Why I Pay Both My Sons’ College Tuition with a Credit Card

Let me start with something most people don’t know: some colleges will let you pay tuition with a credit card and charge you absolutely nothing extra. I discovered this about halfway through my son’s four years at school — I honestly can’t remember how I stumbled across it — but it completely changed how I looked at that painful out-of-state tuition bill. His school allows fee-free credit card payments if you pay in person at the Treasurer’s Office. That one small detail turned a gut-punch of a bill into a points-earning opportunity.

Before we go any further, an important rule: only play this game if you pay your credit cards off in full every month. Any points you earn will be completely wiped out the moment you start paying interest. If you’re not there yet, go follow some personal finance bloggers, pay off that debt, and come back to us. We’ll be here waiting. And if you can’t pay the tuition bill in full when your statement arrives, a student loan will always carry a far lower interest rate than a credit card. This trick only works if you already have the money to cover it.

One more tip before the numbers: check your 529 plan. Many allow personal reimbursement, meaning you pay tuition with your credit card, earn the points, and then reimburse yourself from the plan.

Now let’s talk about what this actually looks like in practice.

His Fall tuition was $19,860.36. I split it across two cards — this card earning 2x points for 19,860 points, and this card earning 1.5x for 14,895 points. All in, one tuition payment earned 34,755 points. Combined with our Southwest Companion Pass and 1,245 points from other spending, that will be enough for my husband and me to fly to Aruba for five nights, for about $105 in taxes and fees. Does that make a massive tuition bill easier to swallow? Ask me after five days on a Caribbean beach.

Now, plenty of sites will tell you to never pay tuition if your school charges a fee. I don’t entirely agree — and here’s the math that changed my mind.

My other son’s Fall tuition was $22,800.50. His school charges a 3% credit card fee, which cost me $684. That earned me 45,600 points. Here’s what I could with them.

Through Virgin Atlantic — a SkyTeam partner with KLM — I can book economy flights from Washington to Amsterdam for 12,000 points per person. (Always check every alliance partner before booking; pricing can vary significantly.) I’ve done this flight before and it’s perfectly fine in economy since it leaves early, even for my very tall family. With 45,600 points, I could cover nearly four seats for our family of five.

Here’s the math: 4 seats at 12,000 points each plus $161.90 in fees per person costs 48,000 points and $647.60 in taxes and fees. The same four seats in cash? $3,854. So: ($3,854 − $647.60 in airline fees − $684 in credit card fees) ÷ 48,000 points = 5.3 cents per point.

Sometimes the “fee-free or forget it” advice leaves real value on the table. Do the math first — it might surprise you. In this case, the fee wasn’t a penalty, it was an investment.

This post may contain affiliate links and referral links, meaning we may earn a small commission or bonus points if you click through and make a purchase or sign up for a product or service — at no extra cost to you. We only recommend products and services we personally use and believe in. All opinions are our own.