<p>Trying to plan ahead here for liquidity needed to start paying college tuition. Dd will hopefully start college fall of 2011. In general, when do most colleges expect the first payment? Summer? First month of fall term? Also, in general, do colleges offer discounts if you pay a large chunk of the year's tuition up front, vs. paying full cost plus a service fee for doing a monthly payment plan? Thanks in advance for any/all experience, Ms. L</p>
<p>Typically, schools want the first payment at the beginning of the fall term. But I’ve never heard of a school that gives a discount for paying everything up front.</p>
<p>There is no one correct answer to this. It varies a lot from school to school. Three schools I know offhand all vary - My daughter’s school expects payment by the 15th of the month following the start of the semester. So for the semester starting August payment is expected by September 15th. My son’s school expects payment by the end of the first day class starts. My friend’s daughter’s school expects payment before school starts - June or July for the semester starting August as far as I can recall.</p>
<p>I have never heard of any discount for paying it all up front.</p>
<p>We always had to make our first payment in August.</p>
<p>Now Colgate had a deal if you paid for all 4 YEARS upfront, you could avoid any tuition hikes. However, that was not an option for us…</p>
<p>I’ve already received the bill for second semester, and will pay it in full by the end of the month. Half the bill must be paid by the end of this month, the other half in January, unless one is on a payment plan which spreads the payments out over four or five months.</p>
<p>So, for us, payment is before school starts.</p>
<p>Skidmore offered a deal…if you paid for the following year, you did not have an increase in tuition. This was for students for this academic year…they paid LAST year.</p>
<p>When is the payment due? Well…that varies by college. Also, many colleges participate in one of the monthly payment systems (Tuitionpay, or Tuition Management Services, for example). Information about participation in those plans is typically available on the college websites. In DD’s case, our first monthly payment for this academic year was due on August 5 using the 10 month payment plan. If we had not participated in the “plan” at all, payment for the fall term in full would have been due prior to the start of classes on September 21 (yes…it’s late). </p>
<p>In DS’s case, the first payment on the ten month payment plan was JULY 1. His bills were always due BEFORE the start of the term if we had not chosen the payment plan. For example, his last term, we paid in full instead of using the plan. Bill was due before December 15 for a January 10th or so start to the semester.</p>
<p>So YMMV depending on the school. </p>
<p>In any event…some arrangement to pay in full (whether using a monthly plan or paying it all at once) is required before classes start.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info. So, does participation in the monthly payment plans come with an additional fee attached for the service, or this the amount the same no matter which way you pay? Just wondering about hidden fees here there and everywhere … TIA, Ms. L</p>
<p>Again it probably varies from school to school. I looked at the one at my daughter’s school and they charge a set fee of $25 a semester to sign up for a payment plan. You would probably need to check with the schols you are interested in.</p>
<p>There is a fee to participate in the independent monthly tuition plans that varies by company. You would need to check the one your school uses to know the fee.</p>
<p>From what I’ve heard, there are a small number of schools that administer their own monthly payment plan as well. I have no idea if there is a fee for those.</p>