By Derek Woellner —
University of Wisconsin–Stout has taken over the reins to provide a new way to distribute refunds.
Since Fall 2002, Stout has partnered with Higher One to provide student IDs that doubled as debit cards. The cards were linked to a Higher One checking account into which the university could transfer refunds. But now, this partnership is coming to a close.
Stout has not renewed a contract with Higher One, meaning that new student IDs and a new refund system are on the way.
Before students register for next year, they will need to sign-up for eRefunds. With eRefunds, Stout will directly deposit the excess money from loans, scholarships, grants and personal payments into an account of the student’s choosing. If a student fails to sign-up before registration, a hold will be put on their account.
To sign-up for eRefunds, students will need to provide a bank account routing number. This may require some students to open a bank account prior to registration, but many students already have one. A Student Business Services survey on banking relationship satisfaction found that 82 percent of students had a checking account open before attending Stout.
The same survey also showed that students wanted an electronic refund disbursement option.
The sign-up link for eRefunds can be found on the Student Business Services webpage at www.uwstout.edu/stubus.