Blackboard has announced a partnership with Uber Technologies that will create a convenient travel alternative for students at hundreds of colleges and universities nationwide.

The partnership will be spearheaded by Blackboard Transact, the company's payment and security solutions branch, and will enable students to arrange for their Uber car rides using a campus payment option enabled by Blackboard Transact. The solution will include an account dedicated exclusively to the ride service, and will be accessible directly from the Uber app.

Students can request the Uber cars and seamlessly pay for the rides using the campus card account as tender. Under the program, a dedicated "specific use" purse can be established in the institution's Blackboard Transact campus card system, enabling deposits and payments by the institution, parents or the student.

"For decades, Blackboard Transact has been committed to delivering innovative payment and security solutions in the interest of serving students and the institutions they attend," says David Marr, SVP at Blackboard Transact. "This exciting new partnership with Uber, an industry leader in its own right, demonstrates our commitment to improving the overall student experience."

"We believe this program provides students with reliable transportation options at any time -- particularly when it may be unsafe for that student to get behind the wheel," Marr adds. "We hope this innovative partnership will encourage responsible transportation decisions by ensuring availability of funds and ease of access."

The partnership with Uber marks the latest step taken by Blackboard to deliver the conveniences, preferences and technological capabilities that is now synonymous with college life. For Uber, whose technology has come to be ubiquitous around the world, the ability to quickly and conveniently get people to their preferred destination is one that can provide significant value on college campuses.

"We want to make sure that students on campuses across the country have a safe, convenient and affordable way to get around," says Amy Friedlander Hoffman, head of Business Development and Experiential Marketing for Uber. "We're looking forward to working with Blackboard to make it even easier to ride safely around campus -- something that is important to students, parents and universities."