Payment Options

Tuition at the Game Audio Institute can be paid in full or split into two payments directly through your Payments dashboard. If neither of those fits your budget, the methods below let you spread the cost further – through providers we accept at checkout, completely independent of GAI.

We don’t run credit checks, negotiate payment terms, or manage installment plans ourselves. Once you choose one of these options at checkout, you’re working directly with that provider – we’re paid in full immediately, and your plan with them is between you and them.

Before looking at outside financing, remember your dashboard already offers two ways to pay:

Pay In Full: a 10% discount is automatically applied.
Pay In Two Installments: 50% today, 50% due in 30 days, no discount applied.

Everything below is for splitting your payment further than these two options, through outside providers available at checkout.

Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL)

These let you split your tuition payment into smaller installments over weeks or months. Each works a little differently – here’s what to expect from each one.

Affirm

Best for: spreading a larger payment over several months.

Affirm offers plans from a few weeks up to 36 months, depending on the amount and your approval terms. You’ll see your exact monthly payment and total cost upfront before agreeing to anything – no hidden fees. Affirm performs a soft credit check to determine your terms, which does not affect your credit score. Larger or longer-term plans may involve interest (0–36% APR depending on your terms); shorter plans are often interest-free. Affirm reports your payment history to credit bureaus, so on-time payments can help build credit, and missed payments can affect your score.

LEARN MORE ABOUT AFFIRM

Klarna

Best for: flexible short-term or longer financing, your choice.

Klarna offers a “Pay in 4” option (four interest-free payments every two weeks) as well as longer monthly financing plans for larger amounts. Approval is decided automatically each time you check out – there’s no fixed credit limit. The Pay in 4 option uses a soft credit check; longer financing plans may use a hard credit check. Late payments on Pay in 4 can incur a small fee, capped at 25% of your installment amount.

LEARN MORE ABOUT KLARNA

Afterpay

Best for: smaller payments split evenly, with no interest, ever.

Afterpay splits your payment into four equal installments, due every two weeks, with the first payment collected at checkout. There’s no interest and no credit check that affects your score. Afterpay does not report standard payment activity to credit bureaus, so using it doesn’t build or affect your credit history. Note that Afterpay has lower maximum order limits than Affirm or Klarna, so it may not be available for a full tuition payment – check at checkout to see if it’s offered for your amount.

LEARN MORE ABOUT AFTERPAY

Pay With a Card You Already Have

Splitit

Best for: those who have available credit on an existing Visa or Mastercard and want to avoid interest or a new loan entirely.

Splitit doesn’t issue new credit or run a credit check. Instead, it uses the available credit limit on a card you already own. Here’s the part worth understanding clearly: when you choose Splitit, the full payment amount is placed as a hold on your card at checkout – not charged immediately, just reserved. As each installment is paid, a portion of that hold is released. You’re not charged interest on the hold itself, and you keep earning any rewards or cash back your card already offers.

The tradeoff is that you’ll need enough available credit on your card to cover the entire amount, even though you’re only being charged a portion of it at a time. If your card doesn’t have that much room, Splitit won’t be able to approve the plan. Splitit currently supports Visa and Mastercard; American Express is not supported.

LEARN MORE ABOUT SPLITIT

Standard Payment Methods

These are charged in full at the time of payment – no installments – but are accepted for any payment option on your dashboard, including the two built-in tuition plans above.

Credit or Debit Card
PayPal
Apple Pay
Google Pay
ACH Bank Transfer (US bank accounts only; may take a few business days to process)

Which Option Is Right for You?

If you want…	Consider…
The lowest total cost	Pay in Full (10% discount)
A simple 50/50 split with no fees or credit check	Pay in Two Installments
To spread a payment over several months, possibly building credit	Affirm
Flexible short or long-term financing	Klarna
Four payments, no interest, no credit impact	Afterpay
To use a credit card you already have, without new debt	Splitit
To pay the full amount immediately by card, PayPal, or bank transfer	Standard payment methods

FAQ

A: We’ll see that you completed the purchase and the order on your account, but the terms of your financing plan are between you and the provider you selected.

A: Yes. Many students use a BNPL provider to pay their first or second installment, effectively splitting that 50% into smaller payments on their own schedule.

A: Approval is determined automatically by each provider at checkout based on their own criteria. If one option isn’t available to you, try another, or use a standard payment method.

A: Once you’ve chosen a BNPL or financing provider, all billing questions, plan changes, and support requests go directly to that provider – not to GAI. Visit their support pages linked above.

Availability of payment methods may vary based on order amount and your location. All options are presented automatically at checkout where eligible.

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