How to Pay

Payment must be made using your Homeschool-Life-generated invoice. Paying outside this system will prevent your account from being credited.

1. Click on Balance in the top menu bar to go to your family’s Outstanding Balances.
2. Check the Pay checkbox next to the invoice you wish to pay.
3. Click on the PAY NOW button (now highlighted above the invoice).
4. Once redirected to PayPal’s website, follow the instructions to complete your payment there.
    
   • You do not need an account with PayPal to pay through PayPal. You may use a credit or debit card instead.
   • The card payment option is at the bottom of PayPal’s login window. You may need to scroll down to see it.
      
5. If you are not redirected back to Outstanding Balances, click the “Return to Merchant” button.
6. Repeat for all other Outstanding Balances.
   • You must make separate payments to each instructor.

Be mindful that your browser may load a cached version of your Outstanding Balances which could cause you to inadvertently pay twice for the same invoice.

About Tuition

Instructors at Planet Homeschool are hired and paid directly by the parents, guardians, and caregivers who enroll students in their classes.

Payments for tuition and supplies are (1) made directly to the instructor (2) via PayPal (3) through your Homeschool-Life-generated invoice (4) from your family’s Outstanding Balances page.

For your account to be automatically credited, payments to instructors must be made through PayPal from your Homeschool-Life-generated invoice. Should you ever pay outside of the Homeschool-Life invoicing system, you must submit proof of payment to have your tuition invoice cleared. Tracking these payments creates extra work for our hardworking Leadership Team volunteers.

Outstanding Balances

When to Pay

Because instructors lose money to PayPal fees when they issue refunds, please do not pay until a class has been confirmed.

A class’s invoice due date is the day after its Minimum Student Date (the date on which a course will be cancelled if the minimum number of students have not enrolled). Please plan to pay for your classes on or shortly after each invoice’s due date.

PayPal states, “There are no fees to make the refund, but the fees you originally paid to receive the payment are not returned to you.” The end result is that instructors lose money when they must issue refunds for cancelled class registrations.

Late Registrations

If you register after a class‘s Minimum Student Date, payment is due immediately and considered past due after 3 days. All tuition and fees must be paid before the next (or first) class meeting.

Past Due Invoices

Class registrations with past-due invoices will eventually be canceled, but Lead Volunteers will reach out via email first.

Please make sure that your ISP recognizes both lifeline@homeschool-life.com and PlanetHomeschoolMN@gmail.com as legitimate senders.

Cancellations and Withdrawals

1. Cancel class registrations via your Manage My Registrations page (never via non-payment or no-shows).

2. Also check the instructor’s Cancellation Policy.

3. Please send a brief email to the instructor so they know not to expect your student.

   • Any refund due must be issued manually by the instructor.

Manage My Registrations   Refund Policies

“Checks Only”

A small number of instructors, who have been around since before our co-op had an online payment system, only accept payment via checks.

Only instructor accounts marked as “checks only” may be paid by check.

If necessary, you may pay your membership fee invoice by check, but please be mindful that doing so takes considerably more volunteer time than paying via PayPal.

1. Make your check payable to the instructor as stated on your invoice:

   • “Name–checks only”

   • This will be either the instructor’s name or the name of the instructor’s business.

2. Write separate checks for the full tuition amount for each individual class.

3. Write “PHS” and the class name and semester on the memo line of the check.

4. You must mail your check to Planet Homeschool’s Finance Director:

   Reveal Mailing Address

   • Our co-op’s Finance Director will manually credit your check payment to your account.

     • Do not mail your check to the instructor or your account will not be credited as paid.

     • Do not hand your check to the instructor or your account will not be credited as paid.

   • Checks are distributed to instructors on the first day of the semester.

   • Please send your checks immediately — it will not change when your check is deposited, and it makes our volunteer Finance Director’s job easier.

Account Discrepancies

Please report any discrepancies to our co-op’s Leadership Team via email to PlanetHomeschoolMN+finance@gmail.com.

This includes duplicate invoices, duplicate payments, missing payments, persistent invoices for cancelled classes, and incorrect balances.

Account History   Leadership Team