It's all your business: collecting payments—past, present and future - Professional Resources

American Music Teacher, August-Sept, 2003 by Beth Gigante Klingenstein

There are a number of other summer options as well. One is to require students to attend a set number of summer lessons. The summer lessons, say six, may be similar to lessons during the school year or might cover some special area. Perhaps the student might want to study only jazz, Mozart, Billy Joel, duets or hymns. By focusing on an area of special interest to the student, the teacher can inspire more eager participation during the summer months. Some teachers require that each student pay for this summer session, whether they attend or not, to reserve a slot on the teacher's fall roster.

Another way to receive payments in the summer is to hold a summer camp. The camp might cover activities for two to six hours a day. The camp may be centered on a single theme such as world music, jazz, the romantic era, opera, chamber music, Bach and so on. Background information and lesson plans are easily accessible on the Internet and can be used to build an appealing curriculum. Activities can include listening examples, educational videos, performances, cooking and snacks, computer time, hands-on projects, educational presentations, and musical games and activities.

One or more camps could be offered during the course of a summer to students from a number of studios. The camps can provide a fun learning experience for students and an important supplemental income for teachers.

There also are creative ways to combine income sources. One illustration of such mixing and matching would be for a teacher to receive set monthly tuition payments September through June, followed by a payment in July for summer camps or a required number of summer lessons, followed by a payment in August for an annual fee, such as a workstation or studio fee.

Some teachers choose to bill for tuition on a semester or term basis. Payments can be collected based on two semesters during the school year, or on six- or nine-week terms. This system is best used by teachers who are good at budgeting or who will not suffer the financial stress of having tuition payments depleted long before the end of the semester.

In recent years, a growing number of teachers have turned to agencies to collect tuition payments. Feeling that collecting fees should not be part of one's professional duties, teachers have turned to agencies specifically designed to collect tuition for the independent music teacher. These agencies receive a list of students with parents' names, addresses and phone numbers plus the tuition owed. The agency then sees that payments are collected in full. A small fee is charged to the independent teacher. The service saves the teacher time, minimizing bookkeeping and the stress of collecting unpaid tuition.

Another recent development in the collection of tuition payments is the use of automatic payments. Parents can request that payments for lessons be included on their list of automatic bank withdrawals. Payments for tuition will be withdrawn from the parent's checking account and sent to the teacher. A similar version of such payments can be initiated by the teacher. The teacher holds a parent meeting at the beginning of the year and collects postdated checks from each family. The checks are dated September 1, October 1 and so forth. On September 1, all the September checks are deposited. Each month a new set of checks is deposited, and other checks are held until the correct month for their use. No further collection of funds or bookkeeping is necessary, and the parents treat the monthly checks like an automatic withdrawal from their checking account.