The Unseen Crisis on Campus Across higher education, a quiet crisis is growing. Institutions large and small are watching past-due student accounts rise despite heroic staff efforts to keep balances under control. Half of all higher-ed students pay late, and 52% 1 of institutions reported growing past-due account receivable in 2024 and yet 86% 2 still rely on manual pre-collections work that hasn’t evolved in decades. Staff juggle spreadsheets, send one-off emails, and make endless phone calls – often only to see students withdraw or disengage entirely. Today, more than 6.6 million students owe $15 billion 3 in unpaid institutional balances, and 59% 4 consider leaving school because of financial stress.
The Student Struggle Behind Every Balance Unpaid institutional balances don’t just affect numbers – they change academic paths.
s
of students considered dropping out due to financial stress 59%
6.6M students owe
For students, these unpaid accounts translate into registration holds, anxiety, and the painful belief that college is out of reach.
in unpaid balances
$15B 20%
For institutions, they represent mounting financial risk, increased workload, and lost tuition revenue.
face registration holds due to unpaid balances
The truth is that many of these losses are preventable. When institutions reach out with empathy, clarity, and timely support, students respond, and revenue recovers.
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