Acxiom Corporation, a provider of interactive marketing services and identity management, has teamed with campus card provider Blackboard to handle online authentication needs of higher education institutions. As a partner in the Blackboard Alliance Program, Acxiom will make its Risk Identification Suite, used also in verifying online banking transactions, available to Blackboard clients to identify distance learning students.

The partnership offers colleges and universities the ability to improve student verification while complying with the federal Higher Education Act, which requires verification that individuals completing online assignments are actually the students registered for the distance learning classes.

“All higher education institutions with distance learning programs are looking for a simple, affordable solution that does not require hardware to meet evolving integrity policies in distance education,”

Acxiom’s identity verification does not require hardware, and institutions using Acxiom’s authentication solutions control when, where and how frequently students authenticate. Instructors and administrators are notified of results. The entire process is delivered through Blackboard software, enabling authentication during the learning process.

The student identity verification is performed over the Internet with no intrusion into the learning process. Acxiom’s authentication system asks verification questions that only the student enrolled in the course can answer.

Blackboard’s online learning application, Blackboard Learn is used by many U.S. colleges and universities.