ERP Software for Colleges
Community colleges and four-year liberal arts colleges balance open-access enrollment missions, complex Title IV federal financial aid administration, workforce development programs, and constrained operating budgets — all while competing for students with online and for-profit providers. ERP platforms for this sector must handle student lifecycle management from admissions through transfer or graduation, financial aid packaging and disbursement, multiple academic calendars, and fund-based financial management under GASB standards.
Compare ERP Systems for Colleges
Select up to 4 ERP vendors to compare side by side. Filtered to show systems with strong colleges capabilities.
Key Challenges for Colleges
Administering Title IV financial aid including Pell Grants, Direct Loans, and campus-based aid with complex eligibility determination and Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) monitoring
Managing rapid enrollment fluctuations driven by economic cycles and demographic shifts without corresponding changes in fixed costs
Coordinating workforce development and continuing education programs on non-standard academic terms alongside traditional semester-based courses
Reporting to multiple accreditation bodies — regional accreditors, programmatic accreditors, and state approval agencies — with different data requirements and timelines
Maintaining FERPA-compliant student records while enabling data sharing for student success analytics and early-alert intervention programs
Managing multiple auxiliary enterprises (bookstore, food service, childcare) within a unified financial reporting framework
Recruiting and retaining skilled IT and administrative staff capable of supporting complex campus ERP systems on constrained budgets
Best Colleges ERP for SMBs
Recommended for companies with $10M–$250M revenue and 10–200 employees.
Jenzabar
mid-rangePurpose-built higher education platform serving primarily smaller colleges and universities. Strong student information, financial aid, and finance capabilities with a modern cloud delivery option and active community college client base.
Best for: Small to mid-size community colleges and liberal arts colleges seeking a unified campus management platform
Anthology (formerly Campus Management)
mid-rangeCombines Anthology Student (SIS), Anthology Finance, and Anthology Reach (CRM) in an integrated platform with strong financial aid and accreditation reporting capabilities.
Best for: Small to mid-size colleges prioritizing enrollment management, CRM, and integrated financial aid
Unit4
mid-rangeERP platform purpose-built for people-centric sectors including higher education. Strong grants management, project accounting, and HR capabilities with a modern cloud architecture.
Best for: Community colleges and liberal arts colleges seeking modern cloud ERP with strong HR and finance integration
Sage Intacct
mid-rangeBest-in-class cloud fund accounting widely adopted by smaller colleges for its multi-entity consolidation, grant tracking, and real-time financial reporting dashboards.
Best for: Small colleges seeking best-of-breed fund accounting that integrates with a separate SIS
NetSuite
mid-rangeCloud ERP increasingly used by smaller private colleges and community college foundations for financials, revenue recognition, and multi-subsidiary reporting.
Best for: Small private colleges and college foundations needing scalable cloud financials
Ellucian Colleague
mid-rangeEllucian's mid-market platform serves hundreds of community colleges with integrated SIS, financial aid, finance, and HR. Strong regulatory compliance and a large peer community.
Best for: Community colleges seeking a proven integrated platform with deep financial aid functionality
Best Colleges ERP for Enterprise
Recommended for companies with $250M+ revenue and complex multi-site operations.
Ellucian Banner
enterpriseThe most widely deployed higher education ERP in North America, Banner provides comprehensive SIS, financial aid, finance, and HR modules with decades of regulatory compliance investment and a large implementation partner ecosystem.
Best for: Mid-to-large community colleges and universities seeking a proven, comprehensive campus management platform
Oracle PeopleSoft Campus Solutions
enterpriseEnterprise-grade campus management platform combining PeopleSoft Financials, HCM, and Campus Solutions. Strong fit for larger institutions with complex research, auxiliary, and multi-campus operations.
Best for: Larger colleges and community college district systems with complex multi-campus and enterprise requirements
Workday Higher Education
enterpriseModern cloud platform offering unified HCM, Finance, and Student modules. Growing rapidly in higher education for institutions seeking to replace aging Banner or PeopleSoft environments.
Best for: Forward-looking colleges seeking a fully unified, modern cloud platform for finance, HR, and student management
SAP S/4HANA
enterpriseEnterprise ERP adopted by large college district systems and state community college systems requiring sophisticated procurement, asset management, and financial analytics alongside campus operations.
