Yale Payment Plan
A Yale Payment Plan provides parents and students with the option to pay education expenses monthly. It is designed to relieve the pressure of lump-sum payments by allowing families to spread payments over a period of months without incurring any interest charges. Participation is optional and elected on a term basis. The cost to sign-up is $50 per term.
Depending on the date you enroll, you may be eligible for up to five installments for the fall and spring terms. Payment Plan installments will be automatically deducted on the 5th of each month from the bank account you specify when enrolling in the plan. The last date to enroll in the Fall Payment Plan is July 31st and November 30th for the Spring Payment Plan.
Students may enroll in a plan prior to charges being assessed, based on estimated cost. Enrollment for the Fall 2024 and Spring 2025 payment plans will begin on May 1st.
*Once you enroll in a plan, following the budget phase, if you receive additional funds towards your student account, the payment plan will rebalance down accordingly prior to the next installment. However, your payment plan will not automatically increase. Should you need to increase your payment plan, the payment plan owner must request the increase by contacting The Office of Student Accounts directly.
If you do not request to increase your payment plan timely, holds and late fees may be assessed.
Payment schedules
| Payment Plan | If you enroll on or before | Total Installments | First Payment | Last Payment |
| Fall Plan | June 4 | 5 | June 5 | October 5 |
| July 4 | 4 | July 5 | October 5 | |
| July 31 | 3 | August 5 | October 5 | |
| Spring Plan | November 4 | 5 | November 5 | March 5 |
| November 30 | 4 | December 5 | March 5 |
NOTE: Summer term charges are not eligible for a payment plan.
Eligibility
- All students who owe more than $300 for the applicable term qualify.
- Authorized Proxies can enroll in a Payment Plan on behalf of their student.
- Students and Authorized Proxies must be willing to allow automatic withdrawals from a personal U.S. checking or savings account. *International students may opt in for an international payment plan. See below for details.
- The student account must be in good standing. If the student has past due balances, he or she must contact Student Financial Services to explore alternative payment arrangements.
Cost to Participate
There is a $50 non-refundable sign-up fee per term for the Fall and Spring plans. The sign-up fee is deducted from your bank account as soon as your payment plan is activated in YalePay. *For example: If you enroll in a Spring payment plan in June, you will not be assessed this fee until your Spring plan becomes active on October 15th.
Enrollment Process Overview
To enroll in a Payment Plan, log into YalePay and select the Payment Plans tab. You will see the payment plan options available to you. The earlier you enroll in a plan, the more installments you can have, so be sure to note the expiration date on each offer. Your installment schedule will update dynamically as you follow the prompts and enter your information in the Payment Plan Estimator. Once you decide to activate a plan, you will receive an email from YalePay confirming your enrollment. Log in to YalePay any time to see the status of your plan.
Payment Plan Rebalancing
Since you can enroll in a Payment Plan before the term charges (tuition and fees, housing, food, health insurance) have been assessed, you may need to estimate your Payment Plan balance in the early months. You will build an estimate of your “out-of-pocket costs” for the Payment Plan period in YalePay using the Payment Plan Estimator. In addition to tuition and fees, you will be asked to provide information about other credits you anticipate will apply to your student account. Later, once tuition and fees are posted to your student account, the Payment Plan will switch from the “Estimated” phase to the “Actual” phase. If your budgeted plan was higher than your student account balance, we will periodically rebalance your Payment Plan down to match the student account balance, less any Anticipated Aid. Reminder: The payment plan owner will need to directly request to increase the payment plan.
For example, if the balance due on your student account decreases because you received an additional scholarship, or you waived your health insurance, the Payment Plan balance will also decrease during the monthly rebalancing process.
However, if additional charges are added to your account or there is a change in your financial aid resulting in decreased award, your payment plan will not increase without your authorization.
Notification and Processing Timeline
Students and all their Authorized Proxies will receive all payment plan notifications generated from the Payment Plan. Student emails will be sent to their official email account at Yale. Authorized Proxy emails will be sent to the email address that the student indicated when designating the Authorized Proxy in YaleHub.
| Timeline | Notification |
| 15 Days Before | Review Payment Plan Installment Reminder |
| Reminder email letting you know to review your account to determine if you need to request to increase your payment plan. | |
| 5 Days Before | Autopay Reminder |
| Reminder email letting you know your autopayment will be processed on the 5th. Make sure you have enough funds available in your bank account to cover the upcoming payment. | |
| 1 Day Before | Rebalance Down Notification |
| If your payment plan amount is greater than your balance due, your payment plan will automatically rebalance down to reflect the new installment amounts. Reminder: If you need to increase your payment plan higher, this is only done per the payment plan owners request. | |
| 5th of the Month | Installment is Processed |
| Monthly automatic installment is processed by autopay from your checking account. You will be notified by email when the payment has been processed. |
Failed Payments and Termination
You will receive notification before any Payment Plan installment is processed to give you an opportunity to make sure sufficient funds are available for the upcoming installment. If a scheduled monthly installment payment fails (i.e., the ACH payment is returned due to insufficient funds in your checking or savings account), you will be notified by email. For every failed ACH payment, you will be charged a penalty fee of $30.00.
We will reattempt to collect a failed installment payment five business days after the failed payment transaction is posted to your student account. If the reattempted collection also fails, the failed payment will be added to your next scheduled monthly installment payment.
The failure of two scheduled payments will result in automatic termination of the Payment Plan. The resulting unpaid balance on your student account will immediately become due and payable and late fees in accordance with University policy will apply.
Payment Plan Ownership
Students or one of the student’s Authorized Proxies can enroll in a Payment Plan in YalePay. If the student enrolls, the student is the owner of the plan; if an Authorized Proxy enrolls, that individual is the owner of the plan. This is important because only the owner of the plan can change the payment method and request to increase the plan amount. Both the student and ALL of the student’s Authorized Proxies will receive Payment Plan notifications by email.
Multiple Payment Plans
Students can have only one active payment plan at a time during an academic term. Even if a student has more than one Authorized Proxy, they may only have one payment plan for a payment plan period. For example, two Authorized Proxies cannot both have a fall term Payment Plan for the same student.
International Payment Plans
International students may enroll in a similar payment plan. The main differences to note in the plans are:
- Upon enrollment, the $50 enrollment fee and 1st payment plan installment are due immediately. The payment plan is not activated until receipt of payment.
- Payments are not automatically deducted. Payment plan owner must initiate each payment.