{"question": "best student information systems for colleges", "category": "student-information-systems", "category_name": "student information systems", "audience": "colleges", "audience_name": "colleges", "engine": "Claude (Anthropic) with web search", "model": "claude-opus-5", "asked_at": "2026-10-19T21:58:35Z", "permalink": "https://bikoosh.com/answers/s/student-information-systems-colleges-2026-10-19", "question_page": "https://bikoosh.com/answers/q/student-information-systems/colleges", "brands_named": [{"position": 1, "brand": "Fedena", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 2, "brand": "Infinite Campus", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 3, "brand": "Alma", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 4, "brand": "K-12", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 5, "brand": "Workday", "label": "recommended"}, {"position": 6, "brand": "Workday Student", "label": "recommended"}, {"position": 7, "brand": "Ellucian", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 8, "brand": "Ellucian Banner", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 9, "brand": "Banner", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 10, "brand": "Ellucian Colleague", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 11, "brand": "Colleague", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 12, "brand": "Populi", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 13, "brand": "Jenzabar One", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 14, "brand": "Oracle", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 15, "brand": "Oracle PeopleSoft Campus Solutions", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 16, "brand": "Anthology", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 17, "brand": "Anthology Student", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 18, "brand": "Tribal SITS", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 19, "brand": "Classter", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 20, "brand": "UK", "label": "mentioned"}], "sources_cited": [{"url": "https://listedtech.com/blog/north-american-sis-highered-market-share-january-2025-update/", "domain": "listedtech.com", "source_type": "other"}, {"url": "https://campustechnology.com/articles/2026/01/05/ellucian-officially-acquires-anthologys-sis-and-erp-business.aspx", "domain": "campustechnology.com", "source_type": "other"}, {"url": "https://erp.today/ellucian-completes-anthology-sis-and-erp-acquisition-adding-260-higher-education-customers/", "domain": "erp.today", "source_type": "other"}, {"url": "https://itbrief.com.au/story/workday-expands-anz-student-systems-push-after-gartner-nod", "domain": "itbrief.com.au", "source_type": "other"}, {"url": "https://miamioh.edu/workday-info/news-events/2025/08/town-hall-1-review.html", "domain": "miamioh.edu", "source_type": "reference"}, {"url": "https://listedtech.com/blog/which-products-is-workday-student-replacing/", "domain": "listedtech.com", "source_type": "other"}, {"url": "https://www.g2.com/products/jenzabar-sonis", "domain": "g2.com", "source_type": "review"}, {"url": "https://www.softwareadvice.com/student-information-system/", "domain": "softwareadvice.com", "source_type": "review"}], "answer_text": "Searched - worth flagging one thing up front: the generic \"best SIS 2026\" listicles rank **openSIS, Fedena, Infinite Campus, Alma**. Those are K-12/private-school products. They don't handle credit hours, degree audit, Title IV financial aid, or IPEDS reporting, so ignore them for a college. The real higher-ed SIS market is about eight vendors.\n\n## What I'd actually name, in order\n\n**1. Workday Student** - my default recommendation for any institution making a net-new choice today. Named a Leader in the 2026 Gartner MQ for higher-ed SIS (second year running), with 200+ institutions on the journey, and it's the only product consistently *taking* share from everyone else. The real argument: if you already run Workday HCM or Financials, the student module shares one data model, which eliminates the integration layer that eats most SIS budgets. Caveat - implementations run 3-5 years and are expensive; Miami University started in 2024 and finishes Fall 2026.\n\n**2. Ellucian Banner** - the incumbent leader at ~24% share, and the safest pick for large, complex publics with heavy state and federal reporting. Deepest functional coverage, largest consultant and hiring pool, and most peer inst", "answer_truncated": true, "measurement": "One answer from one engine on one date. Not a ranking and not a claim about the world; brands the engine did not name are not recorded.", "limitation": "Coverage: Claude (Anthropic) with web search. Other engines not included.", "alerts": {"name": "Answer Watch Pro", "price_usd": 79, "period": "month", "gets": "daily change alerts for up to 5 brands in what one AI answer engine says, history, CSV export. Coverage: Claude (Anthropic) with web search. Other engines not included", "url": "https://bikoosh.com/answers"}}