# Ellucian Reviews 2026. Verified Reviews, Pros & Cons | Capterra > Is Ellucian the right Higher Education solution for you? Explore 84 verified user reviews from people in industries like yours to make a confident choice. Source: https://www.capterra.com/p/135932/Ellucian/reviews --- Ellucian 3.6 (84) [View alternatives](https://www.capterra.com/p/135932/Ellucian/alternatives/) Provider data verified by our Software Research team, and reviews moderated by our Reviews Verification team. [Learn more](https://www.capterra.com/our-story/) * * * Last updated March 13th, 2026 # Reviews of Ellucian Ease of use 3.2 Customer Service 3.5 ## Pros and Cons in Reviews RL Richard L Senior DeveloperEducation Management, 10,001+ employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “The learning curve was not too steep.“ June 23, 2025 JW Justin W Chief Information OfficerHigher Education, 201 - 500 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “The implementation and particularly the "train the trainer" model which just doesn't fit our instituton given our small size and limited resources.“ April 15, 2025 SH Sheenah H Exec DirectorEducation Management, 501 - 1,000 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “Recruit has some great reports, integrates with both Eventbrite and Salesforce and can really streamline enrollment processes fo4 a school.“ August 28, 2022 EK Elizabeth K ProfessorHigher Education, 1,001 - 5,000 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “This is not an intuitive system, especially to users making a transition from the company's older product which was not visually or logically similar at all. “ November 3, 2022 AM Andrew M Associate DirectorEducation Management, 501 - 1,000 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “Part of this could be all of the changes the Department of Education has implemented over the past couple of years and in that regard Ellucian is doing a good job of adapting.“ September 7, 2023 EK Elizabeth K ProfessorHigher Education, 1,001 - 5,000 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “Support materials are not adequate on the web site, unless you are a (paying) implementation team member. “ November 3, 2022 AM Andrew M Associate DirectorEducation Management, 501 - 1,000 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “When the financial aid module is working it does a pretty good job of what we need it to.“ September 7, 2023 SH Sheenah H Exec DirectorEducation Management, 501 - 1,000 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “Implementation is painful, at best.“ August 28, 2022 ## Showing most helpful reviews Showing 1-25 of 84 Reviews Sort by: Most Helpful Rating Company Size Reviewer's Role Length of Use Frequency of Use Neisha P. Marketing Administrative Assistant Higher Education Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Ellucian for Community College " November 14, 2018 4.0 In the beginning I had to constantly keep my list of instructions handy if I wanted to enter a requisition for a purchase order, now its easy because I've done so many. Practice makes perfect!!!! Pros I liked how you can add features, customize it for the needs of the institution. I work for a small college and we don't need all the extra features that the larger colleges might implement. Cons It can be a little difficult to navigate for the beginner. Unless the user knows what they want there is a chance of getting lost. Ive been using the software for about 4 years now and i sometimes get lost or have to search for specific information. There is no menu with a list of options. So I guess what I'm saying is that it would be nice if it was more user friendly, easier to navigate. Review Source JW Justin W. Chief Information Officer Higher Education Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Game Changer for our Institution" April 15, 2025 4.0 Overall, it's been pleasant. There have been some hiccups, but nothing so severe that we have come to regret the decision/investment. Pros It's a great tool and one that has revolutionized our experieince as an institution - moving from antiquated methods to operating at light speed. Cons The implementation and particularly the "train the trainer" model which just doesn't fit our instituton given our small size and limited resources. Alternatives considered [Ellucian Student](https://www.capterra.com/p/171158/Banner-Finance/) Reason for choosing Ellucian Colleague was a better fit for our needs and institution size. Review Source CL Cassaundra L. Assistant Registrar Higher Education Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Literally the Worst" February 6, 2019 1.0 On top of clunky, unreliable system is a virtually non-existent customer service/support team. You can post/reference questions to/by other users, but other than that you basically just get the 900 page technical manual and have to figure it out yourself. If you have a home-grown system and are considering making the switch to Ellucian--don't! Just wait a couple years for another company, like Workday, to develop a SIS that makes sense. Ellucian is a dinosaur. Pros