OU Payment Plans

Know which charges financial aid can cover. Any charges on your student account that aid cannot pay, please pay them in full.

Students, enroll in a payment plan by logging into eBill

Authorized users, enroll in a payment plan by logging into eBill

How to Enroll into Payment Plans

Payment plans and Financial Aid

Students who expect to receive financial aid and enroll in a payment plan need to make their payment plan payments when they are due. When financial aid is authorized (ready to pay) or paid to the student account, it will be applied equally to any remaining payments. If financial aid does not pay the payment plan in full, remaining payments due will be adjusted equally. If financial aid creates a credit balance on the student account, a refund will be processed.

Using a debit card for payment plans

Please be aware of the daily limit on your debit card. Adjustments to your scheduled payment plan payments, such as adding a class, could increase your payment to exceed your daily limit. This may result in your payment being rejected by your bank. If your payment is rejected by your bank and you have had the $25 processing charge waived, you will be assessed the $25 payment plan processing charge along with a returned item charge. Contact your bank if you do not know your daily limit.

How to enroll

Enroll in a payment plan online through eBill.

Avoid Late or Returned Payments

Setup your OU email account (@zb-fc.com) to ensure receipt of notifications of payment plan installment changes, upcoming scheduled payments and installment payment dates and scheduled payment failures. You'll receive an email notification to your OU email account. You are responsible for checking your OU email. If you don't set up your OU email account (@zb-fc.com), you will not receive a notification. Failure to receive an electronic notification does not excuse you from the required payment on the specified payment due date.

Students and authorized users can also sign up to receive text notifications from eBill regarding upcoming payment plan installments and schedule payment reminders. Visit zb-fc.com/ebill for instructions on how to sign up for text notifications in eBill.

Making payments

You can use the "Make a Payment" link on the "Payments" tab and pay any amount you wish. You can make payments of any size toward your next installment at any time. Online payment methods include:

• Electronic Check using a checking or savings account bank routing and account number.
• Debit card as an online checking account when using the routing number and account number associated with the debit card. NOTE: when using your debit card as an online checking account, your debit card number is not the account number used for online checking; you may need to contact your card issuer to obtain the account number needed.
• Credit or Debit card via a third-party processor.  The processor accepts VISA, MasterCard, American Express and Discover, and will add a convenience charge of 2.95% (minimum $3.00) for domestic issued cards and 4.25% (minimum $3.00) for International issued cards to the transaction.  This charge is assessed by the processor, not Oakland University, and will not appear on your student account nor be covered by financial aid. Revenue from the charge goes directly to the processor to cover the cost of processing the credit/ debit card payment. The convenience charge is not refundable under any circumstance.

Authorized users

Students will be notified by email if an authorized user enrolls in a payment plan on the student's behalf. Students are also notified if an authorized user makes a payment or schedules a payment on their behalf.

Changing amounts of automatically scheduled payments

The only way the amounts can be modified is if activity takes place on the student account and a recalculation of the plan is performed.

Changing a scheduled payment method

A student can modify a scheduled payment's payment method. If changing to Electronic Checking, a new payment method will need to be set up in the user's Payment Profile if it does not already exist. A student must use the "Action" icon next to the scheduled payment on the "Home" page and click the "edit" link to change the payment method. If you need to change the expiration date, use the "Payment Profile" link in the "My Profile Setup" menu at the right side "Saved Payment Methods" then click the "Action" icon next to the payment method you need to update and choose "Edit". Once payments are scheduled, you can modify the payment dates. If you want to change your payment method to a bankcard, you will need to "delete" the scheduled payment on the "Home" page and create a new bankcard payment. NOTE: Students enrolled in the Fall / Winter payment plan will not have payments scheduled automatically in the winter payment plan if changes are made to Fall / Winter payment plan scheduled payments.

Returned payments

If a payment is returned or rejected by the bank unpaid (or is disputed in the case of a credit card), the $25 payment plan processing charge will be assessed in addition to any applicable returned item charge. Potentially, students could be charged a total of $50 for a returned scheduled payment plan payment.

Troubleshooting

• Payment already scheduled: When you enrolled in the plan, you set up payments to be processed automatically. One of those payments is being processed today. We prevent you from making another payment on the same day to prevent over payment or double payment.
• Can't make payment on a payment plan: Students cannot make payments toward an authorized user's plan. If your authorized user enrolled in the plan, you can see it, but the authorized user must make the payments. If you need to make payment on your account, you can do so by clicking "Make a Payment" on the "Home" page.
• "You do not have enough eligible charges" error: This means you do not have any unpaid charges in the specified semester.

