# Tuition management software that turns the enrollment contract into a plan you can defend

> Tuition management is the billing side of a school's relationship with families: turning an enrollment contract into a payment plan, applying financial aid and discounts, collecting on schedule and reporting arrears. Private elementary and secondary enrollment was about 5,474,000 students in fall 2021, roughly 10.0 percent of all US enrollment, and most of those families are on a plan built in a spreadsheet. Neurobird holds the contract, the aid award, the discounts and every draft attempt in one family ledger.

- URL: https://neurobird.com/tuitionops/
- Product: Neurobird Tuition Management Revenue Recovery Platform
- Niche: tuition management
- Buyer: school business offices
- Status: in development, open for early access
- Updated: 2026-08-21

## What Neurobird Tuition Management does

- Build a payment plan from the enrollment contract rather than retyping the numbers
- Apply aid awards, sibling discounts and fee schedules as rules, not as manual line edits
- Handle failed drafts and retries as a workflow with a written record, not as an email
- Answer the re enrollment question with a current arrears position per family

## How it works

1. **Build the plan from the contract** Tuition, fees, plan length and start date come from the signed contract, so the schedule is generated rather than typed.
2. **Apply aid and discounts as rules** Awards, sibling discounts and fee waivers are applied consistently across families, and every adjustment carries its reason.
3. **Work the failures early** A failed draft opens a tracked retry with a written record, so the conversation happens in week 1 rather than in month 3.

## From the source material

> Tuition and fees at public institutions are the lower of either in-district or in-state tuition and fees.

Source: NCES Fast Facts, tuition costs, https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=76

## Industry context

- **5,474,000** Private elementary and secondary enrollment was about 5,474,000 students in fall 2021, or 10.0 percent of total enrollment in public and private schools. (source: NCES Digest, table 205.10, https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d23/tables/dt23_205.10.asp)
- **Every 2 years** The Private School Universe Survey has counted private schools, teachers and students every two years since the 1989 to 1990 school year, and remains the national frame for the sector. (source: NCES, Private School Universe Survey, https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/pss/)
- **1098-T** Eligible educational institutions report qualified tuition and related expenses on Form 1098-T, which families rely on for education tax credits. (source: IRS, About Form 1098-T, https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-1098-t)
- **$40,700** Average published tuition and fees at private nonprofit 4 year institutions were $40,700 in 2022 to 2023, against $9,800 at public 4 year institutions, which is the pressure families are budgeting against. (source: NCES Fast Facts, tuition costs, https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=76)
- **FERPA** Education records at federally funded institutions are protected under FERPA, so billing records tied to identifiable students carry privacy duties too. (source: US Department of Education, Student Privacy Policy Office, https://studentprivacy.ed.gov/)

## Pricing

- Single school: $180 per school, per month
- School: $400 per school, per month
- Network: $760 per school, per month

## Questions

### What is tuition management?

Tuition management is the billing side of a school's relationship with families: turning an enrollment contract into a payment plan, applying financial aid and discounts, collecting on a schedule, handling failures and reporting the arrears position. It sits between the school management system and the general ledger, and usually runs on spreadsheets.

### How many families does this affect?

Private elementary and secondary enrollment was about 5,474,000 students in fall 2021, roughly 10.0 percent of total US enrollment in public and private schools. Nearly all of those families pay tuition on some kind of plan.

### Where does the 1098-T fit in?

Eligible educational institutions file Form 1098-T to report qualified tuition and related expenses for students, and families use it for education tax credits. Getting it right depends on clean records of what was billed, what was paid and what was covered by aid.

### Does student data privacy apply to tuition records?

Education records held by schools that receive federal funds are covered by FERPA, and the Department of Education's student privacy office publishes the guidance. Billing records tied to identifiable students should be handled with the same care as any other education record.

### Does this replace our SIS or accounting system?

No. Enrollment comes from the SIS and the general ledger stays where it is. The plans, aid application, discounts, drafts and family statements live here so the business office is not rebuilding them each term.

## Sources

- [NCES, Private School Universe Survey](https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/pss/)
- [NCES Digest, private school enrollment table 205.10](https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d23/tables/dt23_205.10.asp)
- [IRS, About Form 1098-T](https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-1098-t)
- [US Department of Education, Student Privacy Policy Office](https://studentprivacy.ed.gov/)

## Contact

- office@neurobird.com
- https://neurobird.com/