--- title: College Students Can Now Use PayPal and Venmo to Pay for Tuition description: A handful of major universities now accept digital payments via PayPal and Venmo for tuition — and more colleges will make the change soon. authors: - name: Adam Hardy role: Lead Data Reporter url: https://money.com/author/adam-hardy/ bio: Adam Hardy has eight years of experience in personal finance journalism. At Money, he’s written extensively about student loans, including guides, explainers and breaking news. MuckRack named Adam one of the top 10 journalists covering student loans in the nation. education: University of South Florida, BA, Magazine Journalism at_money_since: 2021 articles: 499 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: - The Penny Hoarder - Forbes Advisor - Creative Loafing - The New York Times - The Washington Post - Bloomberg - Harvard Law School - The Federal Register - National Consumer Law Center - CBS News - Becker's Hospital Review - Business Insider - Mother Jones - The Week - Fortune - The Philadelphia Inquirer - National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NAFSAA) - Education Advisory Board (EAB) - The Institute for College Access & Success (TICAS) - This Morning with Gordon Deal - Empower - Reddit social: - https://www.x.com/hardyjournalism - https://www.linkedin.com/in/hardyjournalism/ editors: - name: Julia Glum role: Managing Editor url: https://money.com/author/julia-glum/ bio: Julia Glum joined Money in 2018 and specializes in covering financial trends that affect everyday Americans' wallets. She also writes Dollar Scholar, a weekly newsletter that teaches young adults how to navigate the messy world of money. education: University of Florida at_money_since: 2018 articles: 453 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 - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology also_seen_in: - Newsweek - International Business Times - CBS News - Good Morning America - WUSA9 - Pix 11 - The New York Times - Mashable - The Washington Post - CNBC - Politico social: - https://x.com/superjulia - https://www.linkedin.com/in/julia-glum published: '2026-08-20T14:28:34.000Z' modified: '2026-08-20T14:28:34.000Z' section: Education tags: - News word_count: 520 canonical: https://money.com/pay-college-tuition-venmo-paypal/ 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/). ![Phone, bill](https://img.money.com/2026/08/News-Venmo-Tuition.jpg) You can now [pay for college](https://money.com/how-to-pay-for-college/) the same way you might split a meal with friends. A handful of major universities now accept digital payments through PayPal and Venmo for tuition and fees, and more colleges are expected to make the change soon. "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," Frank Keller, president of checkout solutions at PayPal, said [in a news release](https://newsroom.paypal-corp.com/2026-08-19-PayPal-and-Venmo-Expand-to-Tuition-Payments-in-New-Integrations-with-Illumia,-Nelnet-Campus-Commerce,-and-TouchNet). PayPal, which owns Venmo, announced the feature Wednesday in a partnership with the education payment companies Illumia, Nelnet Campus Commerce and TouchNet, which collectively process direct tuition payments for thousands of colleges in the U.S. For now, [Bellarmine University](https://money.com/best-colleges/profile/bellarmine-university/), [Butler University](https://money.com/best-colleges/profile/butler-university/), [Kansas State University](https://money.com/best-colleges/profile/Kansas-State-university/), [Michigan State University](https://money.com/best-colleges/profile/michigan-state-university/) and [Texas Tech University](https://money.com/best-colleges/profile/Texas-Tech-university/) are among the first wave of schools to accept Venmo and PayPal “with others to go live in the coming weeks and months,” a PayPal spokesperson tells Money. The new payment options at these colleges come at a time when tuition bills across the country are due for the fall semester. Students and families can use their [Venmo or PayPal](https://money.com/venmo-vs-paypal/) balances, linked credit cards, debit cards or bank accounts to pay. The convenience of these added options may come at a cost, however. While Venmo and PayPal do not directly charge fees to make payments, colleges do collect processing fees for using those options. For instance, [Kansas State University charges](https://www.k-state.edu/finsvcs/cashiers/payment-options/online-student-payment/) 2.95% for domestic card payments from Venmo or PayPal, and 4.25% for international cards, with a minimum fee of $3 for transactions over $20. The fees are nearly identical for payments coming directly from credit and debit cards. (Payments by cash, check or direct ACH transfer from bank accounts do not incur fees.) Given the cost of tuition, processing fees can add up quickly. Undergraduate tuition for one semester at K-State as a Kansas resident runs above $13,000. While over 80% of students receive some form of financial aid, fees on a standard tuition bill could potentially exceed $380 for residents — and much more for out-of-state and international students. For such large sums of money, families will also want to consider [the risks of storing potentially thousands of dollars](https://money.com/keep-money-in-venmo-paypal-risky/) in a digital payment app. Venmo and PayPal are not banks, and balances kept on the apps are thus not insured by the FDIC. "Deposit insurance only protects against the failure of the bank or credit union and does not protect the customer against the failure of the nonbank company itself," according to an [analysis](https://www.consumerfinance.gov/data-research/research-reports/issue-spotlight-analysis-of-deposit-insurance-coverage-on-funds-stored-through-payment-apps/full-report/) from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau under the Biden administration. Wednesday’s announcement applies only to what’s called bursar payments, or charges directly on the school’s payment portal. Student loan bills, which are handled through third party loan servicers, are not affected by these changes. "Millions of students and families already use PayPal and Venmo for everyday purchases," a PayPal spokesperson says. "Bringing that same experience to tuition payments means one less login, one less account to manage and a checkout experience that feels familiar." ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/pay-college-tuition-venmo-paypal/#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": "Paying for College", "item": "https://money.com/paying-for-college/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "College Students Can Now Use PayPal and Venmo to Pay for Tuition" } ] }, { "@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/pay-college-tuition-venmo-paypal/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/pay-college-tuition-venmo-paypal/", "name": "College Students Can Now Use PayPal and Venmo to Pay for Tuition", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2026-08-20T14:28:34.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/pay-college-tuition-venmo-paypal/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/pay-college-tuition-venmo-paypal/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2026-08-20T14:28:34.000Z" }, { "@type": "NewsArticle", "headline": "College Students Can Now Use PayPal and Venmo to Pay for Tuition", "articleSection": "Education", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2026/08/News-Venmo-Tuition.jpg", "width": 2880, "height": 1920, "caption": "News-Venmo-Tuition" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Adam Hardy", "url": "https://money.com/author/adam-hardy/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/adam-hardy/#author", "description": "Adam Hardy has eight years of experience in personal finance journalism. 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