West Virginia Northern Community College implements Higher One’s OneDisburse® Refund Management® program on campus

 New Haven, CT  - Higher One, a financial services and payment company focused exclusively on higher education, announced it has been selected by West Virginia Northern Community College, a multi-campus institution, to disburse financial aid refunds to its more than 3,000 students.

Refunds at WVNCC are currently distributed to students by paper check. The labor intensive process of printing checks and stuffing them into envelopes prompted the need for change at WVNCC.

Administrators at WVNCC considered managing their own internally run Automated Clearing House (ACH) program but realized that the cost to implement and maintain it exceeded the benefits. After researching multiple methods for disbursing refunds, WVNCC selected Higher One for several reasons.

“Higher One was selected due to the experience, ease of implementation, expertise in the field of refund processing and commitment by Higher One staff to ensure a successful implementation,” Stephen Lippiello, Northern’s CFO/VP administrative services, said.

WVNCC students will be sent a card in the mail with instructions on how to log onto a secure Web site. Students will then be asked to confirm their primary email and mailing addresses and select how they would like to receive their refund from the college. Students will be given multiple electronic options, including direct deposit to the OneAccount; an optional, no-minimum-balance, no-monthly-fee, FDIC-Insured checking account provided by Higher One; or an ACH transfer to a bank account of their choice.

When it comes time for disbursements to be made, a file is sent from the college to Higher One which includes student names and the total amount of each refund. An accompanying wire is also routed for the amount of the total disbursement. Higher One then disburses the refunds to each student based on how he or she chose to receive it.

Sending disbursements from OneDisburse Refund Management will help WVNCC to eliminate the production of paper checks. The new process will help the college save on costs associated with issuing paper checks such as costs of paper stock, ink, envelopes, postage and the labor for both the production and customer service inquiries.

“We are excited that we partnered with Higher One. We expect to see an improved, cost effective refund processing system that provides timely refunds and quality service to our students, staff, faculty and administrators,” Janet Fike, dean, enrollments management, said.

West Virginia Northern Community College will disburse their first refunds in February 2010.

The student population at West Virginia Northern Community College has grown consistently, at times having double digit enrollment growth, since the year 2000. Northern, a public, comprehensive community college with campus locations in Wheeling, Weirton and New Martinsville, was created on May 9, 1972, and has grown into the largest institution of higher education in the Upper Ohio Valley. WVNCC currently is undergoing a years-long expansion and remodeling effort at all three campuses.

Northern offers a wide variety of more than 70 programs in the arts and sciences and career-technical education, and dozens of continuing education offerings. There are nearly 20 specialized two plus two transfer programs with numerous four-year institutions. Online education offerings continue to expand, and Northern graduates also have direct access to some master’s degree programs.