Payment Plan Frequently Asked Questions
Students and their authorized users have been asking for payment plans that are easier-to-use. Plan enrollment is now completed in the eBill Suite, combining enrollment and the first payment (plan down payment) into one easy-to-understand process. The payment plan enrollment will automatically calculate total charges, payments, and pending financial aid for the semester to determine the total amount due.
Effective with the Fall 2024 semester, all installment payments will be scheduled based on the installment due date. If you wish to pay an installment earlier (for example, you want to pay an installment for January 2 early for tax purposes) you can schedule an earlier date.
Payment Plan enrollment will be available in the eBill Suite AFTER the semester bills have been generated. Enrollment in the plan should be completed prior to the published semester due date (or upon registration if registering after the semester due date).
As part of enrollment in an Itemized Balance plan, you will need to make your first payment (plan down payment) in the eBill suite by eCheck or using the PayPath service.
If you previously estimated your plan and already made a payment toward your semester charges, please contact our office .
Integration with Banner allows the eBill Suite to recalculate Itemized Balance plans daily. If there is a change on the student account (increase or decrease in semester charges or financial aid), remaining installments will be recalculated automatically. Note your scheduled payments will be adjusted automatically and that plan changes may result in a revised plan disclosure.
If there is a plan increase shortly before an installment due date, the next installment may remain unchanged, and the increase will be divided amongst the remaining installments.
Charges included:
- Tuition and fees related to registration
- Campus housing and meal plans
Credits included:
- Financial Aid (University grants and scholarship, loans): disbursed to the account, memoed, or authorized.
- Waivers or Opt-out credits
- Graduate tuition awards, employer deferral, health insurance payroll deduction
- Deposits for the current term
- Outside Scholarships * - See separate FAQ for details
If you receive an outside scholarship and it has already been posted to your student account for the current semester, it has been subtracted from the amount due when calculating your payment plan.
If an outside scholarship check hasn't been received yet by Lehigh, your plan amount will be recalculated once the check is received and posted to your account. Your remaining installments will be adjusted at that time.
Your plan amount is calculated using the semester charges that are not already paid in full, less any authorized or memoed aid. If some of your aid (for example Lehigh grants or scholarship) has already been disbursed to your account, those payments, as well as the charges they paid, will not be included in the disclosure.
Enrollment in Lehigh's payment plans includes an setup fee which is added to your plan at time of enrollment. Although Lehigh does not charge interest on the payment plan, the Payment Plan Agreement includes an Annual Percentage Rate as required by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). The Annual Percentage Rate (APR) represents the cost of the setup fee as a percentage of the amount financed over the number of days enrolled in the plan. Because the APR calculation includes the setup fee, amount financed, number day (based on the date in which you enroll in the plan), the stated APR can vary greatly.
Please email bursar@lehigh.edu and let us know that you want to enroll in the payment plan and need your state's 529 disbursement memoed. Lehigh currently invoices the following: Florida Pre-paid, College Illinois Pre-paid, Kentucky KAPT, and Mississippi MPACT.
There are many reasons why the eBill Suite may not permit enrollment. These may include:
- Plan enrollment is not currently open. You must enroll AFTER the Fall or Spring billing statements have been generated and BEFORE the start of the semester.
- Your semester balance, after considering your authorized or memoed aid, does not qualify for a payment plan.
- The student or an authorized user has already enrolled in a payment plan for the current semester. Only one Itemized Balance plan is permitted per student per semester.
- You owe a balance for a previous term. Plan enrollment is for current semester charges only. Any balance due for a prior term must be paid before enrolling. When paying previous semester/term charges, use the Pay by Term option to ensure the credit is applied to the correct academic term. Please allow one business day for your account to be reviewed and for any holds to be removed.
If you are unable to enroll and need assistance determining the cause, please contact us during business hours so we can assist.
At time of enrollment, you will receive a disclosure agreement, including your installment amounts and due dates. Additionally, your installment plan will be displayed on the homepage of the eBill Suite.
