Testimony from Colleges and Universities prompts Hinds Community College to partner with Higher One

New Haven, CT – January 28, 2008 - Higher One is excited to announce an agreement with its first client in Mississippi. Higher One, a financial services and payment company focused exclusively on higher education, will distribute refunds to the nearly 10,000 Hinds Community College students at the start of the Fall 2008 semester.

Hinds Community College entered into an agreement with Higher One primarily to improve the student experience at the College. “Higher One was brought in to help us speed up the delivery of refunds to our students and reduce the costs associated with printing refunds checks,” explained Russell D. Shaw, VP for Business Services at Hinds.

Previously Hinds distributed refunds to students by mailing them paper checks—a labor intensive and expensive process. Higher One’s OneDisburse Refund Management enables Hinds to quickly and efficiently deliver these refunds electronically. This process saves the school time and money. Additionally students are given a choice between multiple ways to receive refunds. Among these choices is the ability to have the refund directly deposited to Higher One’s OneAccount, an FDIC-insured checking account tied to a Debit MasterCard^®.

The College considered other means for distributing refunds to students but selected Higher One after speaking with a number of their current clients.

“We were impressed with our sales representative and his presentation of your company’s products,” mentioned Shaw. “As far as service, we liked the delivery of the debit cards to the students early in the semester and the marketing efforts that Higher One promised. But what really set Higher One apart were the comments we received from other institutions in the region who were already Higher One customers.”

In an era of decreased funding at both the state and federal level, a rapidly increasing number of institutions around the country are relying on Higher One to help them streamline the distribution process. Higher One currently helps 94 Colleges and Universities distribute refunds to their students. Today, over 5% of College students in the United States use Higher One’s services.

OneDisburse Refund Management will also be utilized as part of Hinds ongoing commitment to maintaining compliance with various regulations for the distribution of refunds to students. The Department of Education has accepted changes to the regulations surrounding the disbursement of these funds to encourage institutions to distribute refunds electronically.

“Our expectations are that Higher One will help us deliver refunds to students in compliance with Federal Financial Aid Rules and Regulations and provide our students with several more efficient options for getting their refunds,” stated Shaw.