Fees Management for Colleges
Bill tuition, lab fees, hostel charges, and per-credit rates across semester or trimester terms with an open-source fees platform. Handles installment plans, scholarship deductions, Stripe and Razorpay gateways, and general ledger sync without per-transaction surcharges from Nelnet or TouchNet.
Fees management for colleges is software that generates tuition invoices, tracks student receivables, processes online payments, and posts revenue to the general ledger. OpenEduCat handles per-course credit-based tuition, flat term fees, program-specific charges (lab, studio, clinical), installment payment plans, financial aid credits, and multi-currency billing across 150+ countries on the openeducat_fees module.
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Term-Based Fee Structures
Configure semester, trimester, quarter, or per-course billing cycles. Attach fee heads (tuition, lab fee, hostel, transport, exam fee, student activity) to programs and academic years. Automated invoice generation runs at term-open with pro-rata charges for late enrollment and add-drop adjustments.
Per-Credit and Flat-Rate Tuition
Support the two US college pricing models: per-credit-hour tuition (community colleges, part-time programs) and flat-rate full-time tuition (undergraduate residential). Configure per-credit rates by residency (in-state, out-of-state, international) and program (undergraduate, graduate, professional).
Installment Plans & Bursar Holds
Offer 3, 4, 6, or custom installment plans per term with configurable down-payment percentage and monthly due dates. Automated late fee application after grace period. Bursar holds block registration, transcript release, or graduation clearance for accounts with past-due balances above configurable thresholds.
Scholarship, Grant & Aid Application
Apply merit scholarships, need-based grants, athletic aid, and third-party sponsor payments to student accounts. Federal Pell Grant and Direct Loan disbursements post via a scheduled COD import for US institutions. Aid packaging shows students the net cost after all awards in the portal.
Payment Gateway Integration
Accept card, ACH, wire, and e-wallet payments via Stripe, PayPal, Razorpay (India), Paystack (Africa), and Adyen. Configurable convenience fees per gateway. PCI DSS scope limited to the gateway iframe; no card data touches OpenEduCat servers.
General Ledger & Revenue Recognition
Post invoice, payment, refund, and write-off entries to Odoo Accounting or export to SAP, Oracle NetSuite, and Sage Intacct via CSV or REST. Deferred revenue recognition matches the academic term calendar per ASC 606 (US GAAP) and IFRS 15.
Refund & Withdrawal Refund Schedule
Configure the term refund schedule (100 percent before week 1, 80 percent through week 2, etc.) per institutional policy. Automatic pro-rata refund calculation on official withdrawal. Integrates with Return to Title IV (R2T4) for federal aid recipients under 34 CFR 668.22.
Multi-Campus and Multi-Currency Billing
For multi-campus college systems, invoice students in the currency and tax regime of their enrolled campus (USD, GBP, EUR, INR, ZAR, KES). Consolidated receivables reporting rolls up across campuses. Foreign exchange gains and losses post to the correct GL account per campus books.
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How does per-credit-hour tuition billing work for community colleges?
Configure per-credit rates by residency (in-state, out-of-state, international) and course level (100-200, 300-400, graduate). At registration, the system multiplies enrolled credits by the applicable rate and generates an invoice with per-course line items. Add-drop before the census date adjusts the invoice automatically. Program-specific fees (nursing lab, welding shop) attach to the course record so they only bill for students enrolled in that course.
Does OpenEduCat handle Return to Title IV refund calculations?
Yes. When a US college student officially withdraws before completing 60 percent of a payment period, the R2T4 module calculates unearned federal aid (Pell Grant, Direct Loan, SEOG, TEACH) based on the withdrawal date under 34 CFR 668.22. Unearned aid is scheduled for return to the federal COD system within the 45-day statutory window. Institutional refund per the published refund schedule runs in parallel.
Which payment gateways are supported out of the box?
Stripe (USD, GBP, EUR, and 135+ currencies), PayPal (US and international), Razorpay (India), Paystack (Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa), Adyen (enterprise multi-region), and Authorize.Net (US). ACH direct debit is supported via Stripe for US colleges and via Razorpay UPI for Indian colleges. Configurable convenience fees pass processing costs to the payer where institutional policy allows.
How are installment payment plans configured?
Payment plans are defined per term with a plan name, down-payment percentage, installment count, first-installment date, and installment frequency (monthly or biweekly). Students opt into a plan from the payment portal after invoice generation. Automated email reminders precede each installment due date by 7 and 3 days. Late installments trigger a configurable late fee and, after a grace period, a bursar hold on registration and transcripts.
Can we apply scholarships and financial aid automatically?
Yes. Scholarship awards are recorded per student per term with an award amount, source (institutional, external donor, federal, state), and disbursement schedule. On disbursement, a credit posts to the student account offsetting the tuition invoice. Federal aid comes in via a Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) file import that matches disbursements to student IDs and posts credits. Third-party sponsor billing (military tuition assistance, employer reimbursement, embassy sponsors) generates a separate invoice to the sponsor.
How does deferred revenue recognition work?
Tuition invoiced at term open is posted to a deferred revenue liability account. Revenue is recognized on a straight-line basis across the term (semester, trimester, quarter) matching the service delivery period per ASC 606 (US GAAP) or IFRS 15. Withdrawal reversals adjust both the recognized revenue and the refund payable. This treatment satisfies external auditor expectations for higher-ed financial statements under GASB 34 (public colleges) and FASB (private nonprofit colleges).
Can OpenEduCat post to Banner Finance, Colleague Finance, or SAP?
Yes. For colleges running Ellucian Banner Finance, Colleague Finance, Workday Financials, SAP, Oracle NetSuite, or Sage Intacct, OpenEduCat exports daily journal entries in the receiving system format (CSV, XML, or REST). Chart of accounts mapping is configurable per fee head so tuition, fees, and refunds hit the correct GL accounts. Sub-ledger detail (per-student, per-invoice) is retained in OpenEduCat with the summary posted to the general ledger.
Is OpenEduCat PCI DSS compliant for payment processing?
OpenEduCat uses tokenized payment gateway iframes (Stripe Elements, Razorpay Checkout, PayPal SPB) so credit card data never touches OpenEduCat servers. This limits PCI DSS scope to SAQ A (the smallest merchant category) instead of SAQ D. Institutions can self-attest to SAQ A annually. For higher-risk models (mail-order-telephone-order payments), Stripe Terminal and Razorpay POS integrations keep the terminal in scope while OpenEduCat stays out of scope.