Best Higher Education Student Information Systems (SIS): Ellucian, Jenzabar, PeopleSoft, Workday Alternatives (2026)

The short answer

The best higher education student information system depends on your size and what you already run:

• Large universities already on Oracle or Workday HR and finance: Oracle PeopleSoft Campus Solutions or Workday Student keep student, HR and finance data with one vendor.
• Large and mid-sized US institutions wanting a higher-ed specialist: Ellucian (Banner and Colleague, now sold as Ellucian Student) or Jenzabar One.
• Small US colleges wanting simple, published pricing: Populi.
• Private colleges, polytechnics and mid-sized universities, especially outside North America, that want the SIS, LMS, admissions CRM and fees in one cloud platform with published starting prices: Classe365.

Classe365 publishes this guide, so we have marked where each competitor is the better fit. Every competitor fact links to that vendor's own public page. Ask each vendor to confirm anything that matters to your decision.

Higher ed SIS comparison table (2026)

Sources: classe365.com/pricing; ellucian.com/products/student; docs.oracle.com (Campus Solutions overview); workday.com/en-us/products/student/overview.html; jenzabar.com/jenzabar-one; populiweb.com/pricing. Checked November 2026.

SIS vs higher education ERP: what is the difference?

A student information system (SIS) is the system of record for students: applications and admissions, enrolment, courses and timetables, attendance, grades, transcripts and graduation.

A higher education ERP adds the institution's back office around that record: finance, billing and receivables, and often HR and payroll. Enterprise vendors usually sell the SIS and ERP as separate products from one family. Ellucian, Oracle and Workday all work this way.

Most buyers searching for "education ERP" or "ERP for higher education" want one thing: one student record shared by admissions, academics and finance, so data is not re-keyed between systems. You can get that in two ways:

1. An enterprise suite (Workday, Oracle, Ellucian, Jenzabar). It goes deep, covers HR and payroll, and needs a bigger implementation project and IT team.
2. A unified education platform (Classe365, Populi). The SIS, LMS, admissions CRM and fees share one record, with faster set-up. For HR and payroll you integrate with your existing tools.

The best higher education student information systems

1. Classe365: best for one connected platform at a mid-market price

Classe365 started in 2013 as a cloud-born student information system. Today it is one platform covering the SIS, LMS, admissions CRM, fees and invoicing, finance and accounting, degree audit and alumni. It is used by 6,500+ institutions in 130+ countries, across universities, colleges, polytechnics, K-12 schools and academies. Classe365 is bootstrapped and profitable. It is rated 4.8 on Capterra (169 reviews) and 4.3 on G2 (26 reviews), as of 15 November 2026.

Best for: - Private colleges and polytechnics with roughly 1,000 to 7,000 students. Polytechnics Mauritius (6,766 students) and International Hotel School (3,081) both run on Classe365. - Institutions without a large IT team that want one cloud system rather than several products. - Institutions that want the LMS and admissions CRM on the same student record as the SIS.

What stands out: - Published pricing. Core is priced by active students: $100/month for 1–100, $250 for 101–250, $500 for 251–500, $750 for 501–750 and $1,000 for 751–1,000. Each add-on module is $75/month. Annual billing saves 10%. You get unlimited teachers, parents and staff, and there is no set-up fee. - Free trial. A 15-day trial with no credit card. Self onboarding is included; done-for-you Enterprise onboarding starts at $5,000. - Higher-ed modules (add-ons, $75/month each). Degree audit with what-if analysis, credit and GPA tracking, Recognition of Prior Learning and automated transcripts. Also admissions CRM, the education agent module and alumni. - Integrations. Google Workspace, Microsoft 365 and Teams, Moodle, Canvas LMS, Stripe, PayPal, QuickBooks Online, Zapier and an open REST API. - Enterprise Pro. For 1,000+ students: private cloud on AWS, Azure or Google Cloud, Power BI, and ERP integrations with Salesforce, SAP and Oracle Fusion. - Wide curriculum support. Classe365 supports British, American, IB and local curricula, in 100+ languages.

Consider another option if: - You are a US institution that needs built-in federal financial aid (Title IV) processing. This is not yet available in Classe365 (on the roadmap). - You are a very large or complex university that needs deep enterprise configuration plus HR and payroll from the same vendor.

Compare: Classe365 vs Ellucian · vs Oracle PeopleSoft Campus · vs Workday · vs Jenzabar

2. Ellucian (Banner and Colleague): best for large institutions that want a higher-ed specialist

Ellucian is a long-established higher education software provider. It is best known for Banner and Colleague, which it now markets as Ellucian Student, and it offers them as SaaS. Ellucian also sells separate products such as Ellucian CRM Recruit and Ellucian Experience.

Best for: large or complex universities with many faculties and heavy configuration needs. Also institutions with existing investments in Banner or Colleague.

Consider: pricing is not published. You will usually be running a multi-product estate, plus a separate LMS.

Source: https://www.ellucian.com/products/student · Compare: Classe365 vs Ellucian

3. Oracle PeopleSoft Campus Solutions: best for universities already running PeopleSoft

PeopleSoft Campus Solutions includes Campus Community, Recruiting and Admissions, Student Records, Academic Advisement, Financial Aid, Student Financials, Contributor Relations and Campus Self Service. Oracle says it supports PeopleSoft on a rolling 10-year basis. Institutions run it on-premises or on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, and Oracle also sells a separate SaaS product, Oracle Cloud Student.

