# What Claude (Anthropic) with web search answered for student information systems (colleges) on 2026-09-23

## In short

On 2026-09-23, Claude (Anthropic) with web search was asked "best student information systems for colleges". It named 16 brands; the first six, in order, were Ellucian, Anthology, Ellucian Banner, Workday, Jenzabar and Oracle.

| Fact | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Question | best student information systems for colleges |
| Asked on | 2026-09-23 |
| Engine | Claude (Anthropic) with web search |
| Model | claude-opus-5 |
| Brands named | 16 |
| Sources cited | 12 |
| Audience | colleges |
| Coverage | Coverage: Claude (Anthropic) with web search. Other engines not included. |
| Last verified | 2026-09-23 |

Page: https://bikoosh.com/answers/s/student-information-systems-colleges-2026-09-23
Coverage: Claude (Anthropic) with web search. Other engines not included.

## The answer, as recorded

Asked on 2026-09-23 through Claude (Anthropic) with web search (model claude-opus-5).

> Here's how I'd actually rank these, with the caveat that SIS choice tracks institution size and type more than anything else. One big piece of 2026 context first: Ellucian closed its acquisition of Anthology's SIS/ERP business on Dec 31, 2025, absorbing 260+ customers after Anthology's Chapter 11 - so the market is now more consolidated around Ellucian than it was a year ago.
> 
> **Large publics and complex multi-campus systems**
> 
> 1. **Ellucian Banner** - the default answer at scale. ~24% of the North American higher-ed SIS market and 1,400+ institutions, so the talent pool, integration ecosystem, and consultant bench are deeper than anything else. Banner SaaS is the current path; the tradeoff is you're buying a decades-old data model.
> 2. **Workday Student** - the credible modern challenger, and the one I'd shortlist against Banner if you're already on Workday HCM/Financials, since the single-tenant-suite story is its real advantage. Only ~3% share, but it's growing by taking Banner/Colleague/PeopleSoft/Jenzabar customers. Dallas College runs it at ~130,000 students, so scale is proven. It's a premium price point and implementations run long (Xavier's is staged through 2026 into 2027)

## Brands named, in the order the engine gave

| Position | Brand | How it was named |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ellucian | mentioned |
| 2 | Anthology | mentioned |
| 3 | Ellucian Banner | mentioned |
| 4 | Workday | mentioned |
| 5 | Jenzabar | mentioned |
| 6 | Oracle | mentioned |
| 7 | Mid-size | mentioned |
| 8 | Ellucian Colleague | mentioned |
| 9 | Jenzabar One | mentioned |
| 10 | Small | mentioned |
| 11 | Populi | mentioned |
| 12 | Thesis Elements | mentioned |
| 13 | Classe365 | mentioned |
| 14 | PowerSchool | mentioned |
| 15 | Infinite Campus | mentioned |
| 16 | Skyward | mentioned |

## Sources the engine cited

- https://listedtech.com/blog/north-american-sis-highered-market-share-january-2025-update/ (other)
- https://campustechnology.com/articles/2026/01/05/ellucian-officially-acquires-anthologys-sis-and-erp-business.aspx (other)
- https://www.ellucian.com/newsroom/ellucian-completes-acquisition-anthologys-sis-and-erp-business (vendor)
- https://www.workday.com/en-us/products/student/overview.html (other)
- https://www.gartner.com/reviews/product/workday-student (review)
- https://www.xavier.edu/workday/student-implementation (reference)
- https://higheredintel.substack.com/p/workdays-higher-ed-push-meets-the (community)
- https://www.oracle.com/a/ocom/docs/applications/erp/campus-solution-blueprint-for-journey-to-the-cloud.pdf (vendor)
- https://www.jenzabar.com/solution/student-information-systems (vendor)
- https://www.infotech.com/software-reviews/categories/higher-education-student-information/compare/oracle-student-cloud-sis-vs-populi (other)
- https://www.fullfabric.com/articles/top-student-information-systems-2026 (other)
- https://www.gartner.com/reviews/market/higher-education-student-information-system-software-as-a-service (review)

The question page: https://bikoosh.com/answers/q/student-information-systems/colleges

Answer Watch records what one AI answer engine said on one date, nothing more. Each page names the engine and the model, carries the date the question was asked, and lists the brands that appeared in the answer in the order the engine gave them, with the sources it cited. It is a measurement, not a ranking, not a recommendation and not a claim about the world. Brands that did not appear in an answer are not named on any public page. Coverage: Claude (Anthropic) with web search. Other engines not included.