There is no separate bill for the Payment Plan. However, you will receive an email reminder prior to your installment due date.
Once enrolled in a Payment Plan, your monthly statement will include Memoed Items for your anticipated plan payments, and these will be subtracted from the Amount Due. Note that any charges not covered by the plan will be included in your monthly billing statement and must be paid separately (by the statement due date). These additional charges should be paid using the Pay by Line Item option in the Account Payment section of the eBill Suite.
Installment payments will be automatically scheduled as part of your plan enrollment. The only action you need take is to ensure that you have 1) sufficient funds in your bank account (if paying via ACH or a debit card) or 2) sufficient available credit on your credit card, so that the payment can be successfully processed. Additionally the bank account or credit card should remain open and active over the timespan of the payment plan.
If you wish to change the payment method being used for your scheduled payments, you may make these changes in the eBill Suite. The home screen of the eBill Suite will display information about your active payment plan. To change the payment method for all upcoming payments, click the Update All Methods button. Note that if you are switching from Credit Card (PayPath) to ACH, you must have a previously saved ACH payment profile.
If you wish to change the payment method or schedule an earlier payment date for an individual installment, select the "gear" icon next to the installment and then click edit.
Yes. In the Payment Plan section of the eBill Suite, you can either use the "Pay Next Installment" button to pay now, or click the "Gear" icon to schedule an earlier payment date.
You also have the ability to use "Pay Next Installment" button to make a partial payment. The balance of the installment will be automatically processed on the scheduled date.
The "Pay Off Plan" button in the Payment Plans section allows you to pay the entirety of plan at any time.
The down payment and the plan application fee will appear on your first bill after enrolling.
When you enroll in a payment plan, memoed items will be added based on your anticipated plan installments. These memoed items will appear on your bill and will be subtracted from your semester charges in determining your amount due.
For the following months, you will see your payments recorded on your bill and the memoed items will be removed.
The "Amount Due" on your monthly statement will reflect:
- Charges that are not covered by the plan
- Any past due installment and late fee if a scheduled payment failed to process
Your installments are not included in the Amount Due on your monthly statement.
There are a variety of charges that may be added to a student account that are not considered to be part of the "Semester charges." These include, but are not limited to: Gold Plus (from Bursar account), rent (Saucon Village and affiliated housing leases), housing damages or fines, health center charges, parking fines, athletic club dues, LTS charges (lost book, papercut, computer repairs, etc.).
Please pay ALL such charges using the Pay by Line Item feature in the Account Payment section of the eBill Suite. This will ensure that the your payment is applied to those specific charges as opposed your next Plan Installment.
When using Pay by Line Item, you can make payment using Electronic Check or Credit Card via Pay Path. Bank Wire is not an available option.
Note, if using Pay by Line Item to pay multiple charges, multiple payment transactions will be posted to your banner account, even though it is a single ACH or PayPath transaction.
The payment plan is optional. If you do not participate, your semester charges less loans, grants and scholarships will be due in full by the published due date. Payment for Fall semester charges will be due by August 1. Payment for Spring charges will be due by January 2. Please note that if you register after the semester billing statements are generated, payment is still due by the payment due date, or upon registration.
Yes! New payment plans are established for each semester. You must complete the enrollment for each semester you wish to participate. Semester payment plans will be made available online on the date when the semester bills are generated.
Students earn work study awards by working in a work-study employment position on campus. Funds are paid as an hourly wage directly to the student in the form of a paycheck. Since workstudy is not applied as a credit on your student account, it cannot be used as a credit on the payment plan.
Lehigh's returned check fee applies to any checks or eChecks returned by your bank. If a returned payment was intended to serve as a down payment for a payment plan, your enrollment in the payment plan will be cancelled (note: the plan enrollment fee is non-refundable). If a returned payment was used for a payment plan installment, the installment will be marked as unpaid and installment late payment fees may apply.