<p>Does anyone have experience with how things go to pay tuition bills? Does USC send a letter or e-mail with instructions? Is it best to wire transfer money saved in a college fund? Do you know how to cash in EE bonds for college ed. without paying taxes (I heard EE bonds are tax free for college ed.)?</p>
<p>You can cash EE bonds at your bank. The person the bond is made out to must be present and have identification. The bank will look up the current value of the bond. You can find the value here: Individual</a> - Savings Bond Calculator . They will figure out how much interest has been earned and give you a statement for your taxes. They will not collect any taxes at that time.</p>
<p>Here is some info on the Education Savings Bond Program: </p>
<p>"Qualified taxpayers may be able to exclude all or part of the interest earned from eligible EE and I Bonds issued after 1989 when paying qualified higher education expenses. Bonds must be issued in the name of a taxpayer age 24 or older at the time of issuance. Other restrictions and income limits apply. See more details on the education tax exclusion or IRS Form 8815 ."</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>We pay tuition on our VISA card and get mileage. It's all done online now through something called USCe.pay and you will be able to access it through your child's OASIS account. It can be set up so you get an email reminder.</p>
<p>I think it is important for savings for college go straight to USC and not into the parents' account for the tax savings benefit.</p>
<p>I'm going to pay using American Express. I get 1.5% back from American Express that goes to child #2 college savings plan :D but I have to pay $65 for set up fee.</p>
<p>Columbia: Are you sure USC takes American Express? They don't for housing and such (the deposits at least), and didn't for the initial application fee.</p>
<p>Four years of USC tuition gave me lots and lots and lots of Marriott points.</p>
<p>Not on the housing but for tuition it does according to this link.</p>
<p>^ Oh thanks Columbia, good to know. I will be looking into the benefits of paying with Am Ex.</p>
<p>To Columbia Student: Which American Express card gives back 1.5%? We get 1 % back with Discover.</p>
<p>I got this info from reading CC last year. It deposits your rewards points, which convert to cash, directly into your 529 account. I'm not sure there is a limit because I have not purchased any big ticket item( like a car) using my credit card.
It pays to read CC. :D</p>
<p>EDIT, here is the link.</p>
<p>Fidelity</a> Investments</p>
<p>I'm any trying to figure out how International students can pay tuition since they don't accept credit cards not from US. Any thoughts?</p>
<p>Wanted to follow up on a couple statements in this thread that seem inconsistent with other information I have:</p>
<p>
<p>According to this URL USC-FBS</a> - epay "Please note that USCe.pay does not accept Payment Plan payments." According to other information I have, you can pay with a credit card only if you are using the payment plan. This would seem to indicate that you cannot pay tuition with a credit card through e-pay. Am I missing something?</p>
<p> [quote=mdcissp] I think it is important for savings for college go straight to USC and not into the parents' account for the tax savings benefit.
</p>
<p>I am pretty sure that this is incorrect. As long as you can document that you have used the equivalent amount of money for tuition you will be OK. In fact, I plan on depositing 529 withdrawals in my checking account, paying tuition with a credit card, and then paying off the credit card.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Payments to payment plan accounts may NOT be made using USCe.pay. However, payment plan payments may be made by phone using TIPS for students signed up under the "check" payment method. Students with "Credit Card" or "EFT" as their payment method should contact the Payment Plan office to avoid duplication of payments.</p>
<p>Payments for Fall Semester begin August 1st and end December 1st. Payments for Spring Semester begin January 1st and end May 1st. All payments are due by the 1st of every month. A payment schedule with deadline dates is found on page 2 of the Payment Plan brochure.</p>
<p>A late fee will be assessed if:
a payment is not received and posted to your payment plan account by the 1st of the month.
an attempt to authorize a credit card charge is declined.
a check or EFT transmission is returned by your bank.
[/quote]
10 characters</p>
<p>To Groovy Geek: I am going to ask our accountant about transferring money saved specifically for college (college savings plan) to USC. I suggest you do the same because you don't want to show taxable income if you take the money and put it into your personal account and then pay by credit card. The money saved on credit card points will far exceed being potentially taxed as taxable income from a savings account for college. Please let me know if you find any official info. which says you can do it the way you propose without getting more taxes on your income.</p>
<p>Now that I think of it, you are right. We got the information on what we owe from USCe.pay and then paid it with the VISA card on the phone. I apologize for the confusion; I was keeping track of the bills (which did change this year from mail to online) and my husband actually did the phoning.</p>
<p>One other financial thing it took us time to learn is that the $1000 credit ($500 per semester) for my D's NM scholarship has been posted on her account several weeks after we have paid her tuition each semester. So we've ended up with a positive balance for a time until various other fees have eaten it up. In the spring we changed to the Trojan meal plan and the credit offset that cost difference.</p>
<p>Just like Columbia_Student I handle all tax matters for the family. Despite what people claim, the tax code for "normal" circumstances is rather straightforward and requires simple math, and I find the IRS instructions crystal-clear.</p>
<p>When it comes to 529 plan distributions, the language is very specific and clear:</p>
<p>
[quote]
Distributions from 529 plans used for qualified education expenses are tax- and penalty-free, if the amount is equal to or less than the designated beneficiary's qualified education expenses. For distributions that are more than the individual's qualified education expenses, the earnings may be subjected to tax and an additional 10% early-distribution penalty.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I will take the chance that I can read as well as an accountant in this particular case :D My own 529 plan's web site, and a few others, all offer the option of distributing directly to the school or taking the money yourself.</p>
<p>Puzzled88, tsdad, or other parents of current students who have paid with credit cards: does USC charge any extra credit card fees, over and above the $65 payment plan application fee? Just trying to make sure that they do not tack on 2-3%, which will far exceed any benefit from miles, cashback, etc.</p>
<p>As far as good credit cards to use, those of us that will be paying significant amounts ought to look into Blue from American Express. Up to $6.5k things are rather unremarkable, 1.5% on "everyday" purchases and 0.5% for all other ones. However, once you cross that threshold things get interesting - 5% for groceries/food/gas/household and 1.5% for everything else. USC tuition being what it is, I don't think I will have a lot of trouble crossing the 6.5k threshold :D</p>
<p>No, there was not a fee from USC.</p>