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Payment Plans

 

Nichols College offers a payment plan option for those seeking to budget college costs.

Payment Plan Company
How the Payment Plan Works
Payment Plan Options
How to Enroll in a Plan
Additional Information

  

Payment Plan Company:

 

The company that we use to administer the payment plan option is Tuition Management Systems (TMS).

  • Website: www.afford.com
  • Phone: 1-888-216-4258
  • Be sure to inform TMS that you are enrolling in the Nichols College - Evening and Online Student program.

  

How the Payment Plan Works:

 

  • The student enrolls in TMS (You may enroll online at the website listed above or you may call the toll free number and enroll over the phone).
  • For a small annual fee you may budget the balance due for the entire school year or for an individual semester into monthly payments that are interest free. (Refer to section Payment Plan options for details and fees.)
  • This is NOT a loan. This is a voluntary agreement to make monthly payments. If the payments are not made to TMS then Nichols College does not receive payment either.
  • TMS notifies the college of your yearly or semester budgeted amount.
  • You pay TMS by the first of each month.
    • Pay by check
    • Pay by automatic checking or savings account withdrawal
    • Pay by credit card (Additional fees apply. Refer to section Additional Information.)
    • Online payments at the TMS website (Additional fees apply. Refer to section Additional Information.)
  • TMS remits the payments to Nichols electronically at the end of each month.
  • The Nichols College statement will reflect
    • a monthly payment as it is received by Nichols College 
    • and an Estimated Amount for the balance of the budgeted plan for the given semester.
    • TMS account must be in a "current" status at TMS in order for the Estimated TMS Budget to be displayed on the statement
      • "Current" status means that the enrollment fee has been paid and the monthly payments are up to date at TMS

  

Payment Plan Options:

 

Yearly Plans:

  • 12 Month Plan:
    • Enrollment Fee of $45
    • Plan begins on August 1st of each year and last payment is made on July 1st
    • This plan budgets the first 6 payments to the Fall term and the last 6 payments to the Spring term.
  • Please note that the 12 month plan is for the student that will be registering for courses in multiple terms (Fall and Spring). The 6 Fall term payments MUST cover the tuition costs incurred for the Fall term and the 6 Spring term payments must cover the tuition incurred for the Spring term.

 

Semester Plans:

 

Announcing NEW plan options that are effective immediately!

 

 For Classes with  Start Dates 
Between the Following Dates

4 monthly payments 
(from month to month)

Enrollment
Fee 

     
 May 15 to June 15  June 1 to September 1

$25

 June 15 to July 15  July 1 to October 1

 $25

 July 15 to August 15  August 1 to November 1

$25

 August 15 to September 15  September 1 to December 1 

 $25

 September 15 to October 15  October 1 to January 1

 $25

 October 15 to November 15  Novemeber 1 to February 1

 $25

 November 15 to December 15   December 1 to March 1

 $25

 December 15 to January 15  January 1 to April 1

 $25

 January 15 to February 15  February 1 to May 1

 $25

 February 15 to March 15  March 1 to June 1

 $25

 March 15 to April 15  April 1 to July 1

 $25

 April 15 to May 15  May 1 to August 1

 $25

 

If you are registering for multiple courses, you MUST choose a plan that matches the EARLIEST course start date. You may at your option choose to enroll in more than one plan. Please note that you WILL incur an enrollment fee for each plan that you enroll in.

How to Enroll in a Plan with Tuition Management Systems:

 

  • Calculate the tuition that you will owe.
    • Example: You will register for a Graduate course beginning January 15 a second Graduate course beginning March 21. Each course is $1,575 and the total tuition owed will be $3,150.
  • Decide which plan or plans from above that you wish to enroll in.
    • In this instance, you could enroll in the January 15 to February 15 plan. This would be 4 payments to cover the tuition of $3,150. Each payment would be $787.50.
    • You could enroll in two plans:
      • First plan: enroll in the January 15 to February 15 plan for the first course. This would be 4 payments (February to May) to cover the tuition of $1,575. Each payment would be $393.75.
      • Second Plan: Enroll in the March 15 plan to the April 15 plan for the second course. This would be another 4 payments (April to July) to cover the additional tuition of $1,575. Each payment would be $393.75.
      • Please note that if you enroll in more than one plan then the payment dates could overlap. In these instances, you may be making payments on several plans in the same month. In the above example, in the months of April and May you would need to make TWO payments of $393.75 to TMS.
  • Go online to www.afford.com and enroll in a plan.
    • Choose Students & Families
    • Select Enroll in a Payment Plan Now (box towards the upper right)
    • Enter the school year (normally the default entry is correct)
    • Select Massachusetts as the School Location.
    • From the drop down box choose Nichols College
    • On the right hand side two options will appear. Choose Nichols College - Evening and Online Students. Then click on the red continue button.
    • On the next screen choose, semester as the  payment plan type. Then click on the red continue button. 
    • Next, enter the tuition amount for the plan. (It says term 1: all of our plans are term 1). Then click on the red continue button. 
    • The current plan options will be listed. Choose the appropriate plan. Then click on the red continue button.
      • Please note that only the 4 most current plans are shown at any given time. You will need to contact TMS via the toll free number (listed above) to enroll in plans not shown.
    • Enter in your personal contact information on the remaining screens.
    • Be sure to pay the enrollment fee online via credit card or mail in the check immediately.
    • The plan is not considered an active plan until TMS has received the enrollment fee. Only active plans can be used as a means of payment for course registrations.

 

Additional Information:

 

Additional Fees:

  • Late payment Fee: TMS charges a late payment fee of $30 for each payment not received in full by the first of the month. TMS does use a received date and not a postmarked date for the late payment fee. This is referred to as a "Service Fee" on the TMS statement.
  • Returned Check Fee: The fee for a returned check is $25. 
  • Online Payment Fee: A fee of $5 is charged per online payment
  • Credit Card Convenience Fee: A 2% to 3.5% tiered convenience fee (based on monthly payment amount) is charged per credit card payment.
  • Reinstatement Fee: If the TMS account is canceled by the enrollee or terminated by TMS for delinquent payments and the enrollee requests the account to be re-opened there is a $30 fee.
  • Any questions or concerns regarding the fees should be directed to TMS.

 

Disclaimer:

The information listed on this page is intended as an overview of the Tuition Management Systems payment plan. All TMS policies are not listed on this site. Please contact TMS directly for a full disclosures of all fees and policies.



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