<p>They are named in a class action suit in CA.
[Courthouse</a> News Service](<a href=“http://www.courthousenews.com/2012/05/07/46284.htm]Courthouse”>http://www.courthousenews.com/2012/05/07/46284.htm)
My daughter requested that her refund be placed in another acct with her credit union.
It took about four months of emails, phone calls & letters, but that was finally accomplished.</p>
<p>Emerald, if that’s what is going on with delayed transfer, that part I can get outraged about.</p>
<p>Sent from my DROID2 GLOBAL using CC</p>
<p>Ds school has formed a task force to elicit better service from higher one.
( hate that name, sounds like a deity)
[Refunding</a> Task Force](<a href=“Home | Student Business Office | Western Washington University”>Home | Student Business Office | Western Washington University)</p>
<p>The fact that students have to even form a task force in order to get better service through a company that they didn’t even want to work with in the first place for their own finances is absolutely ridiculous. Especially considering the fact that students are the ones paying the outrageous tuitions in the first place.</p>
<p>Well tuition has little to do with banking practices, and more with the fact that state funding has been reduced.
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<p>[State</a> Support for Higher Education Has Fallen | Demos](<a href=“http://www.demos.org/news/state-support-higher-education-has-fallen]State”>State Support for Higher Education Has Fallen | Demos)</p>
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<p>I don’t blame you. This is ridiculous.</p>
<p>But really, how much more info do folks actually need to realize that 'institutions of higher learning" are absolutely no different than any other business. Don’t get me wrong, I received my degrees from such esteemed institutions, and I have been gainfully financially rewarded for being a well published faculty member at a number of them…but when America wakes up and comes to see ‘higher ed’ is just like any other industry, they might deal with them quite differently. Please take them off the pedestal!</p>
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For many years, I got a paper “advise of deposit” that had all that info, even though the money was direct deposited.</p>
<p>Now it is all on line, and for every paycheck I can print it out if I want and it looks just like the advise of deposit. I don’t think it is even possible to not do direct deposit at my company any more.</p>
<p>More info on that Napa Valley trip for “training” that Higher One had with college admins:</p>
<p>[News</a> Headlines](<a href=“http://www.cnbc.com/id/40777957/Put_that_Pizza_on_My_Student_Loan]News”>http://www.cnbc.com/id/40777957/Put_that_Pizza_on_My_Student_Loan)</p>
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<p>Funny how universities ram conflict of interest disclosures and ethics during research training down the throats of students, yet where is the conflict of interest disclosures from the universities themselves for taking kickbacks to promote certain types of student loans, or in this case, disclosure of the admin trips to Napa Valley that included wine tastings and spa treatments at a very prestigious hotel?</p>
<p>The information Higher One needs from you in order to forgo the card and use direct deposit is so they can transfer your account properly. It’s normal for banks to need this.</p>
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<p>Ditto. I still don’t like it. I’m old school, I guess.</p>
<p>I don’t see how this is any different from disliking the food service company a college uses, or the cleaning contractor. Indeed, this is better, because you can opt out.</p>
<p>I still don’t understand how someone - anyone - can open a bank account in MY name without MY permission. Given all the hoops one ordinarily has to jump through these days to open any kind of bank account (including photo ID), how is this even possible?</p>
<p>I’ll be interested to see how that lawsuit turns out . . .</p>
<p>Food service is what you see is what you get, there maybe 3-4 different choices but the students are clearly informed, and at many schools you can opt out also. In food service, you do not have open-ended contractual obligation with the students, you do not have pages and pages of disclosure contract that you need to sign, and hidden within the contract are all of these gotchas. Does the important aspect of the terms and conditions are displayed clearly and conveyed properly? Does the alternative of direct deposit properly told and easily accessible? How can anyone say it is the same thing or better?</p>
<p>My point is that the college employs contractors to provide various kinds of services. This is just one example. There may be elements of this one that you don’t like, but you don’t have to use the contractor.</p>
<p>Are you saying the school does not have to use contractor or the students? By offering this service, the school requires the students to go through Higher One to get to their money.</p>
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<p>Except the bank is out of state. If the service is terrible you don’t have a choice, you can’t switch into a different direct depositor. Why are there complaints against this company all over the internet for long delays processing checks into direct deposit accounts that aren’t with this company? </p>
<p>It’s also interesting to note that some of the fees that they charge are already illegal in several states. Also, why do they say all over their envelopes and website that THIS IS NOT A CREDIT CARD! but if students swipe it as debit then, then they’ll be charge all sorts of fees? Talk about mixed messages. </p>
<p>Read about all the student complaints, some are absolutely infuriating:</p>
<p><a href=“http://amplicate.com/hate/higherone[/url]”>http://amplicate.com/hate/higherone</a></p>
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<p>[Students</a> Against HigherOne | Facebook](<a href=“http://www.hs.facebook.com/pages/Students-Against-HigherOne/176918409063183]Students”>http://www.hs.facebook.com/pages/Students-Against-HigherOne/176918409063183)</p>
<p>So what if it is out of state? Do you think my DH or anyone whose company uses direct deposit has any choice either? Same choices that you have. And it’s even worse when you deal with health insurance HSA plans and other benefits. Companies can use a different financial institution for each benefit. I have about 5 cards in my wallet for the different benefits–vision, dental, HSA, health, I can’t even keep track. Get used to it. </p>
<p>The collusion and courting makes me shake my head, however. How soon they forget! It wasn’t that long ago that a lot of administrators’ heads rolled for getting too tight with loan companies offering student loans. </p>
<p>As I posted earlier, this has been a thing for 40 years that I know about from my college days. And once I got out, and even to this day, I have to put up with it from employment.</p>
<p>Who cares if it is out of state? Just read about the complaints about long processing times. You can’t go to this place if you need service, you have to deal with what many people are saying is absolutely terrible customer service. Are they holding money before disbursing it longer than they should in order to collect more interest? </p>
<p>It’s not the same as when you get a direct deposit from a company for a paycheck. Your company sends the money to an automatic clearing house (ACH). What the universities are doing, is sending the money to another middle man BEFORE the ACH. Universities---->Higher One---->ACH---->Bank Account vs. Company you work for---->ACH------>Bank Account. </p>
<p>Why does the middle man have to exist? I already get stipend direct deposits into my account, why do I or any other student have to go through higher one for refunds? It just another link in the chain before you get your own money that can be potentially exploited for identity theft.</p>
<p>cpt, you are an adult with years of experience and learnt from the past how to navigate these things and if you are like me have been burnt a few times myself. If you are saying that this is the right time and place for these students to learn this life lesson, then you might have a point. What I do know is my kid signed these agreements without my knowledge and I have no doubts that he would have been charged a lot of money before he knows what is coming to him. Luckily, he had no extra money left over from the FA. My argument is that when you are actively applied for a bank account or a credit card, even as an 18 year old, you have a better sense of what you are doing. When the school employee throws this paper at you for you to sign, the 18 year old has no idea of what they are doing and thinks very little of it because they trust the school.</p>
<p>I think I understand how some of the adults just dismiss this as business as usual but I don’t think the same context applies to the majority of 18 year old.</p>
<p>Since when do students pay interest on studen loans before graduation. Isn’t that what the federal student loan subsidy is? That the feds pay the interest until you graduate?
The only thing I see to be morally outraged here is the non-use fee. If I use the account twice a year to pay for tution, room and board that should be it. And thanks for the reminder to to put use of Higher One on a check list when picking colleges. Just another thing to teach your kid not do IMHO.</p>