Together with NXP Semiconductors, Blackboard has surpassed 1 million NFC cards shipped since 2012. The credentials have shipped nationwide with destinations including UCLA, Quinnipiac University, Liberty University, University of Oklahoma and Central Michigan University all utilizing NFC-compatible cards.

Northern Arizona University recently completed its jump to contactless student IDs, in part as a response to some security limitations associated with the university’s old 125 kHz prox credentials, as well as in an effort to bring the campus card up to speed with the latest technology. We talked details with card provider HID and NAU’s systems administrator for campus services and activities.

Smart cards remain a largely under-utilized resource here in the US, but European universities like Spain’s Universidad de Cantabria have been leveraging smart card technology for decades. Based in Santander, Spain, Cantabria has acted as a proving ground and flagship for Santander Universities’ smart card system that has since been implemented at universities throughout Europe and the rest of the globe.

ISIC France is using HID Global’s FARGO line of printer/encoders and the company’s AsureID 7 ID Card Personalization Software Development Kit to deliver International Student Identity Cards to France’s Grandes Écoles system of universities. The partnership is issuing as many as 150,000 cards annually.

Blackboard Transact, along with NXP and Liberty University, is hosting a webinar on NFC credentials to show how the technology is transforming life on campus. NXP’s Gary Gill will be on hand to provide valuable info about NFC technology and Liberty’s director of card services, Deborah Nightingale will talk about the university’s recent switch to contactless, NFC-compatible campus cards.

School children in the Spanish city of Barcelona are being issued smart cards as part of a new project that will help parents to monitor their children’s commute to school. The project is the result of a partnership between Spanish startup Aditium, the city’s transit authority, mobile network operator Telefonica and others.

Students in Nigeria are being issued smart cards as part of a new exam registration and authorization system. The project, which is being led by HID and The West African Examinations Council, is seeking to cut back on cases of identity fraud associated with exams by introducing a more secure process to student verification.

Lehigh University has decided to deploy MIFARE smart cards to all students faculty and staff as part of a larger effort to boost security on campus. As part of the project, the Lehigh is also installing Allegion aptiQ readers. The cards are already being distributed, while the larger access control system will be phased in over time.

With the EMV liability shift looming, college campuses are having to come to grips with EMV. Nothing new to the rest of the world, EMV has yet to take root in the US, but that’s all about to change. The shift will affect the higher education space and general commerce alike, so with this in mind, here’s what universities need to know about EMV.

Algonquin College has signed on with U-Pass to provide smart card transit cards to its students, joining a host of other Canadian universities using U-Pass. Algonquin students will have access to discounted transit, and in response to the university’s high summer enrollment, a full-service summer pass will also be made available.