When Ellucian's products were first released--decades ago--they were cutting edge. Banner, their SIS (Student Information System) quickly became the industry standard for enterprise databases on college campuses which transformed the way higher education leaders use data to make informed decisions. Their products continue to be effective for large universities that have every module of Banner installed, i.e. have their entire campus from registrar to bursar to admissions running on an Ellucian solution. When used "out-of-the-box" it does its job, not easily or beautifully, but gets it done. Cons It's as if Ellucian (and their strongest competitor PeopleSoft) got comfortable once they dominated the market and just stopped trying to make the actual user experience better. They put on large, fancy conferences and have great branding, but using their systems is a NIGHTMARE. A different programmer designed every form/screen/section so they all function differently. Where two clicks should do, fourteen are required. The bugs far outweigh the features. Something breaks more often than it doesn't. It's awful, but they have us trapped because no one else can compete with them. Sometimes I think it would all be easier if we just used Excel to track student records! Since our school implemented Ellucian products 5 years ago, to the tune of millions of dollars, we've had to add 2 new positions in our office just to handle the tech components. And don't even get me started on what happens when you attempt to customize their products. Endless headaches. Review Source MV Mark V. CIO Higher Education Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Good product. . .maybe?" December 8, 2022 4.0 Neutral to negative. Massive additional costs during deployment, a tendency to confusion among the supposed "experts" around how basic pieces of the software worked, forced third party software changes that were unnecessary and expensive, and a quote that was clearly lowballed with the expectation that we'd end up paying on the back end for additional products that we didn't know were needed made this whole process less than good. Pros We liked the idea of a connected suite that worked with most of our existing software. Cons The consultants were very much at odds with each other and added confusion to the process. It also turns out that it didn't work with our existing software even when the vendors were listed as compatible on the Ellucian partner site. It also turns out that some of our 3rd party software would have worked, but we were told that it wouldn't. In the end the confusion and lack of understanding/ability from Ellucian consultants cost us tens of thousands of additional dollars during our deployment. Alternatives considered [Jenzabar One](https://www.capterra.com/p/132292/Jenzabar-ERP/) Reason for choosing Ellucian Price, but our costs ended up exceeding the cost of any of the alternative vendors. Switched from [Jenzabar One](https://www.capterra.com/p/132292/Jenzabar-ERP/) Jenzabar, as a software package, isn't useful to a growing college. It's expensive, restrictive, and the support was extremely poor. Review Source Timothy S. IT Project Manager Higher Education Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Very stable software used by best higher ed. institutes" June 19, 2018 5.0 Ellucian Banner has provided our students and staff with a single application that manages aspects of course registration, work, bills, payments, grades, academic status. Single sign on module was extremely helpful Pros It is a high-end software. Very stable. It integrates with the Microsoft LDAP. We have been using it for student and employee account management in term of course registration, tax forms, billing, salaries, student employment, grading, transcripts. It has very secure and solid database which is essential for the above mentioned matters. Cons Managing it requires training. It is not easy to administer. The price is very high compared to competing software in the higher education sector. Review Source Mark D. Director of Operations & Data Management Higher Education Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Ellucian SIS does what it is designed to do, store data in a standardized manner." July 15, 2018 3.0 Standardized data. Student lifecycle data storage. Central hub of data for all things related to the student, their experience, and relationships. Pros Easy to use and navigate. Validation tables prevent data from being entered incorrectly. Standardized data means consistent reporting outputs and expected values. Covers the entire lifecycle of the student journey so the Ellucian SIS is set up to be the storage space of all student data. Cons Difficult to customize and add fields to the SIS if business processes require it. Can feel overwhelming for new users to learn the system. Very limited ability for most functional users to create their own reports. Usually need to involve report writers with SQL report writing ability. Reporting on multiple areas of the student journey can be difficult when needing to see multiple screens and forms. Review Source Justin S. Director