Put each pass-through cost on its own line rather than folding it into tuition. Charge what you pay out at enrollment, such as a background check, at enrollment. Charge the exam fee before you pay for the student's exam, either up front or as its own payment shortly before the exam date. If a student withdraws before the exam, your enrollment agreement and your state's refund rules decide what you return, so write the exam fee's treatment into the agreement now.
Separate lines, or folded into tuition?
Separate lines. A certification exam, a background check or a set of scrubs is money you pass on to someone else, often at a price you don't set. Tuition is what you earn for teaching.
Keeping them apart helps in three places:
- The student sees what they're paying for. "Tuition $1,800, exam $125" reads as fair. "Tuition $1,925" invites the question of why it went up.
- Refunds are simpler. If a student leaves in week two, the exam they never sat is easy to identify and treat on its own.
- Your books are cleaner. Pass-through costs can be recorded against what you paid for them, instead of inflating tuition revenue.
When should each one be charged?
Match each charge to the moment you spend the money.
| Cost (example amounts) | When you pay it out | When to charge the student |
|---|---|---|
| Background check, $40 | At enrollment | At enrollment, with the deposit |
| Scrubs and supplies, $85 | Before the first class | At enrollment, or in the first payment |
| Certification exam, $125 | When you register the student | Up front, or as its own payment before registration |
The amounts are examples. Use your own prices, and check the exam body's current fee before you set yours.
Folding the exam fee into the weekly payments is possible, but it means you may pay the exam body before the student has finished paying you. For a short program, a separate payment a week or two before the exam is usually cleaner.
What happens if a student withdraws before the exam?
First settle the tuition: the withdrawal date, your refund policy and what has been paid (how to work it out). Then the exam fee, separately:
- You haven't registered the student yet. You haven't spent the money, so the simplest answer is to refund it in full.
- You've already registered them. Whether you can recover the fee depends on the exam body's own policy. Whether you refund the student depends on your enrollment agreement and your state's refund rules.
Write the exam fee's treatment into the enrollment agreement, so the answer doesn't depend on who handles the withdrawal.
Do card fees apply to pass-through costs?
Yes. At Stripe's standard US rate of 2.9% plus 30 cents, a $125 exam fee paid by card costs you about $3.93, on money you pass straight on to the exam body.
Two ways to handle it: offer bank transfer beside card for these charges, or add a disclosed card surcharge where your state allows it. If you refund a payment that carried a surcharge, refund the surcharge with it.
What if our "payment plan" is really a lender?
Some schools' "payment plans" link sends students to an outside lender or a buy-now-pay-later provider. That's financing: the student owes the lender, on the lender's terms, and the school is usually paid up front. It can sit beside a plan from your school, but it isn't the same thing. The difference, with the numbers.
A checklist for your enrollment agreement
- Each pass-through cost listed on its own line, with its amount.
- When each one is charged.
- What happens to each one if the student withdraws before it's used.
- Which payment methods you accept, and any card surcharge where your state allows one.
Payment plans built from the deal in HubSpot or Pipedrive, with each location paid into its own account and books.
Paycove puts the exam fee on the same invoice as the plan, as its own line, and a refunded payment refunds its card surcharge with it.
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