The University of Nicosia in Cyprus made headlines last year when it announced it was accepting bitcoin for tuition payments. Now, a higher education institution right here in the United States is following suit.
The King’s College — a Christian college located in the heart of New York City’s financial district — has announced Friday that it has signed on with Coin.co to become the first accredited college in the country to accept bitcoin for tuition bills, donations, and other expenses.
Says the institution in their announcement today:
As the first institution of its kind to make this move and accept digital currency, The King’s College will signal to other institutions that Bitcoin acceptance is not simply for technology companies. Much like the first universities or businesses to obtain email addresses, The King’s College is standing at the forefront of change.
“The King’s College seeks to transform society by preparing students for careers in which they help to shape and eventually to lead strategic public and private institutions,” said Dr. Gregory Alan Thornbury, President of The King’s College. “Allowing Bitcoin to be used to pay for a King’s education decreases our costs while simultaneously allowing our students to be a part of this exciting new technology.”
Coin.co CEO Brendan Diaz added that, “Over the past year, the Coin.co team has led the effort to enable U.S. colleges, universities and other major institutions to accept Bitcoin without incurring any currency risk. Coin.co is proud to be working with The King’s College, and to be a part of pioneering the use of Bitcoin for education.”
Using Coin.co’s services, King’s will be able to accept the digital currency and almost instantaneously convert to U.S. dollars. This means that the college doesn’t need to pay hefty fees of 2-3% on every transaction carried out with a credit card.
For more information on today’s announcement, follow this link.