--- title: 'Crypto for College: Students at This School Can Now Pay Their Tuition in Bitcoin' description: Bentley University, a private college in Massachusetts, announced Tuesday that it is now accepting cryptocurrency for tuition payments. authors: - name: Mallika Mitra role: Contributing Editor url: https://money.com/author/mallika-mitra/ bio: Mallika Mitra is a contributing editor for Money, based in Chicago. She has covered investing and retirement for seven years and her work has appeared in CNBC, Bloomberg, Kiplinger, AARP, Barron’s, Bankrate, The Daily Upside, ETF.com, The Bond Buyer, PLANADVISER, PLANSPONSOR and Investopedia. education: Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY Kalamazoo College at_money_since: 2020 articles: 395 covers: - Education - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Pets - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology also_seen_in: - CNBC - Bloomberg - Kiplinger - Barron's - Bankrate - WGN-TV - CBS News Radio - This Morning With Gordon Deal - Everyone's Talkin' Money social: - https://twitter.com/mitra_mallika - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mallika-mitra-4577a386/ editors: - name: Brad Tuttle role: Senior Editor url: https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/ bio: Brad Tuttle is a former senior editor at Money with over 10 years’ experience covering a vast number of personal finance topics, including careers, cars, travel, budgeting, investing, insurance, credit cards, consumer psychology, real estate, banking, and shopping and deals. education: Columbia University School of Journalism, MS at_money_since: 2014 articles: 366 covers: - Education - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Economy and Politics - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Pets - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology social: - https://twitter.com/bradrtuttle - https://linkedin.com/in/brad-tuttle-834b225 former_staff: true published: '2022-05-04T17:55:28.000Z' modified: '2024-01-10T12:58:44.000Z' section: Education tags: - Cryptocurrency - News word_count: 517 canonical: https://money.com/crypto-for-college-tuition-bentley/ type: NewsArticle source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Photo illustration-collage of Bentley University MA campus with bitcoins superimposed on top](https://img.money.com/2022/05/News-College-accepting-crypto-.jpg?crop=0px%2C84px%2C2880px%2C1620px&quality=85) Some college students just got a new way to make their tuition payments: cryptocurrency. Bentley University, a private institution with roughly 5,000 students in Waltham, Massachusetts, announced Tuesday that it is now accepting [cryptocurrency](https://money.com/what-is-cryptocurrency/) for tuition payments. The school says it is partnering with the cryptocurrency exchange [Coinbase](https://money.com/how-to-use-coinbase-beginners/) to accept [bitcoin](https://money.com/what-is-bitcoin/), [ethereum](https://money.com/what-is-ethereum/) and USD Coin, which is a stablecoin pegged to the U.S. dollar. Money named Bentley one of the [top 10 best business colleges](https://money.com/best-business-colleges/) in the U.S. in 2020. The school also has a [lively student investing scene](https://money.com/investing-clubs-college-high-school/), including the Bentley University Investment Group, which manages a portion of the university's endowment. “We’re proud to embrace this technology that our students are learning about, which will soon transform the global business landscape they’re about to enter," E. LaBrent Chrite, president of Bentley University, said in a [news release](https://www.bentley.edu/news/bentley-now-accepting-cryptocurrency-tuition-payments). Cryptocurrency's popularity has recently exploded. In 2021, the crypto market's value [skyrocketed](https://money.com/crypto-market-doubled-value-whats-next/) from $965 billion to as much as $2.6 trillion, according to a Morningstar analysis of data from CoinGecko. In March, the White House said around 16% of adult Americans — approximately 40 million people — have invested in, traded or used cryptocurrencies, and President Joe Biden [signed an executive order](https://money.com/joe-biden-crypto-regulations-good-investors/) to establish the first-ever federal U.S. strategy on cryptocurrencies. [Exchanges](https://money.com/best-crypto-exchanges/) like Coinbase and online [trading platforms](https://money.com/best-online-stock-trading/) like [Robinhood](https://money.com/how-to-use-robinhood-beginners/) have made trading crypto akin to buying and selling [stocks](https://money.com/how-to-buy-stocks/) and bonds. Venmo users can [buy cryptocurrency](https://money.com/buy-bitcoin-venmo/) in the same app where they're sending money to their friends, and this year, TurboTax [gave taxpayers the option](https://money.com/turbotax-tax-refund-in-crypto/) to receive their tax refunds in cryptocurrency. It's still very rare for colleges to accept cryptocurrency for tuition payments. Bentley University says it is one of the first universities in the U.S. to offer this option to students. In October, the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania [announced](https://news.wharton.upenn.edu/press-releases/2021/10/wharton-launches-economics-of-blockchain-and-digital-assets-executive-education-online-certificate-program/) it would allow participants of a new six-week online program about blockchain and digital assets to pay tuition in bitcoin, ethereum or USD Coin. In 2014, *Time* [reported](https://time.com/2871764/kings-college-accept-bitcoin/) that King's College in New York City had become the first accredited U.S. school to accept bitcoin payments. And back in 2013, [GeekWire](https://www.geekwire.com/2013/cyprusbased-school-university-accept-bitcoin-tuition/) and others reported that the University of Nicosia in Cyprus became the first accredited university in the world to accept bitcoin for tuition fees. Some other international universities also accept cryptocurrency as a form of payment, including the European School of Management and Technology in Germany and the University of Cumbria in the United Kingdom. "Many institutions are exploring how to do this and if this is a good practice for their institution," Jim Hundrieser, vice president for consulting and business development at the National Association of College and University Business Officers, told Money via email. "We believe this practice of accepting multiple currencies will continue to expand." Bentley University also announced it plans to accept the three cryptocurrencies as gifts and donations. ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/crypto-for-college-tuition-bentley/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Education", "item": "https://money.com/education/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Colleges and Universities", "item": "https://money.com/colleges-and-universities/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Crypto for College: Students at This School Can Now Pay Their Tuition in Bitcoin" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/crypto-for-college-tuition-bentley/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/crypto-for-college-tuition-bentley/", "name": "Crypto for College: Students at This School Can Now Pay Their Tuition in Bitcoin", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2022-05-04T17:55:28.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/crypto-for-college-tuition-bentley/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/crypto-for-college-tuition-bentley/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-01-10T12:58:44.000Z" }, { "@type": "NewsArticle", "headline": "Crypto for College: Students at This School Can Now Pay Their Tuition in Bitcoin", "articleSection": "Education", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2022/05/News-College-accepting-crypto-.jpg?crop=0px%2C84px%2C2880px%2C1620px&quality=85", "width": 1012, "height": 569, "caption": "News-College-accepting-crypto" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mallika Mitra", "url": "https://money.com/author/mallika-mitra/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/mallika-mitra/#author", "description": "Mallika Mitra is a contributing editor for Money, based in Chicago. 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