The 7 Best Student Information Systems for Universities: Workday Student, Oracle Student, PeopleSoft, Ellucian Banner and Other Official Higher Education Platforms

If you run a business school or a specialist institution, start with Full Fabric: it keeps your CRM, admissions and student records on one data model, so nobody has to reconcile three systems. If you're a large university already on Workday HCM, look hard at Workday Student, and if US student aid shapes your operations, put Ellucian on your shortlist.

The rest of the list covers the official enterprise platforms, including Oracle Student and its older sibling PeopleSoft Campus Solutions, plus systems built for narrower audiences. Each is placed by fit for a particular kind of institution, not by size, so read each "best for" label before comparing positions.

Quick picks

• Full Fabric: business schools and specialist institutions wanting CRM and SIS together
• Workday Student: universities already running Workday HCM and Financials
• Tribal SITS: UK universities managing HESA, OfS and SLC returns
• Ellucian: North American colleges that depend on student aid processing

What Is a Student Information System?

A student information system, or SIS, is the official record of each student's academic life at your institution. It holds who is enrolled, which courses they take, the grades they earn and what they owe, and it produces the transcripts and certificates they leave with. Registry, academic and finance teams all work from it.

Most universities also rely on the SIS for statutory reporting. In the UK that means returns such as HESA; in the US, federal financial aid rules shape much of what the system has to track. That's why regional fit matters so much: a platform designed around one country's rules can leave you building workarounds in another.

Some vendors bundle the SIS with HR and finance in a full ERP, as Workday, Oracle and Ellucian do. Others pair it with recruitment and admissions, so the student record begins at first enquiry instead of at enrolment. Before you compare products, decide which of those two directions your institution actually needs.

Ranked by Record Scope, Reporting and Stack Fit

1. Full Fabric: Best Cloud-Native CRM and SIS for Business Schools

Your admissions team evaluates applicants, your registry builds transcripts and your marketing team nurtures leads, usually in separate tools. Full Fabric puts all three on one cloud platform with one shared data model, covering CRM, admissions, applications and payments, and the SIS. An applicant's interview notes, deposit and payment plan, and later their grades and diploma, stay on the same record from first click through to alumni engagement.

You also don't have to replace everything at once. The platform fee is €12,000 per year and identical for every institution, and you pay for applications, admissions and the student record according to how much you use them. Connectors for HubSpot, Salesforce and Microsoft Dynamics, plus UCAS, let you keep the systems you've already invested in while you move over.

Pros

• One record from first enquiry through grades, transcripts and alumni
• Published platform fee, with the SIS billed per registered student
• ISO/IEC 27001:2022 certified and GDPR compliant
• Handles UK HESA returns

Cons

• You'll need separate finance and HR systems
• US financial aid and IPEDS reporting aren't listed

2. Workday Student: Best for Institutions Already on Workday HCM

If your HR and finance already run on Workday, Student is the natural extension. The University of Arkansas System, for example, has 14 institutions on Workday HCM, Finance and Student, and Australian users include Deakin and Macquarie University. Shared data means analytics can span student, finance and people records.

Students get mobile-first self-service and personalised notifications, while advisors get AI-powered academic planning and at-risk insights. Workday Extend lets your team build custom apps on the same platform.

Pros

• Same platform as Workday's HR, finance and planning apps
• Advising tools that flag students at risk
• Named adopters across Australia and North America

Cons

• No published pricing
• HESA and IPEDS aren't mentioned on its overview pages, and Workday warns that roadmap features aren't guaranteed

3. Thesis SM: Best for Small and Mid-Sized UK and Canadian Institutions

Thesis SM is the system formerly sold as Unit4 Student Management, and it's aimed at institutions that don't want an enterprise suite. Its UK G-Cloud listing cites clients ranging from 1,000 to almost 40,000 students. For UK teams it covers HESA and HESES, ILR, UniStats, and UKVI and CAS requirements, along with GDPR.

You get modules for academics, admissions, billing, communications, financial aid and student life, plus custom workflows built on your own business logic. Open APIs cover create, read, update and delete operations on almost all entities.

Pros

• UK statutory coverage without enterprise-suite complexity
• Open APIs and full CSV data export
• T2202 tax forms for Canadian institutions

Cons

• Implementation still takes 12 to 24 months
• US institutions need a separate product, Thesis Elements

4. Oracle Student and PeopleSoft Campus Solutions: Best for Oracle ERP Customers

Oracle gives you two routes. The cloud route is Oracle Student, which pairs Student Management with a separate financial aid module, Student Financial Planning. The other is PeopleSoft Campus Solutions 9.2, Oracle's older SIS, which you can still run in your own data centre or have hosted, with a documented path to the cloud when you're ready.

Oracle Student stands out for continuing education. You can bill continuing education students when they enrol, sell learning packages, manage sponsorship agreements and invoice employers directly, which makes it a sensible fit if you run degree programmes and short courses side by side.

