You can Venmo your college tuition, for some reason
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.
- PayPal/Venmo now let users pay college tuition through the app.
- Partnership involves Illumia, Nelnet Campus Commerce and TouchNet payment platforms.
- Platforms collectively serve thousands of US colleges and universities.
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Venmo is a mobile payment app owned by PayPal. In the United States, people often use it to send money to friends for shared costs, such as meals or rent. Tuition is the money students pay to attend a college or university, and it can be a major expense for students and their families.
Colleges commonly use specialist services to handle tuition payments. Illumia, Nelnet Campus Commerce and TouchNet provide payment systems to education institutions, connecting them with options such as Venmo. The change matters because it could give students and families another way to pay, while extending Venmo’s role beyond everyday payments.