In brief
Six weeks out, fix the plan terms and deposit for each program, and check your refund policy and enrollment agreement. Decide which payment methods you'll accept and on what terms, and script what admissions tells every student. In the start week, run the first charges early in the day and have someone own every payment that doesn't go through.
Six weeks before the start date
With more than one campus, run this per campus: the terms, the start dates and the person who owns the first charges can differ at each.
Countdown to the start date6 wksTerms4 wksMethods2 wksScriptStartFirst charges
- Plan terms per program. Deposit, number of payments, frequency and the first payment date relative to the start. Write them down once, so every rep offers the same thing.
- Refund and withdrawal policy. Check it against your state's rules and your accreditor's, and make sure the agreement says the same thing the catalog does.
- Enrollment agreement. Plan terms, the schedule, what happens if a payment is missed, and what happens on withdrawal, in plain language.
- Funding. Know which students expect aid, workforce funding, employer payment or VA benefits, so the plan only covers what's left.
Four weeks before
- Payment methods. Decide which you'll accept. Offering bank transfer beside card lowers what you pay to collect.
- Card fees. If you plan to add a fee for paying by card, check your state first. Some states limit or ban surcharges, the card networks require them to be disclosed, and Louisiana bans them on debit cards from 1 August 2026.
- Receipts and reminders. Decide what the student receives after each payment and before each charge, and from whose name.
Two weeks before
- Admissions script. One short explanation of the plan every rep uses: the deposit, the payment amount, the dates, and who to call with questions.
- Payer details. When a parent, spouse or employer pays, collect their details separately from the student's.
- Records. Every enrolled student should have their plan terms, start date and campus recorded where finance can see them.
Start week
- Run the first charges early in the day, not at 5 p.m. on a Friday.
- Own the exceptions. Someone named follows up every payment that didn't go through, the same day.
- Watch for the no-shows. A student who never starts shouldn't be charged the second payment. Check starts against plans before the next charge date.
After the first month
- Compare planned payments with collected payments, by campus.
- List every plan that changed and why.
- Fix whatever the start week exposed before the next cohort.
This checklist is general. Your state, accreditor and program may add requirements.
Paycove builds each student's plan from the enrollment in HubSpot or Pipedrive and charges it from the class start date, with each campus paid into its own account.
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