PayPal has announced that its Venmo app can now be used to pay college tuition, after partnering with education payment platforms Illumia, Nelnet Campus Commerce and TouchNet. The move turns Venmo, best known for splitting small everyday costs such as rent or takeaway orders among friends, into a channel for one of the largest bills many students and families face, reflecting payment firms' push to widen how and where major expenses can be settled.

The three partner platforms collectively serve thousands of colleges and universities in the United States, meaning the new option could reach a large number of students. Executives from Nelnet Campus Commerce and TouchNet framed the change as reducing "friction" and broadening payment choice for tuition payers, though the announcement offers no detail on fees, transaction limits or which specific institutions will adopt the feature first.