PayPal, a global digital payments platform, and Venmo, its peer-to-peer payments app, are expanding into higher education by enabling students and families to pay tuition and fees through participating universities’ existing billing systems.
The new capability has been introduced through integrations with three campus payment providers: Illumia, Nelnet Campus Commerce and TouchNet, a Global Payments company. Together, the providers serve thousands of colleges and universities across the US.
Students and families can already use PayPal and Venmo to make payments at institutions including Bellarmine University, Butler University, Kansas State University, Michigan State University and Texas Tech University. More universities are expected to introduce the payment option throughout the year.
The service allows users to select from different funding sources when paying tuition. These include linked bank accounts, credit cards and existing balances held with PayPal or Venmo. Transactions will also be covered by the encryption and fraud monitoring protections used for PayPal’s other consumer payments.
The expansion follows PayPal’s efforts to increase its presence across US university campuses. Around a year ago, the company announced agreements with the Big Ten and Big 12 conferences that introduced revenue-share payments for student athletes through its platform.
Venmo has also increased its campus presence through name, image and likeness partnerships with athletes, co-branded student cards, ambassador programmes and gameday promotions. The tuition payment capability gives the companies another route into the financial lives of students and their families.
PayPal has more than 25 years of experience in digital payments and provides services that allow consumers and businesses to send money, make purchases and sell online across roughly 200 markets. Venmo provides peer-to-peer payment services and is widely used for everyday transactions, including splitting bills and transferring money between individuals.
The new integrations are designed to work within existing university payment systems. Illumia, formerly known as Transact + CBORD and now part of Roper Technologies, provides payment, access and credentialing technology to more than 10,000 institutions across education, healthcare and senior living.
Nelnet Campus Commerce provides payment processing, refunds and instalment plans to more than 1,100 higher education institutions. TouchNet, which operates under Global Payments, provides payment and identification software to universities internationally.
PayPal president of checkout solutions Frank Keller said, “Tuition is one of the biggest payments a family will make, and it should come with the same flexibility and security that millions of people already count on PayPal and Venmo for every day. That’s why we’re proud to bring that same choice and protection into the reliable systems schools have already built.”
Illumia SVP and general manager of integrated payments Don Smith also commented “A modern tuition payment experience has to work for both sides of the transaction. Students and families want the flexibility to use payment methods that fit how they manage their money, while institutions need those options to work within the systems and processes their teams already rely on. This integration helps schools expand choice in a practical way, improving the payer experience without creating a disconnected path for campus teams.”
Nelnet Campus Commerce president Jackie Strohbehn added, “For students and families, tuition is the single biggest financial decision they’ll navigate for higher education. Every payment option we add, including PayPal and Venmo, is about meeting them at that moment with more flexibility and less friction, so affordability isn’t a barrier to staying enrolled.”
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