneficial to borrow the full cost of tuition from TMS, and pay the more affordable monthly payment, then to pay the interest costs of an Unsub. Stafford Loan, and risk being in debt after graduation, where as TMS is "you pay in 1 year", so no being in debt after graduation, unless you get another loan to pay that TMS loan =P.</p>

<p>P.S. From the generic example above, my situation is that I can afford the $2,000 monthly payments, but cannot afford the down payment of $10,000/semester.</p>

2

<p>You need to check the timing of payments. At some schools it is a cash flow management tool, but is not an interest free loan, rather, you’re actually pre-paying. Ie. say $9000 is due in Sept, TMS requires $3000 payments in July, Aug and Sept. So you’re actually LOSING interest on your money that you paid in July and Aug.</p>

3

<p>It is NOT a loan. It is a monthly payment plan. Instead of paying each semester or quarter, you set up a plan to pay for a certain number of months per school year. We have been paying on the 10 month plan for one kid or another since 2003. It is simply easier for us to “budget” by paying monthly than to pay by the term.</p>

4

<p>Most people that take loans couldn’t pay the example of 10K in the prescribed time. Think of it as an ‘advance’ rather than a loan. If you have the 10K and just don’t want to write the big check (I send mine electronically, at least I don’t write the words ‘thousand’ on a piece of paper) or if you can afford the monthly payments, this is an option.</p>

<p>this isn’t for people who need a loan that exceeds 10 months (which is where the Stafford/Perkins/Plus loans come in with much longer repayment periods)</p>

5

<p>I am on the 12 month plan and while I may have paid a bit before the payment to the school was due, some was paid afterwards too (the last 6 months of payments have been for the semester my D is in now)
The April 1 payment was my last payment for the spring semester.
I would recommend TMS. Much easier to pay over the year than twice/year.</p>

6

<p>What thumper1 says. It’s not a loan at all. TMS just passes your payments on to the school (even though your school might show “paid in full” after the first payment). It’s a convenient way to spread out the cost. TuitionPay is another service that does this. The schools choose to use one of these services (or not). We’ve also been totally happy with the TMS service for the past four years.</p>

7

<p>It IS okay to do this method and NOT accept the Stafford loan, correct? Or MUST I accept the Stafford loan and THEN do the TMS? The Merit-Based Scholarship isn’t affected by any of this… Correct?</p>

<p>What if there’s a sudden change during the academic year, i.e. I dropped out, became a part-time student, transferred to another school, etc.?</p>

8

<p>There’s no connection between TMS and any other funding, since TMS is not providing a loan. TMS just spreads out the cash payments you must make anyway.</p>

<p>Adjustments can be made if circumstances change.</p>

9

<p>We have also done this the last 3 years for my son’s tuition. It was “key bank” before they changed names. I also find the 10 month payments helpful in budgeting and there is a fee of 40.00 ? in the beginning.
I am on my last “free month” and will begin again in June…</p>

10

<p>OK - what about if your student is on a waitlist for school B and you do sign up for the TMS for school A that the student has accepted to attend by May 1st? The payments begin in June/July/whatever and you start paying, and then in Aug your student gets off of the waitlist for school B, accepts, & goes to the newly accepted school B? Does anyone know if the $ paid to the TMS is able to be refunded or transfered to the new school? Essentially, even though the first school “got their $” I don’t think tuition has actually been billed by then. With so many students on waitlists this year, I would think this may become a big issue. </p>

<p>Any ideas?</p>

11

<p>I would say you need to contact the individual school(s) and ask that question. Also call TMS and ask them. You would need to find out first when TMS actually disburses money to the school and also find out if both schools your student is considering accept TMS payments.</p>

12

<p>Brown University is not on the list!</p>

<p>Does anyone know other similar service that serves Brown University?</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

13

<p>Brown has its own:</p>

<p><a href=“https://financialaid.brown.edu/cimages/08-09_Financing_Brn_Ed_Gude_UG.pdf[/url]”>https://financialaid.brown.edu/cimages/08-09_Financing_Brn_Ed_Gude_UG.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

14

<p>Well, both schools use the TMS payment service. But would that be like telling school A that you are going there UNLESS school B comes through with the waitlist, then you would bail? I am not sure about the reaction to that LOL.</p>

15

<p>Most schools post dates when you can withdraw with 100% refund, down to 0% as the semester progresses. Should be on their website, maybe in the handbook.</p>

16

<p>You need to check with TMS to ask when the funds are actually disbursed to the school and what their policy is on changing the school you want to disburse to. Then check with the first school on refund policy…as skr8mom says check their handbook or website.</p>