Pros

• Sits alongside Oracle Cloud ERP and HCM
• Built-in billing for continuing education
• Handles consortia and joint degrees across institutions

Cons

• US-focused language, including FERPA references
• No published pricing

5. Jenzabar One: Best for US Private Colleges

Jenzabar names nontraditional students as a focus, and the product reflects it: flexible and recurring payment plans in Jenzabar Finance, omnichannel messaging through Jenzabar Communications, and support for online learning. SIS, financial aid, finance and HCM share a single system of record, built only for higher education.

IDC named Jenzabar a Leader in the IDC MarketScape: North America Higher Education SaaS and Cloud Enabled SIS 2024. For a small or mid-sized US private college, getting ERP and SIS in one cloud product is the main draw.

Pros

• SIS, financial aid, finance and HCM together
• Clear focus on nontraditional learners
• Cloud deployment

Cons

• US-focused, with no UK or European statutory reporting mentioned
• No published pricing

6. Ellucian: Best for North American Colleges Needing Student Aid

You'll meet Ellucian in almost any North American shortlist. Its student aid processing and AI scholarship matching (the company claims more than 17,000 scholarships) make it a strong option if federal aid drives your workload. Banner, Colleague and now Anthology Student sit under the Ellucian Student brand, with Ellucian HCM and Finance on the same platform.

Gartner has placed Ellucian among the Leaders in its higher education SaaS SIS Magic Quadrant two years in a row, and the company reports about 3,000 customers in 50 countries.

Pros

• Deep student aid and degree planning tools
• SIS, HCM and finance from one higher education vendor
• Ethos-based REST APIs

Cons

• Three overlapping SIS lines with no published convergence plan
• No published pricing

7. Tribal SITS: Best for UK Statutory Returns

If you're a UK university, Tribal SITS speaks your regulatory language. Statutory returns cover HESA, OfS, SLC and Graduate Outcomes, and degree apprenticeships are handled from ILR submission through to placements. Tribal says SITS is trusted by over 60% of UK universities.

Beyond compliance, you get Clearing on the Web, extenuating circumstances management and an Award Predictor for students.

Pros

• Broad UK statutory coverage
• Clearing and widening participation tools
• Global payments in students' own currencies

Cons

• Built for the UK market
• Independent providers get a separate product, EBS

How They Compare

Platform	Best for	Published pricing	Statutory reporting named	Runs alongside
Full Fabric	Business schools and specialist institutions	€12,000 per year platform fee, modules on usage	HESA	Salesforce, Dynamics and HubSpot connectors
Workday Student	Workday HCM customers	Not listed	Not listed	Workday HCM and Financial Management
Thesis SM	Small and mid-sized UK and Canadian institutions	Not listed	HESA, HESES, ILR, UniStats, UKVI	Open APIs
Oracle Student and PeopleSoft	Oracle ERP customers	Not listed	Not listed (FERPA referenced)	Oracle Cloud ERP and HCM
Jenzabar One	US private colleges	Not listed	Not listed	Jenzabar Finance and HCM
Ellucian	North American colleges	Not listed	Not listed	Ellucian HCM and Finance
Tribal SITS	UK universities	Not listed	HESA, OfS, SLC, Graduate Outcomes	Not listed

How to Pick the Right Platform for Your Institution

Start with what else you're replacing. If your HR and finance systems are due for renewal too, an ERP-led vendor such as Workday, Oracle or Ellucian can cover all three. If your pain sits in recruitment and admissions, you'll get more from a platform that joins those processes to the student record.

Next, check your regulatory region. UK institutions should confirm HESA support at the very least; US institutions need financial aid handling. Several platforms here are built for one market, and that single fact can remove half your shortlist.

Then be realistic about size and timelines. A university system and a single business school have very different needs, and some implementations run 12 months or longer.

Finally, ask every vendor for pricing early. Most don't publish it, and implementation fees can change the picture.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between Oracle Student and PeopleSoft Campus Solutions?

Oracle Student is the cloud product, combining student management with financial aid planning. PeopleSoft Campus Solutions 9.2 is the earlier system, run locally or by a hosting provider. If you're planning a cloud move, Oracle documents a route from PeopleSoft to Oracle Student.

Can one platform handle both admissions and student records?

Yes. Full Fabric runs CRM, admissions, payments and the SIS on a single data model, so applicant data carries straight into the student record. Ellucian Student and Tribal SITS also include admissions tools alongside their student records.

Which student information systems support HESA reporting?

Tribal SITS, Thesis SM and Full Fabric all list HESA reporting. Tribal SITS adds OfS, SLC and Graduate Outcomes returns, while Thesis SM also covers HESES, ILR and UKVI requirements.

Which Platform Should You Choose?

Choose Full Fabric if you're a business school or specialist institution that wants recruitment, admissions and student records on one record.

Choose Workday Student if your HR and finance already run on Workday.

Choose Tribal SITS if UK statutory returns are your heaviest workload.

Choose Ellucian if you're a North American college where student aid drives day-to-day operations.

Choose Thesis SM if you're a smaller UK or Canadian institution that wants statutory coverage without an enterprise suite.