Employer-Funded Financial Aid^® (EFFA)

EFFAPay is Fundamentally Different from Third-Party Administrators (TPAs)

How EFFA Enhances Your Corporate Benefits Strategy

How does EFFAPay actually work compared to our current TPA model?

In the traditional model, TPAs sit between your company and universities, managing compliance, approvals, grades, and aggregating information to verify successful course completion.

EFFAPay replaces this middle layer with our procurement platform that:

Automates compliance through a specialized business rules engine
Receives grades and course information directly from universities
Applies your specific policy requirements automatically
Manages the secure flow of funds between your company and educational institutions
Eliminates third-party administrator fees (which can run up to 45% of tuition costs)

The result is a streamlined process where your company provides funding, EFFAPay provides compliance technology, and universities provide education—all without a traditional third-party administrator.

Could you walk us through how EFFAPay processes a typical employee tuition request?

Here's how a typical transaction works with EFFAPay:

Policy Setup: Your tuition assistance policy is configured in our system once, including grade requirements, approved fees, annual caps, and eligibility rules.
Pre-authorization: When your employee enrolls, the university submits details (course name, tuition amount, fees, etc.) to EFFAPay.
Authorization Verification: EFFAPay automatically checks these details against your company's policy parameters and issues an approval code with the authorized amount.
Education Delivery: The university provides education to your employee with payment deferred until completion.
Grade/Completion Submission: After course completion, the university submits grades directly to EFFAPay.
Policy Verification: EFFAPay automatically verifies that grades meet your company's requirements (e.g., C or better).
Payment Processing: EFFAPay facilitates direct payment from your company to the university for approved amounts.
Settlement: Funds are transferred to the university, and you receive a single monthly invoice for all approved transactions.

This approach eliminates reimbursement processing, receipt chasing, and manual compliance checking.

EFFAPay vs. Traditional TPAs

Feature	Traditional TPAs (Guild, EdAssist)	EFFAPay
Primary Function	Administers tuition benefits and provides career services	Processes payments between employers and universities
Service Category	Education benefit administrator	Financial service provider/payment processor
Employee Experience	Employees pay upfront, then submit paperwork for reimbursement	No out-of-pocket payment required; documentation handled by university
Administrative Burden	HR reviews transcripts and receipts	Automated through business rules engine
Policy Enforcement	Manual review by TPA staff	Automated through configurable business rules
Cost Structure	Administration fees (up to 45% of tuition costs)	Transaction fee on processed payments (2.75-3.25%)
Fraud Prevention	Limited, relies on employee-submitted documentation	Enhanced, with documentation submitted directly by universities
Contract Type	Education benefit administration agreement	Procurement platform agreement
Control	Limited visibility and control over payment process	Direct implementation of payment rules and policies

Key Benefits for Corporate Benefits Teams

How does EFFAPay reduce administrative costs?

EFFAPay dramatically reduces costs in several ways:

Eliminates TPA fees, which can be up to 45% of tuition costs
Removes reimbursement processing – no chasing grades or reconciling receipts
Scales without headcount – no need to grow internal admin teams as your program expands
Automates compliance – your policy rules are enforced on every transaction

You pay only for approved, completed educational outcomes—with full compliance built in.

How does EFFAPay improve the employee experience?

With EFFAPay, your employees benefit from:

No out-of-pocket payments required – increasing equity and access, especially for lower-income earners
No paperwork burden – schools submit all completion documentation directly
Faster turnaround – automated verification speeds up the process
Greater accessibility – employees who couldn't afford upfront costs can now participate

How does EFFAPay enhance compliance and fraud prevention?

EFFAPay enforces strict controls at every step:

Documentation is submitted directly by the school, not the employee
Payments are made only after validation of grades and policy compliance
All transaction records are timestamped, traceable, and auditable
Predefined business rules ensure consistent policy application

What systems does EFFAPay integrate with?

EFFAPay supports integration with:

Leading procurement platforms (e.g., SAP, Ariba, Oracle)
Internal HRIS or benefits systems
Existing third-party administrators (we can work behind the scenes to power them)

Integration is fast, secure, and scalable.

Implementation and Transition

What is required to get started with EFFAPay?

We onboard your company in three simple steps:

Map your tuition assistance policy into EFFA's business rules engine
Activate your organization's secure EFFA portal
Notify employees and eligible learning providers

EFFA handles the rest—including onboarding providers, issuing pre-authorization statements, and managing payments.

How do we transition from our current TPA to EFFAPay?

The transition process is designed to be smooth and minimally disruptive:

Policy Mapping: We work with your team to translate your current tuition assistance policy into our business rules engine
Parallel Processing: We can run alongside your current system during a transition period to ensure continuity
Provider Onboarding: We handle communication and setup with your existing educational partners
Employee Communication: We provide customizable templates to announce the improved process to your employees

Most employers can implement EFFAPay within 1-2 weeks.