Payment Details On Acadeum Course Share

Most payments in the Acadeum Course Share Administrator Application (ACS) are centrally processed through our software platform via ACH payments for optimal efficiency. A few international institutions pay by credit card (where ACH is not supported), but these payments are also automatic.

Acadeum uses third-party software from Stripe, one of the largest and most secure payment processors, to power inter-college payments within the ACS. All payments are automated by the platform and are only charged for enrollments that make it past the Teaching Institution’s ("TI") drop period for that course section. 

Each institution is required to establish a primary contact at their institution to handle all financial affairs for activity using the ACS, referred to as the Primary Finance Contact (“PFC”). This individual will verify the account with an Acadeum admin during an initial set-up period, will receive all email notifications of activities per transaction including invoices, and will act as the point person to Acadeum admins for any payment-related questions. Note: multiple recipients can receive the payment-related emails sent by the system through the use of a group or office account that uses a shared email address such as "businessoffice@schoolname.edu."

Please click here for the payments setup process for Home and Teaching Institutions.

Once payment accounts have been established, institutions will be ready to operate on the ACS. A few key points on how payments operate on the platform:

1. Automatic debits and credits: Most payments on the ACS are ACH auto-debit or credit. A few international schools pay by credit card, but these payments are also automatic.
   
   

2. A school-to-school payments network: Acadeum is explicitly a b2b, or as we like to say ‘school-to-school’ network. On our platform Teaching Institutions (“TIs”) function as ‘vendors’ who charge Home Institutions (“HIs”), or ‘customers,’ directly. TIs control the price point for the course sections they offer, a price point that can be managed on a term-by-term basis as the TI chooses. This price point charged by TIs referred to as a “Registration Fee.”
   
   

3. Payment automation: All enrollment payments are automated based on the dates provided by the TI for their course sections. The charge date for any enrollment on the platform is the day after the drop date for that course section as designated by the TI. When loading course sections onto the platform a TI will designate a drop date for the course sections which acts as the last day that a student, or their HI, can drop from the course without receiving a grade of “W” for withdrawal, and without the TI charging the HI for that enrollment. If the student remains enrolled in the course past the drop date, our system will automatically initiate a charge to the HI on behalf of the TI for the full Registration Fee amount. For operational efficiency, payments are batched so all enrollments with the same drop date for that specific HI-to-TI relationship will be charged at once.
   
   

4. HIs charge students: HIs retain the payment relationship, and obligations, with their students. Neither Acadeum nor the TIs bill students for any enrollments on the platform. When students log into their institution’s student registration portal they are explained as such, and that they should work with their HI’s office of student accounting/bursar’s office as they do for any other course offered by the HI.
   
   

5. Payment flow and timing for TIs: Most payments are run via ACH auto-debit or credit. Standard timing for ACH payments in the United States is 4-7 business days per ACH transaction. Payments on the ACS flow as follows: 

Payments to TIs on the platform consist of two ACH transactions: The Registration Fee is charged to the HI via an ACH auto-debit. These funds are then centralized by Stripe, who then credits the TI account with the amount net of Acadeum’s Enrollment Fee of 25%. This net amount is deposited in the TI’s bank account via ACH credit. This means that the full duration of time from the charge being initiated to the funds being deposited in the TIs bank account can be up to 14 business days. Though please note that the average duration is closer to eight calendar days. 

Please see here for an explanation of how communications for payments for Home Institutions work.

Please see here for an explanation of how communications for payments for Teaching Institutions work.