Executive Summary
Colleges and universities face a dilemma: reduce costs to reflect tighter budgets or add student services to attract applicants and improve retention. Now there's a way to do both by streamlining the distribution of student refunds while giving students the convenience of an all-purpose card for ID, banking, building access and retail purchases.
Help from Higher One
Many schools process student refunds themselves, with paper checks distributed to students personally or by mail, which often requires hiring temporary workers or reallocating current staff.
Some schools have internally managed direct deposit (ACH) programs. While these programs reduce costs associated with paper check refunds, they require significant labor resources to distribute refunds, protect student privacy, and comply with federal regulations.
Higher One's electronic OneDisburse® Refund Management® system eliminates the need for the school to absorb costs associated with internal ACH programs. The institution simply sends Higher One a file with student names and refund amounts, along with a wire for the total disbursement amount. All refunds are issued by Higher One.
Students get their refunds deposited directly into the bank of their choice; most use a no-monthly-fee, no-minimum balance, FDIC-insured checking account from Higher One. The accounts come with a specially branded school OneCard that serves as an ATM card and a Debit MasterCard® for purchases on and off campus. Plus the cards can serve as a student ID, library card, meal plan card and key card for building access.
The result: cost savings for the institution and a new level of service for students.
