Karol Bernal, a third-year sociology student at the University of Regina, has seen first-hand how financial stress can affect students. She believes the university’s new split-payment plan will give “more space and time” to students.
“People receive grants or loans and it doesn’t cover up everything they need,” said Bernal.
U of R’s financial services office announced a new tuition payment plan, consisting of monthly payments, starting in the winter 2026 term. Students will be able to sign up until January 30. For past semesters, students needed to pay the full sum by the first day of class.
Shairomi Viamonte, an international first-year student in the pre-veterinary program, plans to sign up for the payment plan.
“It is less of a financial burden,” said Viamonte, referring to the opportunity to choose monthly payments. “It would be beneficial all around.”
Other students used words like “helpful” and “really good,” especially for students who cannot pay for tuition right away.
Although Canadian universities like the University of Calgary and Western University have also implemented tuition payment plans, provincial institutions like the University of Saskatchewan have not.
Mindy Ellis, senior public affairs strategist at the U of R, said, “students have asked about the option of having a tuition payment plan, and we have found a solution that can help support this on the required scale of our student population.”
While payment plans had been accessible for students who inquired, the university did not implement it for more students due to it being a “fully manual process.”
“Through Touchnet, we are able to provide a payment plan that is easier to maintain and allows us to assist more students,” said Ellis, referring to a payment platform that serves higher education institutions.
To sign up, students must be in “good financial standing with the University,” meaning that the previous term balance must be $2,000 Canadian dollars or less. If a student has an outstanding balance greater than that, they can still propose an outline indicating how the previous balance will be paid and apply for special circumstances.
Some students were not aware of the statement. When explained, they praised some of the benefits. No monthly interest charges and no risk of deregistration were pointed out by students.
Benefits contrast past semesters. If students did not pay for the entire sum by a certain date, they would be disenrolled from classes. Interest charges would also be added to the tuition sum after every month missed.
Ellis said payment plans had been discussed for about a year. “We found a viable solution to offer them to our student population more recently.”
The university is hoping to provide “predictable, manageable monthly payments” for students who need it.
Students who are deemed eligible can sign up through the UR Self-Service website. It is not mandatory and they can still pay for the total sum if capable.
