Higher One Community Outreach Efforts Target Youth Education and Empowerment

Higher One CARES (Community Action for Resources Education and Service), the community outreach group at Higher One, continues to strengthen community connections in the New Haven, CT area and beyond through its national efforts to increase financial literacy and student success.

With partners like the non-profit organization Solar Youth, Inc., Higher One CARES is able to assist in providing opportunities for young people to develop a bright future and a positive sense of self. Higher One recognizes that student success goes beyond the academic world, even in the K-12 arena, and Higher One CARES supports Solar Youth’s programs that incorporate leadership and community service into empowering students.

“Our mission is to get involved and make connections that empower youth in the community, but community isn’t limited to where our employees live and work,” said Mark Volchek, co-founder and CEO at Higher One. “We want to make an impact across the country, where we currently provide our services for 13 million students at colleges and financial literacy programs for thousands of students at K-12 schools through our Higher One Financial Academy.”

In May, Higher One CARES will partner with Junior Achievement for a “national takeover,” where employees at several of Higher One’s offices around the country will participate to bring the real world to students in grades K-6 through a hands-on curriculum, focused on financial literacy and delivered by a trained volunteer. Later this month, Higher One employees will participate in New Haven’s Rock to Rock Earth Day Ride, which Higher One CARES sponsors to contribute toward college scholarships for Common Ground high school students. This sponsorship opportunity affords itself specifically to student success and access to education.

Higher One CARES was formed by employees at Higher One to help identify opportunities for community involvement and engagement. Though CARES supports a variety of local not-for-profits, its mission is focused on helping build the community based on education, financial literacy and entrepreneurship. Higher One was founded in New Haven in 2000 by students, for students and shares a passion for community involvement by encouraging employees to make an impact through efforts that match their interest and by giving eligible employees one full paid day a year to use as an approved “Day of Service.”

If you have an event or program that aligns itself with the Higher One CARES mission, please forward it to Higher One CARES Communications Director Lauren Perry (lperry@higherone.com).

About Higher One

Higher One (NYSE:ONE) partners with colleges and universities to lower their administrative costs and to improve graduation rates. We provide a broad array of payment, refund disbursement and data analytics and management tools to institutions that help them save money and enhance institutional effectiveness. And for students, we offer financial literacy programs and convenient, flexible and affordable transaction options to help them manage their finances. Higher One is a leader in higher education and we support more than 1,900 schools and approximately 13 million enrolled students. More information about Higher One can be found at www.higherone.com.