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Student Account Payments

How to Make a Payment

Payments may be made with:

  • Online Payment Options
    • Checking/savings account (no fee).  These accounts must be a personal USA bank account.
    • Credit card. We accept online credit card payments from Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover. Credit card payment service fee rates applied by the credit card processor:
      Domestic Transactions: 3.0% or minimum fee of $3.00 paid by card holder.
      International Transactions: 4.25% or minimum fee of $3.00 paid by card holder.
    • ACH Validation – Error:  Payers will receive a message (below) on the screen when their account information does not pass Heartland validation.
    • Notes:
      • ACH Validation occurs against the account number and routing number. It does not validate payer name, type of account (savings/checking), or funds available.
      • Payers using new bank accounts may fail validation, even though the account number and routing number are correct. Banks are responsible for updating Validation Services with their new accounts, but do not always do so in a timely manner. Contact your banking institution.
    • Contact Information for Validation Error Questions
      Student Accounts Office    Office Hours : 9am-12pm and 1-3pm
      Phone: 651-696-6161   Email: [email protected]
  • Cash:  Personally paid in the Student Accounts Office during walk in cashier office hours.

  • Check:  Made payable to Macalester College and mailed or personally delivered to the Student Accounts Office during cashier office hours.  Mailing address: Student Accounts Office, Macalester College, 1600 Grand Ave, St. Paul, MN 55105.

  • 529 Digital Payment Option:   Many 529 College Savings plans now have a digital distribution option, which saves time and improves transparency with real-time payment tracking. When requesting a withdrawal from your plan, check with your plan administrator to see if a digital distribution option is available versus a paper check option.
  • TransferMate International Student Payment: Macalester has partnered with TransferMate to provide international payments through your online student account by choosing TransferMate from the dropdown menu.  For more information and instructions about making international payments, please visit TransferMate International Student Payments and watch this video for easy instructions.
  • Flywire International Student Payment:  Macalester has partnered with with Flywire to accept payments from international students worldwide.
    Follow this link for information on How to Make a Payment.
    Click here to Make a Payment using Flywire.
  • Wire Transfer Payment:  To make a Wire Instructions for Student Payments, please use the link to access details about making this type of payment.  When making a wire transfer, it is very important to include the student’s Macalester ID number and name in the reference section so that it is applied to the correct student’s account.

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Estimate Your Payment

Please use this worksheet to estimate your Macalester bill.

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Payment Plan Options

  • Option 1: Semester Payment
    • Pay tuition, fees and all other charges directly to Macalester College as stated on the pre-term bill you will receive prior to the beginning of each semester:
      • Fall 2026 semester payment is due August 15, 2026
      • Spring 2027 semester payment is due January 15, 2027
  • Option 2: Monthly payment plan through Transact/Illumia
    • Semester Plans
      $40.00 non-refundable Enrollment Fee per semester
      Number of payments depends on enrollment date.
    • Payment Methods
      Automatic bank payment (ACH)
      Automatic credit card/debit card (2.95% service fee)
      Note: Payments processed automatically on the 15th day of each month.
    • All Transact/Illumia accounts must have a status of ‘Current’ or ‘Prepaid’.  Macalester College will not process the payment plan account until the account is up-to-date.
    • All Transact/Illumia accounts must remain current with payments in order to stay active.  Delinquent accounts may be subject to a Macalester registration or validation hold.
    • If a monthly payment is returned twice for delinquency, it is Macalester’s policy to terminate the contract. The student and any Authorized Payers on the account will be notified from Transact/Illumia that the account has been terminated and will also be notified from Macalester.
    • For terminated Transact/Illumia accounts, the remaining balance is due directly to Macalester. The balance is due promptly through Macalester’s offered payment methods: Online check payment, online credit card payment (3.0% fee), paying in the Student Accounts Office with cash or check, or mailing a check to: Macalester College, Student Accounts Office, 1600 Grand Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55105. Payment is due to help in avoiding  a finance charge being added for the next monthly billing cycle.
    • If Transact/Illumia accounts are terminated twice for delinquency, the student is not allowed to enroll in monthly payments for future semesters.

Transact/Illumia Monthly Payment Plan Schedules

Fall 2026 payment plans available on June 1, 2026

Last day to
Enroll Online		Number of PaymentsMonth of PaymentsPayment Date
June 106June – November15th
July 105July – November15th
August 104August – November 15th

Spring 2027 payment plans available on December 1, 2026

Last day to
Enroll Online		Number of PaymentsMonth of PaymentsPayment Date
December 106December – May15th
January 105January – May15th
  • More information about the Illumia/Transact payment plan option is coming soon!
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    • My Student Billing Account

    View/pay my bill: This function is now available in 1600grand.

    Students:

    • Logon to Macalester’s 1600grand student portal
    • Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox browsers work best with the software
    • Click on Money Matters
    • Click on View/Pay My Bills
    • Options:
      Click on View Activity / Make a Payment / Edit Profile Setup
      Click on Account Activity (at top of page) to Choose:
      Activity, Statements and more from the drop down menu

    Note: Students must set up all authorized users. No one can do this for them.

    Authorized User:  Students may authorize parents or other persons to become an authorized user.  An authorized user may view on-line billing information and make on-line payments.  You must be set up (instructions below) as an authorized user by your student to receive an email notification that your new eBill is ready to view. To view your student’s eBill statement, go to:


    Macalester Student Payments

    To Set up an Authorized User students must:

    • Logon to Macalester’s 1600grand student portal
    • Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox browsers work best with the software
    • Click on Money Matters
    • Below Student Billing Account/Information
    • Click on View/Pay My Bill
    • Below My Profile Setup (upper right corner)
      Note:  You must enroll in Two-Step Verification to make changes to your User Profile.
      Please proceed to Security Settings in My Profile to enroll.
    • Click on Authorized Users
    • Enter information as prompted.  The authorized user will receive an email with login information.
    • Authorized users must keep this login information on file to use each time they choose to log in.

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    Payment Policies

    Student Accounts Holds
    Failure to pay outstanding charges by the established deadlines will result in a hold being placed on a student’s account. A hold could result in one or more of the following:

    • Validation Hold prohibits students from validating at the beginning of the semester.
    • Financial Hold prohibits students from receiving transcripts.
    • Exit Interview Hold is placed on students who need to complete an exit interview for Institutional Loans and/or Perkins Loans.
    • Diploma Hold prevents graduating seniors from receiving their diploma if they have a balance owing on their account.

    A financial hold will be removed from a student’s account when the unfulfilled financial obligation is satisfied.

    Refund Check Policy
    Refund checks are only created for students who have an actual credit on their account. See Credit Balance Refund Policy  for details.  Checks will not be created for anticipated credits. Refunds for credit balances created by financial aid will not be disbursed until after the first day of class for the appropriate semester. Refunds on student accounts are typically made for the following reasons:

    • Financial Aid is greater than the charges for the semester
    • Official withdrawal from the college

    Students who need a credit balance refund should fill send an email to the Student Accounts Office before 4:00 p.m. on Monday in order for the refund to be disbursed on that Friday. Students are encouraged to use the direct deposit option. Direct deposit gives them same day access to their funds.  Paper checks will be mailed to the permanent address on file with the College.  Paper checks are made payable to the student only.

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    Out of School Students

    If you are a student who is no longer enrolled at Macalester and would like to make an online credit card payment, please contact:

    Santana Lewis
    Student Accounts Office
    Email: [email protected]
    Phone: 651-696-6161

    -or-

    Deborah Schmidt
    Director of Student Accounts
    Email: [email protected]
    Phone: 651-696-6511

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