of Enrollment Systems and Data Higher Education Used the software for: 2+ years ### "A mess of a company and a patchwork of modules" February 14, 2019 2.0 Covers general SIS/ERP for a college but causes more frustrations than solutions Pros Ellucian Banner is comprehensive in that it can cover most of the core functions of a college/university. But that's about it. Cons Ellucian hasn't advanced the products in years. Every attempt for updates have been met with upgrade issues, compatibility problems, and user frustration. New products are rare and generally poor, whether they use COTS or homegrown applications. Review Source Lisa R. Student Services Technician Higher Education Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Ellucian User for 15+ years" August 30, 2019 4.0 Pros Since our college gained access to the web-based version of Ellucian (we call it Colleague at our school, too), it has been a lot easier to use. Cons I wish the help feature and other help documents were a little easier to follow. We used to have a gentleman who worked in Admissions & Records that would make PowerPoint presentations and quick guides to help out the Ellucian users. Review Source Jennifer R. Banner Business Systems Analyst Higher Education Used the software for: 2+ years ### "It's hard to be vanilla" April 25, 2018 4.0 We were in desperate need of an SIS and for the most part, it does serve our needs. Pros I like that we have a consortium we can share ideas and code with and have a single voice to Ellucian. Cons Banner INB is very clunky to use - even if you are good at using software in general. It is not a very intuitive product; however, the company is moving in the right direction. Review Source Caroline S. Reigstration Specialist II Higher Education Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Ellucian review" May 29, 2019 4.0 Pros It’s fairly easy to use but you do need some training on learning all the acronyms they use. Cons Every time they do an update to the product it seems to disrupt the flow of our production because every one is so thrown off the changes. Review Source RL Richard L. Senior Developer Education Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Old but modern tool." June 23, 2025 4.0 Ellcian has been in my working environment for the last 15 years. The learning curve was not too steep. Does a lot of t What we need. Pros The product has existed for alo g time and i.proved over time. It's very stable and has nost of the functionality we need. Cons The product has changed directions multiple times (frameworks) through the years, so many times we had to change our own direction to follow. Review Source Gil B. Registrar Higher Education Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Not a registrar’s best friend" December 5, 2018 3.0 Ten years ago I moved from a non-Banner school to a Banner school. The transition to Ellucian’s Banner was a disappointment after using my previous institution’s software. Pros Ellucian’s Banner Student has the basic student records functions included. It will force higher ed administrators to change their business processes to fit the software. Cons I did not like the tool set (queries, printing, data loads) that come with the product. Review Source Trisha M. FA Advisor Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Great software!!! Easy to use and always updating? " June 7, 2017 4.0 Pros Lots of stuff! Love the new self service!! The innovation of Ellucian is amazing!!! They are helpful !! Cons Sometimes the cost are high for new products and innovations, but I understand they allot of work is done on their behalf. Review Source NH Nadeem H. Project Lead Education Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Banner Human Resources Module" September 5, 2019 3.0 This product is for higher education institutions. Ellucian is behind many competitors in this space however, it has realized this and is making positive changes in the right places. Pros Customer service is very good. The vendor is always willing to listen and help where they can. In addition, there is a customer portal which allows the customer to communicate with one another on issues or ideas. Cons My dislike is the current roadmap is very slow to achieve goals. Often release dates will be pushed out and this causes much frustration within the business that has planned to upgrade certain services. Review Source SH Sheenah H. Exec Director Education Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Recruit Pros and Cons" August 28, 2022 3.0 Pros Recruit has some great reports, integrates with both Eventbrite and Salesforce and can really streamline enrollment processes fo4 a school. Cons Implementation is painful, at best. Customer support is difficult because no one seems to understand the product. Customizing for a community college is difficult, as well. Reason for choosing Ellucian Integration with other Ellucian products. Review Source RF Richard F. Director Education Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Needs to improve signficantly. " July 22, 2019 2.0 Pros It has a lot of great functions and features (when they work). Makes it easy to upload contacts into the CRM and it has a lot of customizable options. Cons It can very unreliable and dealing with support has been time consuming. The layout of the CRM is also unescarailly complex and is very difficult to learn for new users, it can costly to setup training of the CRM tool with our support team as well. