COLLEGE OF THE SEQUOIAS BECOMES FIRST COLLEGE IN CALIFORNIA TO SPEED REFUNDS THROUGH HIGHER ONE'S ONEDISBURSE® REFUND MANAGEMENT^SM

New Haven, CT – July 17, 2007 - Higher One, a student-focused company servicing higher education, announced today that College of the Sequoias has decided to implement Higher One's OneDisburse Refund Management program to speed the delivery of financial aid refunds to their students. COS will begin to distribute financial aid refunds using OneDisburse by August of this year.

COS joins a host other schools like the University of Houston in Texas and Pace University in New York, as institutions that have blazed a new trail for refund efficiency in their respective states. Higher One now has 81 clients in over 20 states.

The administration at COS, a college with an enrollment of just over 10,000 students, has a desire to reduce the amount of waiting time that a student endures while awaiting a payment from the school. Currently, COS relies on a paper check system of financial aid disbursement, which keeps the staff at the College tied up with the check production process.

Upon reviewing the options that were at the College's disposal, COS decided to partner with Higher One after speaking with several schools on the east coast who have had the opportunity to use OneDisburse Refund Management. Dr. Linda Fontanilla, Dean of Student Services, said that the conversations were very influential in the decision making process.

The administration at COS wanted the company that they chose to disburse refunds to provide students with multiple methods of receiving their financial aid rewards. Higher One gives students a choice of three such methods, two of which are electronic. Students have the ability to deposit refunds into their existing credit union account or other bank account. The College also feels that the free, FDIC-Insured checking account, called the OneAccount, provided by Higher One will be a great tool for the students.

Founded in 2000, Higher One provides higher education institutions and their students with efficient, convenient and easy-to-use solutions to handle financial disbursements. These include: student refunds, on-campus and community purchases, payroll and employee expenses, as well as the collection of payments from students, parents, and sponsors.

Higher One offers a suite of online banking services including the OneAccount, an FDIC-insured checking account, and OneCard, a Debit MasterCard^®. To date, Higher One has disbursed over $4 billion dollars in refunds for its clients to more than 1,000,000 students, faculty, and staff at distinguished public and private higher education institutions throughout the country.

Higher One recently ranked # 85 on the 2007 Inc. List of the 500 Fastest Growing Companies in the United States. Higher One is based in New Haven, CT.

College of the Sequoias is a two year, fully accredited community college offering associated degrees, certificate programs and university transfers programs with a long history of excellence in higher education. The College serves the majority of Tulare and part of Kings and Fresno counties with an enrollment of about 10,000 students. COS is very proud of the educational support offered to students and is dedicated and highly committed to enhancing our diverse educational and cultural campus environment. Our administration, faculty and staff are committed to the advancement of economic growth and to our mission of preparing our citizens for productive work, lifelong learning and community involvement.

Media Contacts:
Melissa Kanter
Edelman
212.704.8261
Melissa.kanter@edelman.com

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