Tuition Management for Payers

Tip: Make sure to check out our video series on Tuition Management.

Note: Setting up the Tuition Management Integration? Visit our Admin documentation for more.

The Enrollment Contracts/Tuition Management integration merges two annual processes into one streamlined workflow. Families no longer need to enroll at their school through Blackbaud's Education Management products, and then enroll in Tuition Management for payment processing.

With this integration, families first accept an enrollment (or re-enrollment) contract from the school. Responsible signers then choose a tuition plan, confirm billing information, select a payment method, add additional users to family accounts, and handle deposits and fees. The integration automatically creates a corresponding family account in Tuition Management. Families can then use a Single Sign On to easily log into Tuition Management from their "Blackbaud's Education Management" Resource Board.

If a Tuition Management Family Account exists or if you've previously used the Tuition Management SSO from the Resource Board, you'll be taken directly to the first contract page automatically. Alternatively, if a Tuition Management Family Account does not yet exist, select No, then either log in with your Tuition Management Account or enable the option to automatically create one after the contract gets submitted. The information from the contract automatically populates in the newly created Tuition Management Family Account.

When a contract is ready for a parent/guardian to review and accept, a notification appears under the parent persona. Alternatively, families can also access contracts from Files and Forms under the profile menu. Contracts in this list also display statuses such as Pending, Review, Continue, and Completed. If a contract is waiting on a second payer to sign, a message also displays here for first payers as well.

Available contracts appear under the child they belong to, and by selecting Continue, parents are able to review each section of the contract before it is submitted. With Tuition Management, parents move through each step of the contract one step at a time starting with the policy rules. After Next is selected, a green check appears over the previous section indicating that it has been completed. Other sections include an expenses and fee schedule, payment plan options, contract review, pay deposit information, and finally the confirmation page.

Note: Tuition Management only supports two Responsible Signers per family account. Families with more than two Responsible Signers cannot have contracts processed until their account is updated.

Here are the main contract areas a parent or guardian sees when signing a Tuition Management integrated contract through Enrollment management.

Fees include any sort of expenses whether required or optional. This can include items for various a school activities such as hot lunch, after school programs, tuition or whatever else the school previously defines. Required fee items are already added to the total, while parents can select any optional fees listed. The final tuition and fees are then totaled and displayed at the bottom.

Note: If the contract has been submitted or a contract with optional fees has not yet been signed and accepted by a parent, the expenses portion of the contract remains hidden.

It's here that parents can manage billing information, select a payment plan and how they'd like to pay. While the school ultimately is responsible for establishing what type of payment can be accepted, Tuition Management is able to accept a number of different payment options including debit, a mailed invoice, and all major credit cards like VISA, American Express, Mastercard, and Discover.

To save time and effort, billing and contract details such as your address, are pulled directly from your Core profile. If something isn't right or you just want to update the information, the option to edit and save your billing address is there as well.

Users are also able to select Tuition Insurance, though simply selecting it does not enroll them in the program. This is an indicator letting the school know that the family is interested.

When Tuition Management is enabled, Terms and Conditions are found here as well.

Note: If the parent is only a signer, a link in the Plan Setup message helps them bypass the payment plan setup details to the next section. The other signer can then come in at a later date and fill out the information.

All previously selected and entered information appears here as an easy way for the parent or guardian to review and accept. An eSignature is required in order to advance, so the parent needs to only type their name along with the date to accept.

If any information is missing from the previous sections it is highlighted in red along with the tab the field is located in. Payers need to add or fix the information before they can continue to the review portion of the contract.

When a deposit is due, a parent or guardian can make their first payment here. The Deposit Amount (minus any deposit rule exceptions and Enrollment Fees) is shown here, along with the total amount due. Parents can submit a payment using a previously set up method from their existing Tuition Management payment method or enter information to use a different card or bank account instead. Families with multiple children only sees the Tuition Management Administrative Fee on the first enrolled student contract as the fee is only one per family/Tuition Management account.

The Deposit section can also display any processing fees payers are responsible for as well.

Schools can also enable In-School Payments on Tuition Management enabled contracts which let families make deposits and enrollment fees offline. For more information on setting this up, see our Tuition Management administrator guide.

Note: Tuition, Fees, Enrollment Fees, Admin Fees, and Deposit payments are processed through Tuition Management and appear on the Tuition Management account as well. If any adjustments need to be made, they need to be done through the contract in Enrollment management. With Tuition Management enabled contracts, school can't select a different payment processor.

If a family has multiple children attending the school, the integration presents an option to create a unique Family ID (Smart Family ID) for each. Keep in mind that this is entirely optional as families can also choose to leave all children on the same account. When parents/guardians fill out subsequent contracts, the integration detects and uses the Tuition Management Family Account linked or created after the first contract submission. New payment credentials or a different address can't be entered for Payment Plans.

In addition, Payment Plans and Payment Methods are set on the first child contract as are locked on subsequent child contracts. Alternatively, the fee experience remains the same for all contracts. The exception to this is the Tuition Management Administrative Fee which is only charged on the first child enrollment.

Remember, the Tuition Management integration supports up to two responsible signers for the contract. The first signer can choose to set up a Split account with the second signer. The second payer then sees a message indicating that they’re added to an existing account or setting up their own. Tuition Management supports up to two Family Accounts per Student. The integration assumes there is a 50/50 split in financial responsibility between the two signers. Users should contact Tuition Management to make any adjustments for their arrangement.

Alternative to a split account is a joint account where both users share the same account. Under this option, the second signer accesses the Payment Plan tab he/she can choose to review the Payment Plan selections made by the first signer.

If the first parent goes all the way through a contract and submits a deposit, the second parent no longer sees a deposit screen and the contract options are read-only. After the contract is signed and accepted, it is marked as submitted and appears in the process center.

Note: Credit card details are never be shared with the second signer under any circumstance.