AMS TuitionPay - hidden costs?

[pjm]

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So in with all the other finaid paperwork I got from Columbia, there's a brochure for something from Academic Management Services (AMS) for a monthly payment plan instead of dropping a lump sum on the school.

Is this plan any good? I'm afraid of having hold problems if they don't forward the money to the school quickly enough, or can't get money from my bank account properly. (I've had that problem with EFT setups before.)

edit: I just noticed that there's a $70 enrollment fee for the annual plan; unclear if that's per year or just once for your academic career.

 

[mpp]

The $70 fee is likely annual. If you are interested in this, ask the financial aid office if it has been used successfully before. And also make sure you can make more than $70 in interest by paying over a year instead of paying lump sum. Unless you owe a lot, in today's low-interest climate it might be tough to get $70 out of any bank in one year.