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How has Flagler traditionally handled tuition payments?
Our process was pretty much like everybody else’s. It was all about paper and very time consuming.
How is the college doing it now?
We’ve been a test site for Higher One’s OnePay tuition payment service since last August. We give our students and their families several choices for paying their tuition bills electronically.
Let’s look at these options one at a time.
The first option is e-check. From a link on the Flagler website, a student or parent connects to our Higher One service and enters information as if they were writing a paper check. The money is transferred instantly from their bank account to ours.
What about payments through a Flagler OneAccount?
That’s a no minimum balance, no monthly fee, FDIC-Insured checking account that Higher One offers to our students. Typically a parent will transfer funds to their child’s OneAccount, which they can do online, and then the student makes the tuition payment. They can do it on the Web or they can come to the bursar’s office and pay with their Debit MasterCard?, which is tied to their OneAccount.
Is there a credit card option?
Yes, tuition bills can be paid by credit card through our arrangement with Higher One. There is a convenience fee associated with this option, which is standard practice. That fee does not come to the institution; it goes to the processor.
Is there a monthly payment plan?
This will be for the fall term. Students or parents will be able to set up an automatic monthly payment plan throughHigher One, where the payments will transfer directly from their bank accounts to ours.
Why is it so important to offer this kind of flexibility for tuition payments?
Students today are used to doing business on their time. They want to be able to pay their tuition bill at 2 or 3 in the morning. They don’t want to be told they have to come to your office between 8 and 5 and then find you’re closed for lunch from 12 to 1. And it’s not just the students who want this flexibility. Our parents have asked for it too. We’re looking at setting up an email or SMS notification system to remind parents when tuition payments are due.
What response have you gotten from students and parents?
The customer service from Higher One has been tremendous; we’ve gotten nothing but praise. And of course Higher One is behind the scenes and parents think they’re dealing with us, so it’s a great reflection on our institution.
