# Ellucian Student Software Pricing, Alternatives & More 2026 | Capterra

> With the help of Capterra, learn about Ellucian Student Software - reviews, pricing plans, popular comparisons to other Financial Management products and more.

Source: https://www.capterra.com/p/171158/Banner-Finance/pricing

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# 

 Ellucian Student Software Review 2026: Features, Integrations, Pros & Cons

Last updated on March 13, 2026

Provider data verified by our Software Research team, and reviews moderated by our Reviews Verification team.

[Description](#description)[Use cases](#use-cases)[Alternatives](#alternatives)[Features](#features)[Pricing](#pricing)[Support](#support)[Reviews](#reviews)

Ellucian Student

## What is Ellucian Student?

Built for higher education. Ellucian Banner Finance is a management ERP solution that enables higher education institutions to access and manage their financial information, automate all financial processes, monitor budget and grant-related activity. Financial Aid Module: Simplifies the financial aid process by providing students and staff with tools to manage applications, awards, and disbursements efficiently. This transparency helps students understand their financial standing and obligations. Finance Module: Offers comprehensive financial management tools, including budgeting, accounting, and procurement, enabling institutions to maintain fiscal responsibility and transparency.

## What is Ellucian Student used for?

[School Accounting](https://www.capterra.com/school-accounting-software/)[Financial Management](https://www.capterra.com/financial-management-software/)

Overall rating

Based on 39 user reviews

Reviews sentiment

Positive

59%

Neutral

33%

Negative

8%

Contact vendor  
for pricing

Free trial  
not available

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## Compare with a popular alternative

Capterra selects software alternatives based on relevant features, verified user reviews and user interactions. Placement may be influenced by client status.

### Ellucian Student

3.7 (39)

VS.

[4.1 (25)](https://www.capterra.com/p/252050/Blackbaud-Tuition-Management/reviews/)

Starting Price

Contact vendor

Starting Price

Contact vendor

Free Trial

Free Version

Pricing Options

Free Trial

Free Version

Ease Of Use

3.1 (39)

Ease Of Use

4.4 (165)

Value For Money

3.1 (22)

Value For Money

4.0 (153)

Customer Service

3.2 (25)

Customer Service

4.7 (159)

## Ellucian Student alternatives

[4.6 (200)](https://www.capterra.com/p/173831/Tuio/reviews/)

Starting price

Contact vendor for pricing

Highest Rated

[4.7 (69)](https://www.capterra.com/p/33869/PraxiSchool/reviews/)

Starting price

Contact vendor for pricing

[4.4 (3,269)](https://www.capterra.com/p/120109/Xero/reviews/)

Starting price

$25.00

Per User, Per Month

[4.3 (606)](https://www.capterra.com/p/76/Intacct/reviews/)

Starting price

Contact vendor for pricing

[View all alternatives](https://www.capterra.com/p/171158/Banner-Finance/alternatives/)

## Features

Features with the highest number of reviews are displayed first. Those that have no reviews appear next, sorted alphabetically.

Bank Reconciliation

3.3 (4)

100.00% of 4 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important

Compare and match accounting/financial records with corresponding bank statements

Billing & Invoicing

3.0 (4)

100.00% of 4 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important

Create, manage, and send invoices or bills to customers

Financial Analysis

3.3 (4)

100.00% of 4 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important

Evaluate units, projects, budgets, and other finance-related data to gauge their performance and potential risk

Fund Accounting

3.3 (4)

100.00% of 4 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important

Manage revenue acquired through grants, donations, and other sources (accountability vs. profitability)

General Ledger

3.0 (4)

125.00% of 4 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important

Centralized accounting record which tracks all financial transactions

Accounting

3.3 (3)

166.67% of 3 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important

Built-in accounting to manage ledger, accounts payable/receivable, financial reports, etc.

Ellucian Student 22 features

Built-in accounting to manage ledger, accounts payable/receivable, financial reports, etc.

Track money owed to a company's creditors/suppliers

Track outstanding invoices and the money owed from clients

Application programming interface that allows for integration with other systems/databases

Compare and match accounting/financial records with corresponding bank statements

Create, manage, and send invoices or bills to customers

Create budgets based on historical data and future projections

Combining loans, assets, liabilities, and other financial data from multiple subsidiary companies into one entity for reporting

Creation and customization of dashboards

Import and export data to and from software applications

Manage information and/or provide updates regarding student financial aid

Evaluate units, projects, budgets, and other finance-related data to gauge their performance and potential risk

Plan, manage, and track the financial activities of an individual or organization

Generate reports to assess the financial performance of an organization

Centralized database to track details of fixed assets such as depreciation and maintenance scheduling/history

Software designed for higher education organizations

Manage revenue acquired through grants, donations, and other sources (accountability vs. profitability)

Centralized accounting record which tracks all financial transactions

Monitor application statuses, proposals and award funds

Create, send, and track purchase orders and their statuses

Workflows that help acquire inventory, issue purchase orders and receive and store items in required quantity

Receive data and information in real time

Get Advice

We can help you find the software with the features you need.

