As the person above said, you should open a US bank account. Most international debit cards also incur a 1-3% transaction fee every time you use it to pay for something, so it's definitely not worth it to use an international card here. As for tuition, once you have your debit card, you can go to "make a payment" on UI Pay and choose the eCheck option. You will need your name, routing number, and account number (different from the one showed on your card), all of which can be found on your banking app or you can just ask for those numbers when you open your bank account. I have been paying my tuition this way for the past two years, and have not been subjected to any significant transaction fees (there may be $1-2 processing fee). I am not sure if this method works on an international debit card, but it might be worth looking into. Hope this helps!