Pay off your balance

Pay the remaining balance in full any time without penalty. Use the "Pay Off" link on the Payment Plans tab to pay the plan in full.

Installments reopen if their due dates have not passed and you register for additional courses or incur additional charges, have reversals of authorized (ready to pay) or paid financial aid, or reductions in payments from a business, agency or other organization.

A student's payment plan may calculate as paid off without making a payment toward the plan for the following reasons:

• Your authorized (ready to pay) or paid financial aid exceeds your payment plan balance.
• Payments from a business, agency or other organization were applied to your account.
• You or another individual made a payment outside of the payment plan using the Cashier's Office drop box, by mail or online using eBill.
• The student dropped their courses while enrolled in a plan and did not immediately re-register for subsequent courses. Since the balance of charges is zero, the plan is considered paid off.

Visit the "Home" page to view the current amount due.

You will also receive this message if your authorized (ready to pay) or paid financial aid or payments from a business, agency or other organization reduces the balance of your eligible payment plan charges below the value of one freshmen credit hour.

Installment amounts change

The payment plan is set up to pay for charges on your student account, such as tuition and housing. Any time you have activity such as:

• new charges
• refunds posted
• reversals of authorized (ready to pay) or paid financial aid or
• reductions in payments from a business, agency or other organization on your student account

Your remaining plan installment amounts will change equally. Once the charges or refunds are posted to your student account your payment plan will recalculate and you will receive an email notification with your new installment payment amounts. Payment plans recalculate each morning to adjust for these types of activity posted to your student account. You will receive an email notification with your new installment payment amounts.

Any time you have other personal payments, your payment plan installment amounts will go down in the order they are due.

Payment plan processing charge (PPPC)

OU will waive the $25 payment plan processing charge each semester if you schedule your installment payments, at the time of plan enrollment, to be automatically deducted from your checking or savings account, or your credit/debit card.

The following actions may cause the $25 payment plan processing charge to be assessed to your student account:

• Deleting one or more scheduled payments associated with a payment plan
• Un-enrolling from a payment plan
• Switching from one plan to another in the same semester

Un-enroll from my payment plan

Students do not have the option to un-enroll themselves from a payment plan. If a student wishes to be un-enrolled from a payment plan, they should send an email to [email protected].

Late payment penalties

Late payment penalties will be assessed on missed installment payments. A hold will be placed on the student account preventing future registration. Diplomas or other statements of record will be withheld and students will be ineligible to register and/or continue to be registered in future semesters until the obligations have been fulfilled. Once the past due amount is received, the hold will be removed. If an account is not paid in full by the end of the semester, it will be referred to an outside collection agency that will report it to the Credit Bureau.

Calculating the installment payments on a payment plan

The system adds up all the charges for the semester (positive and negative), subtracts authorized (ready to pay) or paid financial aid and payments from a business, agency or other organization and divides the result by the number of installments in the plan selected. This calculation gives the amount of each installment payment. Any other existing payments will be applied to the installments on a sequential basis.

Recalculating installments on a payment plan

Unpaid payment plan installments and scheduled installment payments are recalculated each morning at 6:00 am EST.

(The following formula only applies if students do not have outstanding charges from prior semesters.)

1. First, the system adds up all the eligible charges for the semester (positive and negative) and subtracts authorized (ready to pay) or paid financial aid and payments from a business, agency or other organization.
   
   
2. Subtracts the total charges less authorized (ready to pay) or paid financial aid and payments from a business, agency or other organization already in the plan from 1 above.
   
   
3. Difference from 2 above is divided by the remaining number of installments (including partially paid) in the plan. This calculation gives the amount to increase/decrease each remaining installment payment.
   
   Note: NACHA rules prevent us from increasing an existing installment within 10 days of the installment.
   
   For instance, a student enrolling in the plan for the first time on 5/6/23 will be required to pay 25% of the net charges after aid and third party payments, then the next installment will be on 5/15/23.
   
   But, a student already enrolled in the plan that has new charges or reduction in aid/third party payments will not see the 5/15 installment increased but instead will see the increase divided between the 3rd and 4th installments (even if the plan was paid in full at the time the new charges appeared).
   
   
4. The system then adds up all other payments for the semester (positive and negative). Installment payments are paid off in due date order. (Paid installments are applied at the amount of installment when paid).