BATON ROUGE (La. Illuminator) — Louisiana’s colleges and universities will soon have the option of offering a digital student identification card through LA Wallet, a cell phone app that allows Louisiana residents to carry official government documents digitally.

A new law goes into effect Aug. 1 that gives the state’s four higher education management systems the ability to opt in to offering digital student IDs. The law was sponsored by Sen. Larry Selders, D-Baton Rouge, who died suddenly this month.

Selders pitched the bill as a way to make it easier to access student services.

“We know students are not leaving [home] without their phones,” Selders said earlier this year.

Launched in 2018, LA Wallet currently allows people to carry a digital version of their driver’s license, Medicaid insurance card, vaccination status card, vehicle registration and various state permits, including those for fishing, hunting and concealed handguns. It is accepted not only in Louisiana but at airport security checkpoints, U.S. government buildings and federal courthouses across the country.

Louisiana Community and Technical College System spokesman Chandler LeBoeuf said the system is currently in the process of evaluating the implementation process.

LSU system spokeswoman Meg Sunstrom said that the system has started looking into vendors but it would likely not be implemented before the fall semester.

Representatives for the Southern and University of Louisiana systems have not yet responded to a request for comment.

Implementing the digital student ID cards comes with an estimated price tag of $400,000 to $800,000 for the LSU system and $100,000 to $200,000 for the LCTC and Southern University Systems, according to a financial analysis of the bill. The document did not detail the potential cost for the University of Louisiana System.