Paying to Northwestern isn’t easy — but now it’s a little more efficient.
Students now can link to two online services through CAESAR to view invoices and pay tuition and fees, a process administrators say is simpler than going through the mail.
Although students officially were notified of NU’s new online billing system this week, about $1.5 million already has been processed through the system in the past three months, an NU official said Wednesday.
“This shows a definite level of participation,” said Richard Eide, a technical support consultant for student accounts.
Eide said about 500 students, or approximately 3 percent of those enrolled, have accessed the system so far.
“Students wanted a quicker and faster service,” said Philomena Wilson, associate director of student accounts on the Chicago Campus. “This way, (their information) will always be there for them.”
Wilson said about 40 students were asked to participate in a trial run, but the student accounts department was “pleasantly surprised” when other students stumbled upon and began using the feature.
“We put it out there and never told students,” she said. “We never used it before and we wanted to make sure there were no glitches.”
Parents also can access the invoices and pay bills through a Web site from financial services.
A nonstudent user can sign up for a name and password, which authorizes the person to view and pay the bills through the two services, ePay and eBill.
Logging into the system the first time begins a 30-day trial period where users will receive bills by mail and electronically. After 30 days, they can choose to switch completely to the electronic service or stick with billing by mail, but they can change their mind any time.
To pay through ePay, a user must fill out an electronic check that links a checking account to NU’s billing system. But paying by credit card is not yet an option for full-time students because of the costs associated with them.
The service is especially helpful to international students because slow mail service makes the bills late in arriving to homes.
“Parents (living overseas) are getting the bills right when they are due,” Eide said. “With this stuff available on the Web, it makes for much better communication with those families.”
Cecile Vergier, a Medill sophomore from Brazil, said she plans to begin using the program next quarter.
“I think it’s a good idea since my parents live in Brazil,” she said. “It’s really annoying to deal with mailing checks. (Electronic payment) is quite useful.”
Eide believes that by providing the Web site, financial services officials are streamlining data processing to make it easier for students to pay their bills.
“We keep looking at how we can improve student service and leverage with the Internet, and we were finally in a position to do it,” he said.
