2. Refunds: Today’s Challenges
**This is an optional slide for presentations to new schools that have never had refunds outsourced before, not for schools who are familiar with the refunds process already.**
When we ask higher ed institutions to name their biggest concerns around student refunds, we consistently hear 4 responses.
Fees: There has been a lot of controversy lately around the traditional way of issuing refunds to a debit card tied to a checking account. Some vendors promise a convenient, cost-effective solution for refunds, then layer on fees to students. Some of the hidden costs are monthly service fees just for having the card, overdraft fees, and lost card fees. According to a recent PIRG report students may incur anywhere from $50-$80 a year under this model. [
Title IV regulations: We’re all familiar with them – the Department of Education requirements on how financial aid disbursements must be refunded to your students. Some of the requirements include issuing the refund within 14 days, including paper check as an option, offering a no-cost option to the student, etc. These regulations are meant to protect your students, but that can mean headaches for the business office. We can assist you here.
Expense of paper checks: The cost of printing, mailing, and managing paper checks can be a challenge for higher ed institutions. Whether you outsource it to your local bank or manage it in-house, the costs continue to mount. Plus, your institution is dependent on USPS. Paper checks must be an option for students, but you can employ a smarter method to issue them. More on that later.
Lack of options: The lack of options for outsourcing refunds can be frustrating. There are vendors that offer specific refund products and services, but only Nelnet offers all options, as well as an approach that benefits the institution AND the student. Why not give students the opportunity to elect the refund method that works best for them, giving them freedom of choice as well as the opportunity to strengthen their financial literacy?

3. Time for a Change
What if you could offer a clear choice to your students and families?
Nelnet is changing the student refunds landscape.
We offer a product that allows your institution to offer true choice. It also keeps your institution out of the spotlight as regulatory pressures surrounding fees to students continue to mount.
Our New Student Choice Refunds solution provides full choice, service, support – and compliance! 3

4. Freedom of Choice ACH Deposit
Students simply provide their bank account information and we deposit their refund into that account.
Reloadable Prepaid Cards
A truly innovative approach, Nelnet will disburse a refund to ANY reloadable card.
Paper Check
We take care of the fulfillment, ensuring your students get their paper checks quickly and efficiently.
Default option will be paper check
What makes our refunds product stand out is freedom of choice. Students can select to receive their refund in one of 3 ways.
ACH Deposit: Funds are deposited directly to the student’s bank account within 2 business days of receiving the refund notification from the school. ACH is a quick and efficient refund method. We send notification to the student the day we receive the request from the school, so they know their refund is coming. There are no fees to the student for selecting this method.
Reloadable debit cards: Students who have an existing reloadable debit card may choose to have their refund loaded to that card. This is a new concept in student refunds, developed by Nelnet. Unlike other vendors that issue a debit card tied to a bank account, Nelnet Business Solutions allows students to use a card they may already have. This process is preferable, as it frees your institution from potential regulatory risk and pressure surrounding card fees to students. Why? Because the choice of which reloadable card to use (if any) is left up to the student.
Paper Check: Students may still choose to receive their refund via paper check. Nelnet will process the refund and issue a check within 2 business days of the request. The check can be issued to the address provided by the school or the student can provide their own mailing address. This is also the default option if the student hasn’t selected another option. There are no fees to the student for selecting this method.

5. Student Experience
Now that we know the options available to choose from, let’s talk about the student experience. The student, through a link on institution’s site, authenticates into Nelnet’s refunds system. Once the student is signed in, they land on the dashboard and are prompted to create a profile and select a refund method. Once a method is selected, the specific language of that option is displayed and student confirms their decision by agreeing to the terms and conditions. Our system then captures the student’s selection and uses it for all future refund disbursements. It is that easy!
Note: If an institution loads a candidate file (file of students eligible to receive a refund) and there is a student who hasn’t selected their preferred refund method, those disbursements will be issued via paper check. The student is then informed via that their refund will arrive via paper check. They may sign in to the refunds system if they want to make a change.

6. Refunds Processing – Sample Timeline
After the school has loaded a candidate file to disburse refunds, the timeline for when students receive their refund is as follows:
Day 1: The school uploads a file to the refunds system. Nelnet generates a daily disbursement file. This file initiates an ACH transaction to debit funds from the institution’s bank account for the total amount of refunds processed that business day. notification is sent confirming a refund has been submitted.
Day 2: Wells Fargo processes the previous day’s file, debiting the school account.
Day 3: Candidates will receive their refund based on the method they selected. Wells Fargo sends confirmation to Nelnet that the file has processed, and provides a results file to Nelnet.
These results are loaded into candidate history in the refunds system. Institution reports will be created and stored in the refunds system.

7. Refunds Made Easy – Full Service and Support
Implementation
Administration
Support
Reporting
Implementation: One of the biggest advantages to Nelnet Student Choice Refunds is that there is very little integration required, making it easy to implement. The student logs into your student account page and is passed into Nelnet’s refunds system via pass-through authentication that includes a hashed URL. There is also an xml formatted candidate file which is easy to construct. NBS will also provide a reconciliation file that provides details of all refunds processed each business day. This is transferred to the institution via SFTP. Establishing the pass through authentication, formatting the candidate file, and setting up the SFTP account are the only areas where your technical resources will be involved. We have an estimated implementation timeframe of 4-6 weeks.
Administration: During implementation, your school will have a dedicated Implementation Specialist to assist with building test files, creating marketing for the program, and training your staff. Once implemented, your school will have an Account Manager to assist with day-to-day administration of the program. This Account Manager will be responsible for managing the refunds site and working with your staff to support students and families.
Support: In addition to a dedicated Account Manager, we also have a customer service team fully staffed to assist your students with the process. Our customer service team is the gold standard in the industry. We will support your students and families with questions about their refunds including setting up their refunds account, disbursements, and refund status.
Reporting: We have powerful reporting tools that will help track the status of refunds, student enrollment, and account activity to keep schools informed every step of the way.
[Recommend moving to demo of the product at this point.]

8. Student Choice Refunds with NBS
Pricing
Contract
Marketing Materials
FAQ’s
Pricing: Go through specific pricing for the school in question.
Contract: Discuss the details of the contract and sign up requirements.
Marketing Materials and FAQs: We will have several handouts to provide to the institution as leave-behinds. In addition to the contract (that includes addendum for refunds) we will provide sample marketing materials, sales sheet, analysis report, FAQs sheet, and transition plan if applicable.

9. Questions?
With Student Choice Refunds from Nelnet, your students will have a CHOICE in how they receive their refunds. Refunds are fulfilled quickly and efficiently and in compliance with Title IV regulations.
Using our innovative refunds disbursement system, your school will avoid potential regulatory pressures surrounding fees to students.
The system is intuitive and easy to use, and even a first-time student will have no trouble electing a refund option.
NBS will support your staff as well as your students and their families through the entire refund process.
If you are interested in partnering with Nelnet to disburse student refunds, please let us know, we will be happy to provide additional information.