The recent changes to federal student lending under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act —most notably the elimination of Graduate PLUS loans as of July 1 and caps on parent borrowing —represent the most significant federal policy shifts in higher education financing in decades.
But for schools, the cessation of these programs also represents an opportunity to innovate on today’s paramount issue for students and institutions alike – affordability.
As Chief Product Officer and Co-President of Global Education at Flywire, I spend a great deal of time speaking with university finance leaders around the world. Increasingly the conversations I am having are not just about affordability being a financial aid issue – it’s an enrollment and retention issue too.
Conversations about higher ed affordability tend to center on the tuition price tag. But in making enrollment decisions, students and families weigh many things related to cost. How easily can they understand their total costs? How flexible are their payment options? How quickly do they receive answers to financial questions? Is the institution making the entire financial journey feel manageable and frictionless?
Affordability isn’t simply, “What does this education cost?” It’s “Can I realistically make this work?”
In answering that question, the structure of a payment can have a meaningful impact on whether a student enrolls, remains enrolled, and ultimately graduates. And it’s why moving from one or two large payments to smaller predictable installments often makes education substantially more manageable for families and tuition collection more predictable for institutions.
That is where technology can make a meaningful difference.
Modern payment plans are becoming a strategic affordability tool
Historically, payment plan technology has often been viewed as an administrative convenience. Today modern payment plans play a major role in a student’s decision to enroll in an institution.
Modern payment plans allow institutions to:
- Break large tuition balances into manageable monthly installments.
- Give students greater flexibility over payment timing.
- Make it easy for students to enroll in plans online and see accurate balances.
- Reduce student reliance on higher-cost financing alternatives.
- Improve predictability for both students and institutional cash flow.
- Help students manage past-due tuition to remain enrolled when unexpected financial challenges arise.
When combined with automated billing, communications, reminders, and self-service account management, payment plans become far more than a billing feature — they become part of a university’s student success strategy for every student.
The benefits of offering the same student financial experience for domestic and international students
Payment flexibility and clarity is also an opportunity to attract international students who need more financial flexibility. International students don’t have access to U.S. federal financial aid, and families are forced to navigate many cross-border financial complexities before a student ever steps onto campus.
For these students, affordability isn’t just about cost. It’s about confidence.
- Confidence that they can understand what they owe.
- Confidence that they can pay securely from wherever they live in their currency and in their local methods, with clear fees.
- Confidence there is financial flexibility if unexpected financial obstacles threaten to derail their education.
- Confidence that they can make their payment through a trusted and regulated financial partner.
When international students have the same access to payment flexibility that domestic ones do, it inspires confidence, and gives institutions a meaningful enrollment advantage.
What does a financial experience that attracts and retains all students look like?
Traditionally, enrollment teams focused on attracting students while finance offices focused on collecting payments. I don’t believe those functions can operate independently anymore. If institutions want to sustain enrollment in a changing financial landscape, they need to think about the entire student lifecycle—from first inquiry through graduation.
At Flywire, we believe affordability isn't solved with a single feature or financing option. It requires connecting every part of the student's financial experience.
That means technology that brings together education agents and counselors, enrollment, admissions, billing, payments, payment plans, communications, refunds, and past-due tuition collection into one connected ecosystem that supports all students throughout their educational journey.
That experience includes real-time integration with institutional systems to ensure students always see accurate balance information, reducing confusion and unnecessary anxiety.
Artificial intelligence will play an increasingly important role by helping students understand their financial obligations, answer questions in real time, proactively identify students who may need assistance, and ensure communications are personalized and timely.
Technology alone doesn't create affordability. But thoughtfully designed technology can remove many of the barriers that make education feel financially out of reach.
While institutions cannot control federal policy and economic uncertainty, what they can control is the experience they create for the student.
The future belongs to institutions that think holistically about the student journey—from recruitment to graduation—and recognize that affordability is no longer just about financial aid. It's about removing friction at every step along the way. It is increasingly defined by the flexibility, transparency, and accessibility of the payment experience itself.