The program, which is offered through the external provider Tuition Management Systems, allows students to spread payments over five monthly interest-free installments per semester.
The enrollment fee for TMS is $40 for one semester and $55 for the year. The payment plan is available to all UNC-CH students.
Gwen Norwood, assistant director of information and financial systems, said this provides students an opportunity to spread their payments out into smaller, more manageable sums.
According to officials in the University Cashier's Office, about 1,200 students signed on to the program for the fall semester. TMS was expecting about 10 percent of the undergraduate population, or about 1,700 students, to sign on to the program.
Norwood said that early last summer, most UNC-CH students were sent letters informing them of the program.
The first payment for the spring semester is due today, but students who have not yet signed up with TMS can do so until Dec. 1, at which time they will have to pay the previous installments in addition to the $40 enrollment fee.
Officials said planning for a student payment plan started more than a year ago, when the administration learned that UNC-CH and N.C. State University were the only public universities in North Carolina without either an internal or external monthly payment option.
Norwood said a large committee of interested parties within the University looked at several external providers before deciding on TMS.
"TMS are innovators in their industry," she said. "They proved to us through their presentations that they are a solid company."
