Bummed...tuition related

[clh2]

I seriously bummed. My DD's college is staring to charge a fee to use a CC to pay for tuition.

I really liked getting the miles. But I am not going to pay extra for that.

We did get 2 years in with getting miles, including her room and board fees when she was required to live in the dorms.

Fees do not go into place until 6/1/2014, so "technically" I could pay it before then to avoid the fees, but I'm never a fan of someone else having control of my money instead of me. And I guess the good news is, they will not be allowing any Visa cards at all, so I won't even be tempted to use my SW card, pay the fees just to get the miles.

But as they say, easy come, easy go.

 

[stefplus3]

My son's college charges a fee too.....I can sort of see why, imagine the costs the schools were incurring? That would just be passed on to all students regardless of how they pay.

 

[kymom99]

The university I went to charged a fee to use a credit card.

 

[tvguy]

My daughter's college refused to take credit cards for tuition. Some political stand. They felt credit card companies took too much of the amount charged as their fee

 

[jamounger]

My daughter's college does not take Visa.

 

[tasha99]

My DD's college charges a fee as well. I can see why, but I always wished I could get miles for tuition.

 

[Pooh2]

We had three kids in college at once, the university would not take credit card for undergrad students but they do for grad students. Go figure. I would have had a really nice free trip if they had taken it for undergrads!

 

[StitchesGr8Fan]

Just because the school charges a fee for credit card transactions doesn't mean it isn't worth it for the CC points. You have to do the math. For a while I was paying my car payment on a CC and the loan charged a $2 fee for using a CC, BUT I made $4 cash back for it, so I still came out $2 ahead every month (I never carry a balance). So do the math and figure out if you will get more points than than the fee.

 

[Patience]

My daughter's college does not charge a fee to use a credit card (master card and visa only) and we always pay her bill using a rewards card and then transfer money from savings to pay it off. Her apartment complex, on the other hand, charges $15 to pay the rent with a card so we transfer money to her account and she writes a check for rent every month.

 

[MrsPete]

My daughter's college is super-big into protecting the environment, so they will not send out paper bills (only email) . . . and they prefer that we pay with credit card so that they don't receive any paper. No fee for credit card payments; they wouldn't do anything that would discourage their preferred method.

They're so serious about it that I hope they'll be willing to "waste" a piece of paper for her diploma!

 

[danygirl]

My sons college did not take visa. DD number 1 went to another school in the state system that did take visa

 

[JanaDee]

Fortunately for us, the college where DH is attending grad school takes credit cards with no fee. We love getting the miles.

 

[tasha99]

My daughter's college is super-big into protecting the environment, so they will not send out paper bills (only email) . . . and they prefer that we pay with credit card so that they don't receive any paper. No fee for credit card payments; they wouldn't do anything that would discourage their preferred method.

They're so serious about it that I hope they'll be willing to "waste" a piece of paper for her diploma!

My daughters school is no paper bill as well, but they want an echeck.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

I'm so glad I read this. Thanks OP!

It never occurred to me that credit card acceptance could be an issue or that there would be fees involved for using one.

I looked it up on the college that my son is going to and they don't accept visa at all anywhere on campus and that's the credit card we have.

We want to get a credit card with his name on it for emergencies so now we will have to look at getting a Mastercard.

They charge 2.75% fee on credit cards used for tuition, housing, dining card, parking fees and several other things.

They do accept checks so that's good.

 

[tvguy]

Given that a semester can easily cost close to $20,000 at some colleges, the 3% fee costs the college $600. I get it. Same reason a car dealer that takes credit cards for service work, don't take a credit card, or has a cap on, how much you can charge on an actual car purchase.