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Admissions Assistant Higher Education Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Ellucian in higher ed" June 9, 2020 3.0 I love the product & love using it but wish there was more consistency in if it will work or not. Pros It is awesome to use for allowing students to track degree progress. It is simple for them to log on & see what is still needed. Cons There are a lot of bugs with this program. There is a high chance it is not working when you log on to use it. Review Source RB Rebecca B. Admin Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Great Software" November 27, 2018 5.0 Overall experience has been great, just a few things that can get confusing or hard to do, but other than that, it is very useful for what we use it for. We keep a lot of information and this software allows us to do that. Pros This software allows us a great way to keep track of giving history, event information, solicitations and personal information. Also allows us to pull simple and in depth reports. Cons Can be a little cumbersome sometimes when you want to dive deeper. Pulling in depth reports can be confusing with continued training. Review Source JH Jeneshia H. Service Desk Analyst Information Technology and Services Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Colleague by Ellucian (Student)" September 24, 2018 5.0 Pros As a Colleague Support and User, the number one thing I loke about this particular software was the ease of use. It flowed easy for both users and students. Cons As an Admin using this software, I found that the update process was very complex and time-consuming. Review Source ST Sarah T. Accounts Payable Specialist Higher Education Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Ellucian" April 5, 2019 5.0 Pros I like that you can see a lot of different types of information and don't necessarily need additional software to get the job done. Cons It can be difficult to navigate through the different windows until you are really well versed. Review Source KB Kenneth B. Database Administrator Education Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "The Colleague Self-Service offerings are causing excitement with our students." August 8, 2017 5.0 It is our school ERP. Pros The Colleague Self-Service Faculty view offers rosters, midterm and final grade entry. Our faculty are so impressed with this new functionality they would fight to keep from losing it. Cons Ellucian is difficult to get to respond to issues. I have been working with the Ellucian Cloud testing and it has taken months to accomplish what should have taken days. Review Source JK Jenny K. HR Assistant Higher Education Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Use HR module on daily basis" May 18, 2017 4.0 Pros the support for Ellucian is awesome. It took a while to learn how to use Colleague but once I learned my area, it was very useful. Cons it's not intuitive. I wish there was a training that new employees could go to in their area to learn about the Colleague product to help understand how the change I make affects others. Review Source RT Rik T. Server Manager Higher Education Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Ellucian Colleague" November 19, 2018 3.0 All Student Information and tracking, payments, HR, etc. Pros It did pull several systems together under one umbrella Cons Every time I turn around, they want more resources over and above the original specs Review Source MR Mayra R. Corporate & Foundation Relations Coordinator Education Management Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Great Program, has everything I need to get my job done. " July 19, 2017 5.0 Ability to store a lot of information Pros I like the search capability and ease to look up any entity. I also like the ability to have all the information on an entity in one place. Cons Sometimes there is a lot of duplicate information, I wish there was a way to minimize that or to catch it before some information gets entered twice. Review Source MW Mandy W. Senior Records Specialist Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Great for recruiting nor for admissions" April 9, 2018 4.0 Pros This is a great tool for recruiting. It can send out emails and invites to different events. It can keep track and store records, it has great potential. Cons We were promised that this tool would streamline the admissions process and make it so that our school would only need to have one application. This was a promise that this program could not and has not been able to keep. Review Source Similar Products Featured ## Send me user reviews about this product ### Fill out the form and we'll send a list of the top-rated software based on real user reviews directly to your inbox.