Feds' Payment Card Pilot Moves Forward

The U.S. Department of Education is poised to begin a limited experiment with a prepaid student aid card, which would operate like a debit card for aid. Under the program, students would be able to access the funds without paying fees, and the feds would be able to learn more about how students use financial aid.

The department has picked four universities -- Purdue University, the University of Georgia, Jackson State University and the University of California, Riverside -- to participate in the pilot program, Politico reported. The three participating financial aid companies are First Data, Urban FT and Metabank.