Cerritos College
Cerritos College • Norwalk, Calif.

Talon Marks

Cerritos College • Norwalk, Calif.

Talon Marks

Cerritos College • Norwalk, Calif.

Talon Marks

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HigherOne dealing low blows to students

 In our society, finding money is quite possibly one of the biggest challenges for the modern-day college student.

That being said, the ideal solution for students’ financial woes becomes none other than financial aid.

Financial aid is meant to assist the student with surviving in the college environment, providing help with books and more importantly, the overall cost of living while in college.

Students use financial aid for necessities such as transportation to and from school, bills and sometimes even to pay rent. How can we pay off these necessities if we do not receive our aid when we were told we would receive it?

In the past, we expected to receive our financial aid on the first day of school in order to facilitate paying for books, the main reason for our educational experience. Higher One, the company behind the financial aid disbursements, practically guaranteed that all students who would receive financial aid would have it by the first day, or up to the third day, at the latest.

This semester we were told that these disbursements will arrive on Jan. 14, a full five days after the semester has started, without any explanations as to why this is the case. What this company doesn’t seem to understand is that we don’t have that much time to get what we need.

What this company doesn’t seem to understand is that students don’t exactly have the time to say to their landlords or bill collectors and say, “Sorry for not paying. Can I have until the end of the week? My school hasn’t given me my money yet.”

As if the tardiness of the disbursements weren’t bad enough, students are now complaining about being charged over-the-top fees for everyday transactions.

The fees that Higher One charges for include a $2.50 charge for withdrawing from non-Higher One ATMs, a $0.50 fee for every transaction that involves entering your Personal Identification Number and even a $19.00 fee for not using your account!

These charges are outrageous and are the perfect recipe for bad business practices.

Although, it isn’t that bad of a business for the folks at Higher One. According to the Better Business Bureau, Higher One recorded 88 percent of its revenue from its fees and charges in 2009.

Regardless of the fact that a business needs to make money, it goes without saying that the actions Higher One is taking to do so can be described as nothing more than highway robbery.

Cerritos College needs to search other suitors to provide our financial aid. We can no longer depend on this company for our needs and obligations and our school needs to find a company that can cater to the students of our campus.

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HigherOne dealing low blows to students