Paying College Tuition with a Credit Card Can Cost Thousands of Extra Dollars
Highest "Convenience Fee" is 2.99%
AUSTIN, Texas, Oct. 7, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- College students who pay their tuition bills with a credit card incur an average "convenience fee" of 2.62%, according to CreditCards.com, which surveyed the 100 largest public, private and community colleges. That equates to $262 for every $10,000 of tuition.
Community colleges are the most fee-friendly. The 100 largest community colleges all accept credit cards for tuition payments and only 12% charge convenience fees. Conversely, 90% of the public universities and 69% of the private institutions that accept credit cards charge convenience fees.
The highest convenience fee (2.99%) is a tie between Western Kentucky University, St. Joseph's University and Roger Williams University.
"It rarely makes sense to pay your college tuition bill with a credit card," said Matt Schulz, CreditCards.com's senior industry analyst. "Even if you avoid interest by paying the bill promptly, the convenience fees outweigh the potential benefits of almost all credit card rewards programs."
Eighty-seven percent of the 300 colleges and universities that CreditCards.com surveyed accept credit cards for tuition payments under at least some circumstances. Restrictions on card use are common: the most common is only accepting credit card tuition payments online. Other restrictions limit credit card payments to certain classes of students (such as graduate students) or require students to use a specific third-party vendor to make the charge.
More information is available here:
http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/tuition-charge-fee-survey.php
About CreditCards.com:
CreditCards.com, named a "Best Site for Managing Your Credit" by MSN Money, is a leading online credit card marketplace, bringing consumers and credit card issuers together. At its free website, consumers can compare hundreds of credit card offers from America's leading issuers and banks and apply securely, online. CreditCards.com is also a destination site for consumers wanting to learn more about credit cards. Offering advice, news, features, statistics and tools, CreditCards.com helps consumers make smart choices about credit cards. In 2013, 19.5 million unique visitors used CreditCards.com to find the right credit card to suit their needs.
For More Information:
Ted Rossman
Public Relations Manager
[email protected]
917-368-8635
SOURCE CreditCards.com
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