Tuition Setup Overview

At the time of registration, costs are determined by the Cost Center associated with the course and the Cost Type associated with the student. Prior to reaching this point however, some setup steps must be taken to ensure the proper flow of charges throughout the system.

Accounting Structure Types:

Student-based Accounting. If tuition is charged based strictly on the student type, then Cost Type plays a big role in the setup of your institution's cost structure. In some cases, only one Cost Center is used (i.e. Main).
Course-based Accounting. Tuition is computed based on the course for which the student registers. In this case, cost centers must be employed. Assigning a specific cost center to a course will be one
Combined Accounting. Tuition is based on a combination of the both Student-based and Course-based accounting. Here, you may have multiple cost centers with multiple cost types per cost center.

View Cost Structure Chart (Opens in new window)

Student Status and Registration:

Particular values in the Student Status record play an important role in determining the amount to be assessed for some registration fees. For this reason, a student must possess a status record for each term for which they register. Values in the Student status form that are necessary for fees to be generated at the time of registration include Cost Type, Campus, and Refund Type.

Steps required to set up tuition costs:

Define Tuition Billing Mode in CAMS Manager. Set the foundation for how your institution charges tuition and associated fees.
Create Transdocs used in Registration. Define how funds are to be handled by setting posting options, account numbers, default transaction categories, etc.
Populate Cost Center reference table in CAMS Manager. The cost center houses a collection of TransDocs. These TransDocs contain the necessary account numbers to which fees will be posted in the General Ledger. Cost centers are essential in Course-Based Accounting.
Setup Cost Types in Offering Setup. Cost Type is used to build a cost structure within CAMS that allows for varying tuitions based on student type.
Define Refund Schedules. Refund schedules are groups of time periods in which refunds can be granted.
Setup Term Cost Centers in Offering Setup. Define Cost Centers to be used for each term.
Define Costs by Cost Center/Cost Type. Set up your institution's tuition and fees.