By Gerardo R. Partido
Variety News Staff

THE University of Guam has announced the launch of its e-commerce system that allows students to pay their tuition and other fees online.
Students who have not paid their spring 2007 semester tuition can now pay online and avoid interest charges. This offer is good through March 9, 2007.
“We are pleased to offer our students a more efficient way of making tuition payments. Our students will find online payments more convenient since they no longer have to wait in line at the business office,” said Francis Quinto, UOG comptroller.
Students can go to www.uog.edu/gateway and click on Web advisor. On-screen instructions will lead them through the payment process.
According to UOG, the online payment system will be helpful to those students who, for one reason or another, are not able to pay their tuition in person at the university.
The new system will also make it more convenient for off-island students attending the university to make their tuition payments.
Many students at the university hail from the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, and other neighboring islands.
With the online payment system, UOG said these students don’t have to be physically on Guam to pay their tuition and other dues.
By making the payment of tuition more convenient for students, UOG expects a further increase in enrollment.
UOG’s enrollment for spring 2007 is already up 7.4 percent over the prior year and the number of students enrolled this spring totals 3,049 students, compared to 2,839 registered students in spring 2006.
According to UOG President Harold L. Allen, these enrollment figures mark the largest spring enrollment for the university in five years.
“This increase follows a 4.7 percent increase in enrollment in fall 2006. I believe the increase in enrollment is a reflection of public confidence in the University of Guam,” Allen said.
The continuing growth in enrollment was one of the factors cited by a visiting team from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, which recently gave a favorable review of UOG’s operations.