College students who were deceived over debit card fees will be reimbursed.

The Washington Post reports.

Why college students are getting $55 million in restitution

Hundreds of thousands of college students who were deceived about the terms of their debit cards by Higher One Holdings will receive a total of $55 million in restitution, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and Federal Reserve said Wednesday.

In separate enforcement actions, the regulators accused the company of omitting details about certain fees, features and limitations of its One Account, a debit card that colleges use to disburse credit balances. That balance is the money left over when a student’s financial aid award exceeds the tuition and fees owed to their schools.

The way colleges refund that money has been a point of contention among policymakers who have accused schools of steering students into onerous accounts in exchange for millions of dollars from financial partners, like Higher One. Years of debates over the issue culminated in the Department of Education this year barring colleges from forcing students to have their credits placed on prepaid or debit cards that charge fees for overdrawing the account.


 
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