Best for: Large multi-college district systems with complex enterprise ERP requirements beyond campus management
Essential ERP Capabilities for Colleges
Title IV financial aid administration including Pell Grant, Direct Loan, and campus-based aid packaging, verification, and disbursement
Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) monitoring and automated financial aid suspension/reinstatement workflows
Integrated student information and course registration with section management, waitlisting, and prerequisite enforcement
Dual enrollment and concurrent enrollment program management for high school students
Workforce development and continuing education program administration on non-standard academic terms
GASB-compliant fund accounting with multi-fund financial statements and auxiliary enterprise accounting
Federal and state financial aid reporting including NSLDS enrollment reporting and IPEDS data submission
Regional and programmatic accreditation data collection and outcome reporting
Student early-alert and retention analytics integrated with advising workflows
Transfer credit evaluation and articulation agreement management
Colleges ERP Cost Ranges
SMB
$40,000–$150,000
10–30 admin staff, under 3,000 students
Implementation: $50,000–$200,000
Mid-Market
$150,000–$600,000
30–100 admin staff, 3,000–15,000 students
Implementation: $200,000–1,000,000
Enterprise
$600,000–2,500,000+
100+ admin staff, 15,000+ students across multiple campuses
Implementation: $1,000,000–5,000,000+
Implementation Considerations
Financial aid module implementation is the highest-complexity workstream; plan for a dedicated financial aid functional team and parallel processing of aid packages through at least one full award year before cutover
NSLDS enrollment reporting and COD (Common Origination and Disbursement) integration require Federal Student Aid system credentials and testing in the federal sandbox environment well before go-live
Data migration of historical student records, transfer credit evaluations, and financial aid award history from legacy systems requires extensive data mapping and institutional data stewardship
Academic calendar configuration — including term dates, add/drop deadlines, grading periods, and census dates — must be precisely defined before the system is used for course registration
Ongoing state and federal regulatory changes to financial aid rules (e.g., FAFSA Simplification Act) require a vendor with a demonstrated track record of rapid regulatory updates and clear contractual commitments to compliance currency
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most widely used ERP system at community colleges?
Ellucian Banner and Ellucian Colleague together account for the majority of community college ERP deployments in North America. Banner is more common at larger institutions with dedicated IT staff, while Colleague is favored at smaller colleges seeking a more integrated out-of-the-box experience. Jenzabar is a strong third-place option, particularly at liberal arts colleges and smaller community colleges.
How do colleges manage Title IV financial aid compliance in their ERP?
Title IV compliance requires the ERP to support COD (Common Origination and Disbursement) integration for originating and disbursing Direct Loans and Pell Grants, NSLDS enrollment reporting to verify student eligibility, SAP monitoring to identify students who fall below academic progress standards, and R2T4 (Return of Title IV Funds) calculations for withdrawn students. Leading education ERP platforms automate most of these workflows and maintain audit trails required by federal program review.
What is IPEDS and how does ERP software support IPEDS reporting?
The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) is the U.S. Department of Education's primary data collection program for postsecondary institutions. Institutions receiving Title IV funds must complete annual IPEDS surveys covering enrollment, completions, finance, human resources, and student financial aid. Leading higher education ERP platforms include pre-built IPEDS report templates and data validation tools that pull from the live student, finance, and HR databases to populate survey submissions.
Can a college run separate SIS and finance systems?
Yes, and many colleges do. A best-of-breed approach — for example, Ellucian Banner for the SIS paired with Sage Intacct or NetSuite for finance — can deliver stronger functionality in each domain than a single integrated platform. The trade-off is integration complexity and cost: financial aid disbursements, accounts receivable from student billing, and payroll all require reliable data flows between the two systems. Institutions choosing this path should invest in a well-designed integration layer and clear data governance policies.
What ERP features are most important for workforce development programs?
Workforce development programs often run on compressed, non-standard academic terms with different tuition rates, payment structures, and reporting requirements than credit-bearing courses. Key ERP capabilities include flexible term and section configuration, non-credit enrollment management, employer billing and corporate accounts receivable, industry certification tracking, and Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) grant compliance reporting.
How does Workday Higher Education compare to Ellucian Banner?
Workday Higher Education offers a modern, unified cloud architecture, a consumer-grade user experience, and strong HCM and analytics capabilities. It is best suited for institutions willing to invest in a multi-year transformation program and accept a more standardized functional footprint. Ellucian Banner has a much larger installed base, a mature implementation partner ecosystem, and deeper compliance coverage for U.S. financial aid regulations — but runs on older technology and requires significant IT expertise to operate and customize. Workday is gaining market share as institutions seek to modernize legacy Banner environments.
What is Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) and how is it managed in ERP?
Satisfactory Academic Progress is the federal standard by which colleges measure whether students are maintaining adequate grade point averages and completing courses at a sufficient rate to remain eligible for Title IV financial aid. ERP systems automate SAP evaluation by calculating qualitative (GPA) and quantitative (completion rate, maximum timeframe) measures at the end of each payment period, generating exception reports for students below the threshold, and managing the financial aid warning, suspension, and appeal workflow.
What should colleges look for in an ERP vendor's accreditation reporting support?
Colleges should confirm that the vendor provides pre-built report templates for their specific regional accreditor (HLC, SACSCOC, MSCHE, etc.) and any programmatic accreditors relevant to their program mix. The system should support IPEDS submission, cohort default rate monitoring, gainful employment reporting, and outcome tracking needed for program review. Vendors should also demonstrate a process for updating reports when accreditor data element requirements change, with clear contractual commitments to maintaining regulatory currency.
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