I would like to take a moment to communicate and explain some changes in student account payment policies for the coming year. Beginning June 21, 2004 Seattle Pacific University will no longer directly accept credit or debit cards (bankcards) for the payment of student account balances. At the same time, we are pleased to announce several significant and convenience-related enhancements to payment options available for students and their families. Many other colleges and universities have taken this step in recent years.

In a continuing effort to control and manage the cost of providing an education at Seattle Pacific University, the Administration annually reviews services provided to students on the basis of cost effectiveness and appropriate use of tuition. A review this past year of bankcard fees showed that costs to the University more than doubled in the last five years to over $350,000 annually. Further, our study showed that about one-third of the students utilize credit cards to pay their student account balances. This means the remaining two-thirds of the students pay, in their tuition, the cost of providing this service to the one-third who use credit cards. At a time when we are attempting to control expenses and continue to strengthen academic programs, the significant costs associated with directly accepting credit card payments do not represent a good use of student tuition dollars.

The planned enhancements to payment options include the ability to make on-line payments, via a secure internet site linked from the University’s website, using a no-cost e-check/ACH format available anytime of day, 365 days per year. In addition, since we understand that some of you may want to continue using a bankcard (credit and debit), we have contracted with a third party who will accept this form of payment on your behalf. They will charge a service fee, which you will have an opportunity to authorize prior to completing the payment. In addition to expanding the time when payments can be made and avoiding lines in the Student Financial Services Office or mailing payments, these enhancements also allow students to designate additional authorized payers to make payments toward their account balances on-line. Further information related to the details and availability of the enhancements will be forthcoming from Student Financial Services and will be available, when implemented, through their home page on the University’s web page located at http://www.spu.edu/depts/sfs/.

We trust you will find these payment enhancements offer increased convenience and improved service in managing the payment of your tuition, fees, room and board charges, while allowing the University to reduce its costs to the eventual benefit of all students. If you have questions regarding this decision please contact me at dmort@spu.edu.