By TERESSA GENETTI-SCOTT
A change in how BYU processes tuition payments has given students more flexibility and cashiers fewer headaches thanks to electronic banking.
Starting this semester, students will send all payments directly to the bank before the last day to add classes for any semester or quarter, which falls on Jan. 15 for the 1999 Winter Semester. The bank will then send BYU a list of student payments, which will be electronically credited to student accounts.
Ferill Orton, director of student financial services, said, “It has saved a lot of headaches. It’s been a little bit of a challenge to work it out, but in general there have been few problems. Essentially, students don’t even know the difference.”
Orton said in previous years the cashiers office had to receive all student transactions before the new year because of the high demand on campus computer facilities when school starts.
Last year, administrators tried moving the tuition deadline from December to January on a temporary basis so students could take advantage of new federal tax credit. Although it was unclear if a new deadline would work on a permanent basis, the processing changes made the later deadline more realistic.
Richard White, university treasurer, said the new tuition deadline gives students the flexibility of being able to make their tuition payment in either 1998 or 1999, whichever year best fits their tax situation.
He said it will also allow students who need to add or drop classes time to complete their schedule before making tuition payments.
“By deferring this deadline, it allows them to make those changes for their tuition calculation, (so they will) be more comfortable with the amount of tuition they actually owe,” White said.
Some students and parents have already taken advantage of the Hope Scholarship Credit, which became effective last January.
The Hope Credit is calculated as the first $1000 of tuition and qualified expenses, and the next $500 of tuition and qualified fees paid in a calendar year.
To qualify for the credit a student must be enrolled in six credit hours during the Fall or Winter semesters and three credit hours or Spring or Summer terms. A student may only apply the credit during the first two years in school.
While the Hope Tax Credit is available for only students in their first two years of school, a second tax credit called the Lifetime Learning Credit will be available for students in any year of school.
As of July 1998, parents and students can write off 20 percent of tuition and qualified fees paid up to $1,000. In 2003 the maximum amount students can claim will double to $2,000.
Students who were not able to qualify for the Hope Tax Credit will likely qualify for the Lifelong Learning Tax Credit. The newer credit is available for undergraduate, graduate and continuing students regardless of whether a students is registered as full-time, half-time or less than half-time.
Ted Pierce, an accountant in Provo, who deals with tax returns for both businesses and families said he already has had a few clients show interest in the Hope and Lifelong Learning credits for 1998 taxes.
