Since the pandemic admission rates showed a considerable decline.
Nationwide, fewer students went back to school again in 2022, dragging undergraduate enrollment down another 3.1% from 2021, according to a recent report by the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.
Now more than ever, strategies to reach students wherever they are and giving them the confidence and knowledge to succeed in their journey are important.
One important way to give students that confidence and increase enrollment is by offering a “Buy Now, Pay Later’ solution. Colleges, Universities, and boot camps alike are using flexible financing to add more options to increase accessibility for more students.
Buy Now Pay Later also assists those who can’t access federal financial aid, especially anyone attending alternative education, like coding boot camps.
The number one thing we’ve identified as a barrier to increasing enrollment is too few payment options for students. Unfortunately, students have limited options when it comes to paying for their education. With flexible financing like BNPL, students and schools can align their goals and create a better educational experience.
Because flexible financing increases accessibility to students, schools are able to increase enrollment and fill empty seats. Offering flexible tuition options to your students is far and away the best method to increase enrollment while also increasing revenue for schools.
Meratas has taken all of the financing options students want and combined them with all the benefits of Buy Now, Pay Later. We call it: Learn Now, Pay Later.
1. What is Learn Now Pay Later?
Instead of Buy Now Pay Later we’ve repurposed this thought towards educational financing. The pay in 4 is 4 separate installments over the course of several months. The pay in 4 can be combined with our other products. Learn Now Pay Later: Pay in 4 is basically an installment plan that you set up over the course of a few months for your students.
2. Why Schools Should Have a Buy Now, Pay Later Option
Students are already familiar with Buy Now Pay Later, which makes offering Learn Now Pay Later easier for students to understand and make the right decision for financing their education. “4 easy payments of $19.99” is becoming the default choice for a lot of people when shopping. Being able to offer that option to your students: breaking down their payment into 4 easy payments of _____ over the course of several months, will help your students learn more…and be able to pay later.
Because they’re familiar with it and it’s becoming the go to choice for consumers these days who want to make bigger purchases.
25% of students polled in this study said they are “very or extremely” interested in BNPL for their education. BNPL plans are also statistically shown to increase conversions and sales which for the education world, means increased enrollment and better outcomes.
Finally, opening access to your program through more tuition options means increasing diversity, inclusion, and improving outcomes for more students.
Meratas: The Learn Now, Pay Later Platform
Partners choose Meratas for a few simple reasons:
They have increased enrollment, diversified their income, and scaled their programs. In addition, 9 out of 10 students polled said they wouldn’t have considered their program without a flexible financing option.
Our approach to alternative financing options puts schools and students at the center of what we do. We create tuition programs that are fair and flexible for your students and profitable for you.
Meratas has taken all of the financing options students want and combined them with all the benefits of Buy Now, Pay Later. We call it: Learn Now, Pay Later.
Meratas help schools leverage the power of Learn Now, Pay Later Financing Options to drive student enrollment. At Meratas, our mission is to improve lives by unlocking potential and using that education to help people build a lasting career. The Meratas platform is an all in one tuition solution that houses all your tuition options in one place. No more having to deal with multiple companies for all your different programs. We are committed to providing students, educators and schools with a complete tuition payment platform. Meratas makes managing student payments easier than ever before, providing you with a complete end-to-end solution to manage all tuition related payments through one simple interface.
With all of our tuition options, you can combine different options to best support your needs and even use it to overcome funding obstacles.
Buy Now Pay Later is Here to Stay
Buy Now Pay Later is here to stay and for good reason. BNPL gives consumers more options to pay for big ticket items and helps to make big purchase items such as education more manageable. The shift in perspective to using this for programs has long been inevitable and we’re excited for the number of schools that are beginning to use this form of financing that we like to call Learn Now Pay Later.
Meratas is positioning itself as the leading provider for Learn Now Pay Later tuition solutions. The Meratas platform offers state-of-the-art technology and ease-of-use to help you manage student cash flow, reduce administrative costs and create better financial outcomes for your students. The Meratas platform makes it easy for you to get the most out of your tuition programs. If you’re ready to increase enrollment at your school and offer students a better way to pay. Schedule a meeting with a tuition specialist today to learn more about how the Meratas platform can help you reach your program’s goals.