.png)
The best way to attract more students to enroll is by offering a tuition payment plan; this is beneficial to the students who cannot pay their tuition fee in one big payment but will be able to pay it weekly or monthly.
It is an agreement that allows students to spread out their payments in manageable installments. Students can pay a deposit and then settle the remaining balance; the duration would depend on the payment plan agreement.
50/50 - students can pay half of their tuition before the start of the class and then pay for the remaining half through the course. If the program fee is $1000 in total, then the student will pay $500.
Weekly - If the course is five weeks long, the payment can be split into five parts and paid on the first day of the week. For example, if $1000 is the program fee, then students pay $200 every Monday of the week.
Flexible - Students would need to pay a deposit of at least 20% and then pay the remaining during or after the class. This one would be great for hybrid classes, both online and in-person.
It’s great to have an agreement form with your student that states all the necessary information about your payment plan: the terms and conditions, the deposit amount, the full price to be settled, the duration of the payment plan, and the penalty for late payments if there is one. This way, both parties deeply understand the agreement and avoid surprises.
Here’s an example of a tuition payment plan agreement form:
Do you plan on accepting online payments using an online software service like PayPal or Dreambound payment? Or will you do it manually, with checks? If so, make sure you have a plan for keeping track of who owes what and when they should pay it back.
Managing many payment plan students can be challenging, especially if you offer different courses with different tuition fees. Will you be doing it manually with pen and paper or using some software? If so, which software?
Different software can help manage payment plans, such as Google Spreadsheets or Microsoft Excel, which can assist in keeping track of the students who paid and oversee remaining balances.
There’s also Dreambound School Portal, an all-in-one free school portal allowing you to run your whole school. Accept robust online registration, collect payments, manage payment plans, store enrollments, and manage all classes and programs.
As great as offering payment plans can be, there is risk associated, so it’s crucial to know the best approach. It’s best to research which software would work best for your school. Important factors are efficiency, ease of use, cost, and features.
