MSU is going to have to work out some kinks because of its decision to switch to e-billing.
Starting this summer, students no longer will receive their bills in the mail. Instead, they will have to log onto the STUINFO Web site in order to view their payment dues. Students can continue to pay their bills by sending a check in the mail, or they can pay with MasterCard, American Express and Discover cards, but beware -there are convenience fees that apply.
While this is both a positive and inevitable switch for the university as it continues to become more high-tech, there is one problem: Visa is not accepted.
Visa is not compatible with the university's current custom because it uses a flat fee instead of a rate-based fee. This means that no matter what the tuition payment, $200 or $2,000, students would have to pay a $43 convenience fee. The other credit cards offer a fee that is proportional to the bill amount paid.
Regardless, the fact that Visa is not going to be offered as a payment option means that many students will not be able to take advantage of the new e-billing system. This is a major kink that needs to be figured out.
In addition to this, students are going to have to remember to pay during the summer. Not all students check their e-mail as often during the summer months, and without the friendly snail-mail reminder, many of these students could be disenrolled from classes.
Regardless of the hiccups that are unavoidable with a big change like this, e-billing is going to make things more convenient for students in the long run. All the paper it'll be saving is without a doubt environmentally friendly. Also, it's economically smart to save 37 cents per postage stamp for the 40,000-plus students enrolled at MSU. If the Controller's Office was looking for a way to reduce its budget, this will help.
E-billing is a natural step for the university. Students have been able to check their grades and schedule classes online for a while now. It makes sense for them to be able to pay for that classes online, too.