Features

3.6 (39)

3.6

Based on 39 reviews

## Pricing

Value for money

3.1 (22)

### Starting price

Contact vendor  
for pricing

Free trial  
not available

Value for money

3.1 (22)

3.1

Based on 22 reviews

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## Support, customer service and training options

Customer Service

3.2 (25)

Support

-   Email/Help Desk
-   FAQs/Forum
-   Knowledge Base
-   Phone Support
-   24/7 (Live rep)
-   Chat

Training

-   In Person
-   Live Online
-   Webinars
-   Documentation
-   Videos

Deployment

-   Web
-   Android
-   iPhone/iPad

Typical users

-   Freelancers
-   Small businesses
-   Mid size businesses
-   Enterprises

Customer Service

3.2 (25)

3.2

Based on 25 reviews

## User reviews

Overall rating

3.7

Based on 39 reviews

Filter by rating

5(9)

4(14)

3(13)

2(1)

1(2)

Mentioned topic

Sorted by most recent

JK

Joseph K.

Instructional Designer

Education Management

### "Tries to do more than it can"

3.0

Overall Rating

3.0

3.0

Ease of Use

2.0

2.0

Features

3.0

3.0

Customer Service

1.0

1.0

Likelihood to Recommend

0/10

June 6, 2024

The people at Ellucian are professional and direct. Their systems are . . . neither. Their Course Catalog system lacks keyword searching - a problem they acknowledge but cannot solve. Their SIS will not provide real-time updates to our LMS - a problem they acknowledge but cannot solve, despite the existence of 3rd party solutions that do the job.

Pros

It brought together many disparate systems, saving a tremendous amount of time.

Cons

The company promises more than it can deliver, and attempts to integrate into multiple systems it should not.

Review source

Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication.

CC

Christian C.

Talent Acquisition Specialist

Outsourcing/Offshoring

### "The best platform to manage employees data."

5.0

Overall Rating

5.0

5.0

Ease of Use

5.0

5.0

Features

5.0

5.0

Customer Service

5.0

5.0

Likelihood to Recommend

10/10

February 19, 2024

Pros

This program provides a centralized database for storing all employee-related information, including personal details, employment history, benefits, payroll information, and performance evaluations. This centralized approach streamlines HR processes and ensures data consistency across the institution.

Cons

The initial investment and ongoing costs associated with Ellucian Banner, including licensing fees, implementation services, maintenance, and support, can be significant. The fact that they don't provide a free trial can play against the small businesses.

Switched from

[Asset Panda](https://www.capterra.com/p/142562/Asset-Panda/)

Review source

Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication.

TM

Tasneem M.

Associate professor

Higher Education

### "Best administrative software application to store data and manage users."

5.0

Overall Rating

5.0

5.0

Ease of Use

5.0

5.0

Features

5.0

5.0

Customer Service

0.0

0.0

Likelihood to Recommend

10/10

November 14, 2023

Pros

1\. User friendly. 2. Easy to execute and navigate the dashboard. 3. Excellent student database management system. 4. Grade entry made easy and customized as per the specifications. 5. Ellucian Banner faculty has features like students attendance tracking, class list approval, academic profile and detailed schedule making it easy to follow-up under one roof. 6. All data is secure.

Cons

1\. Report customization is difficult. 2. Restricted capabilities.

Review source

Incentivized review: software users are invited to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive for their time and effort. All incentivized reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication.

NC

Nicole C.

Degree Analyst

Education Management

### "Degree evaluation"

4.0

Overall Rating

4.0

4.0

Ease of Use

4.0

4.0

Features

4.0

4.0

Customer Service

3.0

3.0

Likelihood to Recommend

9/10

August 3, 2023

Pros

Students degree evaluation - really my comment is to short. lol... I like pretty much everything with Ellucian

Cons

Our help guide isn't up to date with the new verse so sometimes going to the guide to figure out what you did wrong and why something will not save/update is a pain. But, I can usually figure out what I did.

Reasons for choosing Ellucian Student

I don't know

Review source

Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication.

DK

Demetris K.

Senior Accountant

Higher Education

### "Banner Review"

3.0

Overall Rating

3.0

3.0

Ease of Use

2.0

2.0

Features

2.0

2.0

Customer Service

3.0

3.0

Likelihood to Recommend

5/10

July 26, 2023

Pros

I was not involved in that process or I guess I'm not sure what I like best. Well, the S.O.S. page is nice and it's easier to perform journal vouchers usinig S.O.S.

Cons

The fixed asset module is difficult to navigate and impute assets especially the accessories or parts that are less than $5K. There are too many steps involved to get these items capitalized and attached to the main asset.

Review source

Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication.

CE

Carl E.

