Paying for one’s college tuition by going online and using a credit card sounds super convenient. But it’s also a really easy way to get hit with hundreds of dollars in extra fees.
The average convenience fee for colleges that accept credit cards is 2.62 percent, according to a survey this fall by CreditCards.com. So on a $10,000 tuition bill, A college student would pay $262 extra just to use a credit card. That’s before any interest that will charged, if you do not pay off the entire amount on your credit card bill each month.
This one is one of those quirky kinds of fees that can be easily overlooked by freshman students or parents. Who would expect that you’d pay so much extra money for the privilege of plastic?
Some borrowers think they can get a 0 percent rate on a credit card for a time, build up rewards or cover an uncovered part of the tuition bill. They may not factor in the actual fees.
The convenience fee often is charged by the third-party processors that handle credit card payments for the colleges and universities. But the fee is not one-size-fits-all.
CreditCards.com surveyed about 300 schools including the top 100 largest public, private and community colleges.
The highest convenience fee in that survey was 2.99 percent at Western Kentucky University, St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia and Roger Williams University in Rhode Island.
At the other extreme many community colleges, including Everett Community College and Edmonds Community College, do not have an extra fee for using a credit card to pay tuition. Everett CC accepts credit cards for online payments. Edmonds CC accepts credit card payments by phone or online.
Western Washington University charges a 2.75 percent convenience fee, and tuition can only be paid by credit card via the Web, not in person or by mail. The University of Washington and Washington State University have similar policies. Credit card tuition payments are accepted online only; a 2.24 percent convenience charge is applied to UW credit card payments and a 2.5 percent charge is applied to WSU payments.
Some schools do not accept credit cards for tuition. But about 87 percent of the colleges surveyed accept credit cards for tuition payments at least under some circumstances.
Given the fees, experts say, college tuition falls into one of the big no-nos for credit cards.
Another possible issue: Some credit cards might have exclusions for earning rewards when charging tuition, said Mark Kantrowitz, a college debt expert and senior vice president and publisher for Edvisors.com.
Tuition info online
EvCC: tinyurl.com/EDHMW1102-2
EdCC: tinyurl.com/EDHMW1102-3
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