Best for: large universities already running PeopleSoft HCM or Financials, with in-house PeopleSoft teams.

Consider: no LMS is listed among the Campus Solutions applications. Hosting, upgrades and configuration need specialist staff.

Sources: https://docs.oracle.com/en/applications/peoplesoft/campus-solutions/9.2.039/campus-solutions-application-fundamentals/campus-solutions-overview.html · https://www.oracle.com/us/products/applications/peoplesoft-enterprise/campus-solutions/ · Compare: Classe365 vs Oracle PeopleSoft Campus

4. Workday Student: best for universities standardised on Workday

Workday Student is a cloud SIS on the Workday platform. It connects student data with Workday finance and HR.

Best for: universities already running Workday HCM and Financials that want student, HR and finance data on one vendor's platform.

Consider: this is an enterprise implementation that needs a budget and a project team. Pricing is not published, and an LMS is not listed as part of Workday Student.

Source: https://www.workday.com/en-us/products/student/overview.html · Compare: Classe365 vs Workday

5. Jenzabar One: best for US colleges needing US-specific functionality

Jenzabar describes Jenzabar One as "an integrated cloud platform of ERP, SIS, and point solutions designed to power higher education". Jenzabar has a strong US presence.

Best for: US colleges that need built-in federal financial aid processing, and institutions already using Jenzabar products.

Consider: pricing is not published, and its focus is the US higher-ed market.

Source: https://www.jenzabar.com/jenzabar-one · Compare: Classe365 vs Jenzabar

6. Populi: best for small US colleges that want one simple price

Populi publishes its pricing: $199/month plus $9/month per billable student. Populi says the price includes implementation, data migration, training and updates, on a month-to-month contract. Its SIS covers recruiting, admissions, teaching, financial aid and accounts receivable.

Best for: small US colleges, seminaries and graduate schools.

Consider: Populi is built around US higher education. It does not cover K-12 or academies if you run those too.

Source: https://www.populiweb.com/pricing/

How to choose a higher education SIS: 6 questions to ask every vendor

1. What is the total five-year cost? Include licences, implementation, hosting, upgrades and internal staff time.
2. What is a realistic go-live date for an institution our size? Ask for a reference customer of similar size.
3. Are the LMS and admissions CRM included, or are they separate products or third parties?
4. How many internal IT staff do similar institutions dedicate to the system?
5. How are upgrades delivered, and do they break customisations?
6. How do we export all of our data if we leave?

Also check the requirements that apply where you operate. These include federal financial aid in the US, state or national reporting, data residency, and accreditation reports. Make the vendor show them working in a demo, not on a slide.

Moving off Banner, Colleague, PeopleSoft or Jenzabar

Most institutions replace a legacy SIS in stages:

• Map your data first: student records, programmes and course catalogues, grades and transcripts, fees and balances, documents.
• Decide what moves and what is archived. Many institutions move active and recent students, then archive older records in a searchable form.
• Run one term in parallel for registrars and finance before switching off the old system.
• Train by role: registrars, academic staff, finance and admissions each need different sessions.

Classe365 includes self onboarding on every plan, and offers done-for-you Enterprise onboarding from $5,000. With that, the team sets up your academic structure, imports your student, teacher and admin data, and runs role-based training.

FAQ

What is the best student information system for higher education? There is no single best SIS for every institution. Large universities already on Oracle, Workday or Ellucian usually stay with that vendor's student system. Small US colleges often pick Populi for its simple pricing. Private colleges, polytechnics and mid-sized universities that want the SIS, LMS, admissions CRM and fees in one cloud platform often choose Classe365.

What is the difference between a student information system and a higher education ERP? An SIS manages the student record: admissions, enrolment, courses, grades, transcripts and graduation. A higher education ERP adds institutional operations such as finance and billing, and often HR and payroll. Some platforms, including Classe365, combine the SIS with admissions CRM, LMS, fees and finance in one system.

Is Classe365 an ERP or an SIS? Both. Classe365 is a student information system at its core and works as an education ERP. It combines student information, admissions CRM, learning management, fees, and finance and accounting on one student record.

How much does a higher education SIS cost? Enterprise vendors such as Ellucian, Oracle, Workday and Jenzabar do not publish prices. Populi publishes $199/month plus $9/month per billable student. Classe365 publishes Core pricing from $100/month for up to 100 active students, plus $75/month per module, with institutions over 1,000 students quoted.

Can a mid-sized university replace Ellucian Banner or Colleague with Classe365? Often, yes. This is especially true for private colleges and polytechnics of roughly 1,000 to 7,000 students that want one cloud platform and a faster rollout. Universities that depend on deep enterprise configuration, or on built-in US federal financial aid (Title IV) processing, which is not yet available in Classe365 (on the roadmap), may be better served by staying with an enterprise suite.

Which higher education SIS includes an LMS? Classe365 includes an LMS as a module on the same student record. Populi includes course delivery tools. Ellucian, Oracle PeopleSoft Campus Solutions and Workday Student usually integrate with a third-party LMS.

Is there a free trial of a higher education SIS? Classe365 offers a 15-day free trial with full access to all modules and no credit card. Enterprise vendors typically offer demos instead of self-serve trials.

See Classe365 for your institution

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