Director of Enterprise Integrations

Education Management

### "Candid Review from a Prior Fan"

3.0

Overall Rating

3.0

3.0

Ease of Use

3.0

3.0

Features

4.0

4.0

Customer Service

1.0

1.0

Likelihood to Recommend

2/10

July 21, 2023

Pros

Ellucian Banner was a single solution for all our primary university functions. At the pricing secured in 2005, it remains an incredibly high value product in the growing list of software tools used by Utah State University.

Cons

Ellucian's technology maturity has been an incredibly bumpy road. There have been incredible wins like the Banner 9 Student Registration system. There has also been some major let downs such as the Higher Education Data Model and nearly incomprehensible Ethos API offering. The loss of Ellucian Customer Service Managers who were assigned to look out for and advocate on behalf of customers has perhaps been the biggest loss experienced by any software by any vendor. The rate at which Ellucian has changed their online community platform has been mind boggling and the loss of access to previous efforts by customers on each platform is huge. Ideas has finally been replaced, but most customers are already of the mindset that it's just another tool where great recommendations for product enhancements go to die.

Alternatives considered

[Salesforce Sales Cloud](https://www.capterra.com/p/61368/Salesforce/)

[ServiceNow](https://www.capterra.com/p/254088/ServiceNow/)

[Workday HCM](https://www.capterra.com/p/66908/Workday-HCM/)

Reasons for choosing Ellucian Student

Ellucian (then SunGard HE) was first to address the needs specific needs of higher education at the time. It is no longer the only player and incessant pushes by Ellucian to adopt their SaaS offering is the greatest motivator to seriously consider other players in the space with significantly better Cloud offerings at similar if not cheaper rates.

Review source

Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication.

AB

April B.

Purchasing Clerk

Education Management

### "My Review"

4.0

Overall Rating

4.0

4.0

Ease of Use

4.0

4.0

Features

4.0

4.0

Customer Service

0.0

0.0

Likelihood to Recommend

5/10

July 20, 2023

Pros

Ease of use once learning Shortcuts and ability to quickly obtain information.

Cons

Having to log in multiple times on a daily basis.

Review source

Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication.

AM

Andrew M.

Financial Aid

Education Management

### "Was a great product, not so much anymore."

2.0

Overall Rating

2.0

2.0

Ease of Use

2.0

2.0

Features

3.0

3.0

Customer Service

1.0

1.0

Likelihood to Recommend

3/10

July 19, 2023

Banner used to be great. Good support and a quality product but now there seem to be defects with every release and the move to the cloud has been a disaster. Things that used to take a few days now take weeks and we are constantly having to align with Ellucians timetables instead of them adapting to ours, the customer.

Pros

It does most of the financial aid processes we need it to do.

Cons

The customer service/support is awful. Maybe it's our cloud team but there are constant mistakes and delays to the point we are considering another SIS.

Review source

Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication.

JN

Jonathan N.

Administrative Systems Support Technician

Education Management

### "IBM for Higher Education"

3.0

Overall Rating

3.0

3.0

Ease of Use

3.0

3.0

Features

4.0

4.0

Customer Service

3.0

3.0

Likelihood to Recommend

3/10

July 18, 2023

It is our system of record, the main database tied to everything on campus.

Pros

ERP software is never quick or easy to implement but most people in higher education use this package so it is very well known in the industry.

Cons

It is old and has the baggage of any old system and lots of training is needed for employees new to it.

Reasons for choosing Ellucian Student

Better features, better support, and better accepted by all decision-makers at the time (late 90s). Like IBM or HP, nobody gets fired for choosing the big, old standard.

Review source

Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication.

NN

Nick N.

Director, Enterprise Applications

Higher Education

### "Legacy Software That Has Not Been Modernized"

1.0

Overall Rating

1.0

1.0

Ease of Use

1.0

1.0

Features

1.0

1.0

Customer Service

1.0

1.0

Likelihood to Recommend

0/10

July 18, 2023

Pros

The only positive aspect of Banner is that it has a decent Student Information System.

Cons

Nearly everything. To begin, the interface has not been modernized to current application standards. The term "lipstick on a pig" applies more to Banner than almost any other application I have ever come across.They do not seem to care about making the ERP side of their product function well. They have focused most on the SIS side, which is understandable, but the lack of functionality on the ERP side means it is basically useless for a modern campus. It is only working for half of the business.Their reporting functionality is poor and bordering on non-existent.For IT, this product is a nightmare. The releases are extremely difficult to install and maintain. The codebase is locked in 20 years in the past. They still use 8 character table names!!! The amount of technical debt means if you even wanted to deploy it as a SaaS product, it is nearly impossible, let alone trying to put it up in the cloud.In short, the company seems to be resting on their laurels as the market leader and they are falling far behind the competition.

Review source

Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication.

[View all Reviews](https://www.capterra.com/p/171158/Banner-Finance/reviews/)

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