How Anna Maria College eliminated student dismissals for tuition non-payment

Summary 

At Anna Maria College, a small, private, Catholic institution in Massachusetts, manual and time-consuming billing processes overwhelmed the student accounts team which, despite all their efforts, found most students paid late.. With no streamlined system in place, students and parents struggled to understand what, when and how to pay and often didn’t pay at all - leaving students unable to register classes at best and, at worst, dismissed from the college. By implementing Meadow Pay, the institution transformed its billing operations, improving student engagement, reducing late payments, and achieving a historic milestone: no student dismissals due to tuition non-payment. This case study explores how Meadow Pay revolutionized financial operations at Anna Maria College.

The Challenge 

Before adopting Meadow Pay, Anna Maria College relied on a highly manual process for student billing and collections. The student accounts team had limited technology and spent hours emailing and calling students individually, a time-intensive process that kept the office from doing other work.

WATCH: THE PROBLEM

Heather, Director of Student Accounts, joined the institution at a time when there were no standardized policies or procedures for student billing. She inherited a complex, disjointed system that placed a heavy administrative burden on the staff. “Before Meadow Pay, everything was manual—emails, phone calls, and weekends spent trying to get students cleared. It was chaotic and overwhelming.” The absence of streamlined communications led to critical messages being lost among the flood of emails students received daily, resulting in missed payment deadlines or students simply not paying at all. In the 2023-24 school year, over 70% of students were paying late, and the institution had to dismiss 11 students in the spring semester due to nonpayment.

WATCH: ISSUE WITH EMAILS

Heather and her team suspected that involving parents in the process would help; but they had no easy way to do so.Without direct access to billing statements, parents often relied on their students to share payment details, leading to confusion and mismanagement. Additionally, the college’s prior billing system could only update bills once a week, delaying the visibility of new charges and payments, causing further complications.

The Solution 

Anna Maria College turned to Meadow Pay to transform its processes and the student financial experience and increase on-time payments.The decision to implement Meadow Pay was driven by its modern, student-friendly communication features, including automated text messages and notifications, which significantly improved engagement.

Key features that made a difference included:

• Automated, personalized communications: Meadow Pay’s text and email notifications were a dramatic improvement on generalized communications and caught students’ attention, reducing the likelihood of payment reminders being ignored. “Last year, our emails were long-winded and overwhelming, and students would just ignore them. Now, with Meadow Pay’s text notifications, emojis, and clean messaging, students actually pay attention and take action.”
• Ability to add a payment ally: Parents could directly access their students’ accounts, making the payment process more seamless and transparent.
• Centralized payment plans: Previously, payment plans were managed through a third-party vendor, which created hidden fees and confusion. With Meadow Pay, all payment-related tasks were consolidated into one platform, improving clarity and efficiency. 
• Real-time updates: The financial office could now provide real-time updates on student billing, removing the previous one-week delay in processing charges.
• Help center and support integration: Meadow Pay’s Help Center provided step-by-step tutorials and a built-in support system, reducing the time staff spent answering repetitive questions and enabling them to focus on high-priority tasks. “We wasted so much time walking students and families through payments step by step. Now, we just send them a link to Meadow Pay’s help center with tutorial videos, and it has eliminated so much busy work. It feels like we have a bigger office because of it.”

This level of change to the college’s tuition billing and collection approach was surprisingly straight-forward for the Anna Maria team and didn’t come at a high operational cost. While there were some challenges surrounding integration with Empower, their student information system, the Meadow team worked closely with Anna Maria College to create a detailed plan that kept all the heavy lifting off their already busy office and ensured a seamless transition for students and staff alike.

WATCH: IMPLEMENTATION EASE

The Results 

The transformation was immediate and significant. In the fall 2024 semester, Anna Maria College achieved a major milestone: for the first time in years, no students were dismissed due to non-payment of tuition. Compared to the previous year, where over 40 students faced potential dismissal and 11 eventually were dismissed, this marked a major success. “Coming from the clearance meeting today, being able to say we’re not dismissing anyone due to nonpayment is such an achievement for our office. Meadow Pay played a huge role in that because it’s helping us connect with students in a way that we were not connecting with them before.”

WATCH: THE RESULTS

Additional measurable improvements included:

• Dramatic increase in students paying on time: The percentage of students paying on time increased 32% with many students opting into structured payment plans.
• Increased parental engagement: Enabling students to add a payment ally led to greater financial clarity and fewer missed payments. In a survey of students, this was deemed the most helpful feature.
• Improved student experience: Students found the new system more intuitive and accessible. They were able to manage their payments conveniently and in real-time without having to visit the financial office in person or wait for an updated bill to be released.
• Faster student engagement and resolution: Meadow Pay’s automated notifications led to 100% of students taking action to demonstrate intent to pay as the billing deadline approached.
• Enhanced staff efficiency: The financial team saved 60 hours a week previously spent on manual tasks. Automated reminders and a streamlined help center significantly reduced administrative burden.
• Stronger institutional financial stability: With fewer late payments and dismissals, the institution improved its overall financial health, ensuring more students remained enrolled and tuition revenue was secured.

WATCH: BILL CHANGES IN REAL TIME

Heather highlighted the biggest improvement as being able to connect with students in a way that felt intuitive and effective. The use of Meadow Pay’s personalized messaging, emojis, and clear communication strategies meant that students were far more responsive than before. Instead of long, overwhelming emails, students now received concise, actionable messages that prompted immediate responses.

WATCH: DIGITAL WORLD

Conclusion 

Meadow Pay revolutionized student billing at Anna Maria College, transforming an inefficient system into a streamlined, student-friendly experience. By leveraging automated communications, direct parental access, and centralized payment management, the college saw dramatic improvements in student engagement and financial stability. 

The success at Anna Maria College showcases the power of modern, student-focused financial solutions to help students remain in school. By implementing Meadow Pay, the institution not only saved time and resources but they achieved the  incredible achievement of no students dismissed for non-payment of tuition.

‍