Issue date: 8/29/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Alton Richardson How to get your LPC Debit Card 1: Go to laspositasdebitcard.com for FAQ's on the process. 2: Be sure all your personal information such as your address is up to date by visiting Admissions & Records. 3: Your card will be arriving in the mail, so make sure you don't toss it out assuming it's just another credit card application. 4: And once you get your HigherOne card in the mail immediately activate it using the easy instructions and get on the path to your higher education.

Along with the new school year, comes a new look for financial aid.

Beginning in August financial aid students at Las Positas College and Chabot College will receive their financial aid return in the form of a debit card, rather than a check. The colleges have joined forces with Higher One, an online banking institution focused on those who are reaching for higher education.

"Just anybody in town can't just take out an account with Higher One," said Andi Schreibman, financial aid specialist. "They have to be a student."

Upon receiving the financial aid debit card in the mail, students must choose their refund preference and activate the card using laspositasdebitcard.com.

Once the preference is chosen the money is sent from LPC to Higher One and then the reimbursement will be made according to the selection the student made. Which ultimately means a student receives their aid money weeks faster than the old way of a check through the U.S. postal service.

The quickest way to access the money is to choose to have the refund deposited directly into the OneAccount. Basically, the OneAccount is a free checking account, which is insured by the FDIC. The checking account has no minimum balance and no monthly service charges.

The Admissions and Records building will be the new home of an ATM machine, specifically designated for the use of the financial aid debit cards. Students will be able to withdrawal with no charge at this ATM.

Despite account abuse in the past, there is still a way to open a checking account with Higher One.

"Everyone starts out with a clean slate," Schreibman said.

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