Only 11 Percent of Students Received Additional Payment Plan Options from Schools Despite New Learning Environments Prompted ...
October 06 2020 - 8:00AM
Business Wire
New ACI Worldwide study shows virtual and
hybrid learning models due to pandemic have students and parents
questioning payment plan options and school costs
Just 11 percent of students or parents paying for a child’s
tuition and/or room and board indicated their schools are now
offering more payment plan options since new learning environments
were introduced due to the pandemic, according to new research from
ACI Worldwide (NASDAQ: ACIW), a leading global provider of
real-time digital payment software and solutions. The study, which
included responses from more than 500 parents and students, also
showed that 74 percent expect a full or partial refund from
educational institutions for unused fees, including on-site
services such as room and board, recreation, health services and
meal plans.
“Without question, the pandemic has made this year’s
back-to-school season harder on parents and students,” said Sanjay
Gupta, executive vice president, ACI Worldwide. “This study sheds
light on the opportunity that higher education institutions have to
offer flexible and convenient billing and payment options to meet
the needs of students and families. While balancing the ‘new
normal’ will be tough enough for students, what can remain constant
is the ability for institutions to offer simplified and centralized
digital billing and payment capabilities so that students can pay
when, where and how they want.”
Other key findings and trends
include:
Payment trends
- Only 52 percent of parents and students expect to see savings
passed down from campus infrastructure reductions due to virtual
class changes; however, 61 percent would expect a full or partial
refund if virtual classes cost the school less than in-person
classes.
- Parent vs. student: 44 percent of parents expect a full
refund of unused fees for on-site services compared to 35 percent
of students.
- Regional: 81 percent of those in the Northeast and
Midwest expect at least partial reimbursement of on-campus services
compared to 66 percent in the West and 70 percent in the
South.
- Income: 77 percent of those with household incomes over
$80K expect at least partial reimbursement of on-campus services
compared to 70 percent of those with household incomes of
$40-80K.
- Almost half (49%) of parents and students believe credits or
refunds, when applicable, should take one to four weeks to receive,
and 17 percent expect them to be immediate or take less than a week
to receive.
- 65 percent said their schools provide a centralized view of
student financial obligations while more than 35 percent said they
do not, or they don’t know.
- Nearly half (49%) have not seen any changes to schools’ payment
plan options since new learning environments were introduced due to
the pandemic; six percent also indicated they have fewer payment
plan options.
Campus safety procedures due to pandemic
- More than half (52%) of parents and students said their college
or university offers on-campus housing with a hybrid learning
scenario, which includes in-person and virtual classes.
- Roughly one out of five parents and students (22%) said that
their college or university is not allowing students on campus but
will provide virtual classes instead.
- More than half (52%) of parents and students feel comfortable
with the safety precautions being taken on campus; nearly one out
of five (19%) are not comfortable.
- Parent vs. student: 57 percent of parents are
comfortable with precautions taken on campus compared to 46 percent
of students.
- Income: 61 percent of those with household incomes over
$80K are comfortable with precautions taken on campus compared to
40 percent of those with household incomes of $40-80K.
- 18 percent said they (or their children) have delayed or put
off classes this year until they can take them in person.
- Regional: 21 percent of those in the Midwest have
delayed taking a class until in-person options are available
compared to 13 percent in the West.
“With ACI Speedpay’s cloud-based Student Payment Portal,
colleges and universities are reducing costs such as development
and licensing fees as well as staff time spent on payments.
Moreover, students and parents are securely managing bill payments
online while avoiding in-person payments during the pandemic,”
Gupta continued.
Methodology
All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total
sample size was 509 adults screened to be students enrolled in
college or parents of such students who are paying tuition and/or
room and board. Fieldwork was undertaken between 17-21 September
2020. The survey was carried out online.
About ACI Worldwide
ACI Worldwide powers digital payments for more than 6,000
organizations around the world. More than 1,000 of the largest
financial institutions and intermediaries, as well as thousands of
global merchants, rely on ACI to execute $14 trillion each day in
payments and securities. In addition, myriad organizations utilize
our bill presentment and payment services. Through our
comprehensive suite of software solutions delivered on customers’
premises, through the public cloud or through ACI’s private cloud,
we provide real-time payment capabilities and enable the industry’s
most complete omni-channel payments experience.
© Copyright ACI Worldwide, Inc. 2020 ACI, ACI Worldwide, ACI
Payments, Inc., ACI Pay, Speedpay and all ACI product/solution
names are trademarks or registered trademarks of ACI Worldwide,
Inc., or one of its subsidiaries, in the United States, other
countries or both. Other parties’ trademarks referenced are the
property of their respective owners.
View source
version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20201006005397/en/
Dan Ring dan.ring@aciworldwide.com 781-370-3600
Nidhi Alberti nidhi.alberti@aciworldwide.com 781-370-3600
ACI Worldwide (NASDAQ:ACIW)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024
ACI Worldwide (NASDAQ:ACIW)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2023 to Apr 2024