By Emily Huizenga, News Staff
Beginning July 1, Northeastern will no longer accept credit or debit cards as a form of payment for tuition, fees and room and board.
The announcement comes from the university’s Student Financial Services, and was met with both criticism and understanding from students who will now have the option of paying only with electronic or paper checks, wire transfers, TuitionPay payment plans and International Funds Transfers.
According to the policy webpage on the Student Financial Services website, an increase in reward card usage and changes in banking policy have “dramatically” increased card processing costs to the university, forcing them to either discontinue the process or cut other programs and services. While some colleges have opted to charge students who pay with plastic extra to make up for the deficit, Massachusetts is one of ten states that ban organizations from passing merchant fees onto consumers. What’s more, card-processing costs are dispersed among all Northeastern students – not just those whose payment processes initiate them.
However, students in all programs will continue to be able to use credit and debit cards for other transactions, including tuition and housing deposits, MBTA passes and adding funds to a Husky Card.
A spokesperson from the office of Student Financial Services could not be contacted in time for this story. An email sent to all students or families who have previously used a credit card for long-term financing of education costs encouraged card-users to work with Student Financial Services staff to determine if more cost-effective financing options are available.
Understandably, students who have profited from paying with credit cards – whether via rewards benefits, convenience of payment or necessity of payment – have protested the plan, asking the Student Government Association to lobby to retract the policy, and poking fun of the university’s strict instructions for payment on the Northeastern reddit page.
On the page, one user said it was ridiculous for the university to inconvenience the students, especially considering they already pay an “astronomically” high tuition. “If anything,” the user said, “Our high tuition should be buying us the ability to pay however we want.”
Others online have speculated that many students weren’t actually borrowing money to pay tuition and were instead just using the card for rewards. And though the official policy did not cite it as a reason for the switch, others said the university probably devotes time and money to “chasing down” owners whose cards get declined, too.
Middler civil engineering student Matt Dwyer said the policy probably won’t change much for him payment-wise. The bulk of his payments come from student loans.
“I have a college fund too. And apart from that my parents write checks,” he said. “I guess it does kind of suck though, just because it’s one less way to pay.”
Starting Summer 2, students can pay via electronic checks (just what they sound like – an online version of a paper check that is subject to all the same laws), paper checks, wire transfers, TuitionPay payment plans and International Funds Transfers. Cash, it is assumed, is also accepted.
