European Student Card
Your students need a pass.
Here is the European Student Card.
We help you issue your first digital European Student Card in seconds.
European Student Card
100% digital. 100% control.
Easy to use digital management platform for verifiable, digital European Student Cards.
European Student Card
Scan & Check
Scan the QR code and verify the student status in less than 3 seconds.
European Student Card
Frequently Asked Questions
Here is what you need to know about the ESC.
Click any question below to see the answer.
What is the European Student Card (ESC)?
The ESC is a standardised digital or physical card that simplifies student mobility within Europe. It allows reliable verification of a student’s enrolment status across European higher education institutions.
How does the ESC benefit universities?
Universities can streamline administrative processes by using the ESC. It eliminates paperwork, facilitates secure data exchange, and ensures efficient transitions for students studying abroad.
What is the goal of the European Student Card Initiative?
The initiative aims to provide as many European students as possible with an ESC by 2025, enhancing their mobility experience and fostering a sense of community across institutions.
How can universities issue European Student Cards?
By signing up with Academica Digital, you can start issuing and managing digital European Student Cards in just one hour. The main benefits of managing digital student cards with us are:
- Premium support – never talk to a chatbot or automated systems.
- Full process – issue, verify, expire student cards any time.
- ESC-R Compliant – We integrate with the ESC Router on your behalf.
- Low cost – 80% less compared to other providers.
- Fully customisable – Your students, your branding. Our cards can be fully customised with your university brand, layout and images.
- Secure & Modern – our solution is build with the latest technologies in order to give you and your students the best of both worlds: state-of-the-art security and extraordinary user experience.
How much does the Academica Digital European Student Card platform cost?
Pricing is dependent on usage and other services you sign-up for. Here is how a rough estimate:
- First 30 cards are always free.
- Pricing starts from 0.50EUR/CARD/YEAR.
We keep our pricing flexible in order to meet your demands & needs. You can also choose the billing method you prefer:
- Pay-as-you-go: You start issuing cards, and are billed bi-annually based on the pricing tier and the number of issued cards.
- Reserved capacity: A fixed negotiated cost for a fixed number of cards. Any cards above the limit will fall in the pay-as-you-go pricing tier.
Let us know if you have any specific requirements and we will send you a personalised offer for your needs.
Where can I find more details about the ESC?
We encourage you to get information about European initiatives straight from the source. Here are a few sources we trust:
- European Education Area – European Student Card Initiative | European Education Area (europa.eu)
- ESCI Website – European Student Card Initiative | Erasmus+ (europa.eu)
- Benefits of the ESC – Benefits of the European Student Card | Erasmus+ (europa.eu)
- European Student Identifier – The European Student Identifier | Erasmus+ (europa.eu)
European Student Card
Use cases
Get the most out of the ESC. Here are some use-cases you can adopt in order to benefit the most out of the standardised European Student Card.
Click on each card to view the use-case.
Ease with administrative burden for identification, security and access management
Student cards serve as a primary form of identification within the university campus. Due to their enhanced security measures, they facilitate access control for library services, dining halls and other facilities within the campus.
The easy of use and integrations ensures a seamless and efficient for both the university and the student.
Campus Life Integration
Issuing student cards fosters a sense of belonging. It makes students feel like an integral part of the university community.
This in turn drive students to deliver better result, be more mindful about the campus and participate in more extracurricular activities, generating a higher satisfaction and retention.
Student Discounts and Benefits
From transportation services to ‘get-a-free-coffee’ offer from service providers, the student card plays a crucial role in confidently identifying students. Make more of your existing partnerships by providing a single way of authenticating students.
Moreover, when your students are traveling, the European Student Card is a universal way of them benefiting from services/discounts when abroad.
Attendance Tracking
Track attendance and class registration way easier with the student card.
Use the standardised European Student Cards to monitor class attendance. This will give you a real time report of attendance for classrooms/workshops/labs while saving time checking students on paper.
Zero effort student identification system
European student cards serve as a primary form of identification of a student. Let it be from Romania, Portugal, France or other countries.
The standardised system allows you to check a student without the need to learn how student IDs look in other countries, while accurately describing the student status.
Attract new customers
Students actively seek out deals and promotions, making more likely to engage with your business.
Accepting the European Student Card as a primary student status identification helps you become available hundreds of thousands more students than bi-lateral partnerships with one university.
Build brand loyalty & affinity
By offering a student discount, even if it is relatively small, you can build a community around your brand. Students who receive discounts or offers are more likely to become loyal customers, fostering a long-term relationship with your brand.
If students have a positive experience with a brand during their college years, they are likely to remain loyal customers even after graduation.
Also, businesses that actively participate in student life through discounts, sponsorships or events became part of the campus community and fosters goodwill and positive associations.
Awareness and marketing
Your business is more visible for more people. Accepting student cards, can increase your visibility considerably through:
- Word-of-Mouth Marketing – Students are active on social media and often share their experiences with friends and peers. A positive experience with a business, can lead to word-of-mouth marketing. Students recommend the brand to others, expanding its reach.
- Ads on our platform or universities websites – We and universities promote your offers/deals/services to our students on internal platforms in order to provide the best experience for students.