Trade schools and bootcamp programs are often more affordable, in comparison to traditional four-year colleges. However, affordability isn’t everything — flexible financing options is an important piece of the puzzle.

In-house tuition programs provide students with a way to pay for their education without accruing massive amounts of debt, leaving them more likely to enroll and succeed as a student.

If you don’t already have an in-house tuition program set up, here’s a few steps to create one.

What is an In-House Tuition Program?

An in-house tuition program allows students to pay their cost of attendance in installments directly to their school, rather than the traditional process of borrowing a loan from a third-party lender. Typically, students have the option to pay on a monthly or per-term basis, over the course of a specific period of time.

Why You Need an In-House Payment Plan Option

In-house tuition programs have a variety of benefits:

Greater Flexibility

For many bootcamp and alternative education programs, federal financial aid isn’t an option. This leaves students depending on scholarships, cash, and a few select private lenders to fund their education.

Providing them with an additional option — an in-house payment plan — gives them greater agency in making decisions about how to fund their education. This allows them to choose the option that is truly best for them, not just whichever option is available.

They also provide you with greater flexibility, as you can create plans yourself, rather than relying on the few options third party lenders have.

Higher Enrollment Rates

Enrollment has taken a nosedive over the past few years, and traditional tactics are falling short. Addressing the root issues behind the dip is crucial for all programs.

In fact, the number one reason students fail to enroll is financial barriers. While you can’t fork over the cash to cover the education, you can provide greater options — like tuition payment plans — that keep your program accessible to more students. The more accessible your program, the higher your enrollment rates are likely to be.

Increased Accessibility

While there are a few private lenders that work with alternative education programs, many students won’t have the credit score or income to qualify for a loan. In-house tuition programs can be created to be more flexible in terms of eligibility, giving students greater access to your program.

Greater Revenue

While the intention isn’t to profit off students, revenue is important to think about. When you partner with a single third party lender, they’ll typically offer a large discount rate. This means that they’ll get to keep a significant portion of the student’s money when they repay the loan. 

With your own in-house tuition program, you get to keep all the revenue from repayment for yourself. There’s no middle-man to take a chunk out of your profit. 

4 Steps to Set Up an In-House College Payment Plan Program

Step 1: Decide How You Want to Structure Your Payment Plan

Before crafting your custom payment plan, envision a few of the details — do you want students to pay monthly, per term, or have the option for either? How long do you envision the payment plans being? Will you offer other flexible financing options?

Step 2: Set Up a Call with Meratas

Building an in-house tuition program from scratch is complex. It’s best to opt for a robust software, like Meratas, to run something as complex as an in-house tuition plan — your beloved Excel Sheet won’t cut it.

So, schedule a call with our team — we’ll get you set up with the software needed to run an in-house tuition plan that works.

Step 3: Let The Software Take Care of the Details

As with all programs, there’s a slew of details to keep track of — how are students getting access to their payment plan options? Where is this information being hosted? Will this integrate into current administrative dashboards? How will it work with our current workflows?

Within the Meratas software, you’ll be able to house all this information in one place. From creation to repayment, the Meratas software makes it incredibly easy to run your in-house tuition program.

Step 4: Deploy Your Program

Once your custom tuition plan is created through the Meratas platform, it’s ready to be launched to your students. We’ll be there to guide you every step of the way — from talking them through the application process, to making their first payment.

Ready to take your students’ tuition into your own hands? Book a time with us here.