Improving student service a priority at the University of North Dakota as the
institution partners with Higher One to distribute refunds electronically

New Haven, CT – April 25, 2008 - Higher One, a financial services company focused exclusively on higher education, announced recently that it will begin working with the University of North Dakota to distribute refunds faster to the Institution’s over 12,000 students. UND will begin issuing refunds through Higher One later this summer.

As an increasing number of institutions within higher education look for ways to streamline internal operations while remaining competitive, many are examining their current method of distributing refunds.

“We decided on Higher One because the company offered a great product for our
students while freeing up time for our Student Account Services department to
concentrate on quality customer service,” explained Sharon Berning, Controller at UND.

As it stands, distributing refunds is both a labor intensive and expensive process. Many Colleges and Universities issue paper check refunds to students. As a result, the institution incurs the costs of ink, check stock, envelopes, postage, as well as the customer service required to support the process.

Direct deposit offered students another viable option, however implementing such a program at UND was expensive and meant staff had to collect and keep current each student’s bank account and routing information. Additionally UND would be required to take the necessary precautions to ensure their program adhered to the many regulations associated with the collection of bank account information and the distribution of Title IV funds.

There were a number of reasons Higher One was selected over other methods considered.

“Higher One's product is unique and gives students more options to receive their financial aid refunds,” described Berning. “We realized Higher One could give us the ability to increase the use of electronic disbursement of financial aid to students as compared to other options.”

With Higher One, students are given multiple options to receive their refunds, including direct deposit to the OneAccount, a no minimum balance, no monthly fee, FDIC-insured checking account linked to a Debit MasterCard®.

“We anticipate that Higher One’s service will get refunds to students faster, decrease time staff spend on returned checks and ACH returns, offer some unique bank account features to the students, and improve our overall customer service,” explained Berning.

About the University of North Dakota:
The University of North Dakota at Grand Forks is one of the largest and most diversified universities in the Upper Midwest.

Enrolling 12,559 students in the fall of 2007, UND has long been characterized as having:

UND has been classified by the Carnegie Foundation as a high research activity, doctoral/professional, and engaged university. UND is among the small group of nationally important universities whose missions extend beyond undergraduate instruction to include graduate education, research, scholarship and creative activity, as well as public service.

The University offers 195 fields of study in which courses are offered. UND offers 87 baccalaureate degrees, 57 masters, 1 specialist, 23 doctorate and 2 professional.

Academic divisions include the John D. Odegaard School of Aerospace Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences, College of Business and Public Administration, College of Education and Human Development, School of Engineering and Mines, Graduate School, School of Law, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, and the College of Nursing.

The 549-acre campus includes 223 buildings and 5.33 million square feet of space under roof, not including the Ralph Engelstad Arena and the Alerus Center, owned by other entities but heavily used by UND.