10 Top Higher Education Student Information Systems for Course and Grade Management
Ten student information systems are explained below with a focus on the academic side of the job: setting up courses and calendars, recording grades and producing transcripts, starting with Full Fabric for keeping that work on the same record as admissions.
Ordered by Course and Grade Strength
1. Full Fabric
Before anyone can be graded, someone has to build the course. In Full Fabric, that starts with course management and calendar management in the SIS, where a programme's modules, dates and structure are set up. On the commercial side, stacked curriculum design lets an institution plan how short courses fit together into bigger qualifications, which matters a great deal for executive education and lifelong learning.
When teaching begins, marks are stored on the very record that was created when the learner first got in touch. That works because recruitment, applications, payments and academic records share a single data model. Continuing students re-register for each new stage, and credits gathered from different courses are added up through stacked learner management.
At the end of the process, the SIS produces transcripts, diplomas and certifications from that same record. Students can follow their progress through a learner hub, and UK institutions get HESA reporting. The result is one continuous thread from application to award, with no export between separate systems.
Full Fabric charges every institution €12,000 a year for platform access, then bills the SIS according to how many students are registered. Teaching can stay in Canvas or Blackboard, which connect through the API. HR and finance software are not part of the package.
Plagiarism checking links in through Turnitin, and developers can use the REST API and webhooks to send marks to other systems the moment they change. Because grades and personal data sit together, the ISO/IEC 27001:2022 certification across the platform is reassuring.
2. Classter
Classter's strength is the classroom end of grade management. A gradebook with assessments sits alongside attendance tracking, so teachers can record marks and presence in the same place.
Course materials can live inside Classter too, through its learning module, and dedicated modules cover colleges, internships, theses, surveys and quizzes. For colleges with placements or dissertations, having those tracked next to grades saves a lot of chasing.
Costs are worked out per active student for each module chosen; on Classter's own example, the Core module comes to €8.50 a head. HESA and IPEDS reporting don't appear in its materials, and much of its customer base is in K12 schooling.
More than 40 integrations, including Moodle, Canvas and Brightspace, mean institutions that prefer a separate learning platform can still connect it. The website is available in seven languages, which helps groups that teach in more than one country.
3. TechnologyOne OneEducation
TechnologyOne covers the planning side of courses in unusual depth. Curriculum Management, which came from its acquisition of CourseLoop, handles how courses are designed and approved, while Timetabling and Scheduling fit them into rooms and times.
Exam management and resource booking are included as well, so assessments can be organised inside the same suite. That makes OneEducation the platform here that most clearly brings course design, scheduling and exams together.
Because it is an ERP, finance, HR and payroll share the same data model. It is sold in Australia, New Zealand and the UK, and the SaaS+ subscription includes implementation, support and upgrades.
Students reach their timetable and records through the DxP Student portal, and the 26B release added a Guide for students. The company says OneEducation serves over 6.5 million students, though institutions wanting only a student system may find a full ERP more than they need.
4. Workday Student
Workday looks at grades through the lens of progress. The Student Records module follows each learner's enrolment, progress and achievements, and Workday says this happens in real time.
Advisors use AI-powered academic planning to help students choose the right courses, and at-risk insights alert them when a student's results start to slip. For student success teams, that early warning is the main attraction.
Students see their information through mobile-first self-service. Workday Student shares a platform with Workday's HR and finance software, does not publish prices and does not mention HESA or IPEDS on its overview pages.
Skills intelligence links study pathways to the skills employers want, which can guide course choices, and Workday Extend lets IT teams build extra apps. Workday notes that unreleased features may change, so check that any feature you rely on is already available. Named users include Deakin and the University of Queensland.
5. Thesis SM
Thesis SM includes an academics module alongside admissions, billing, communications and student life, aimed at smaller universities and colleges in the UK and Canada.
Its reporting is flexible, with standard, ad hoc and user-defined reports, which helps registries produce grade summaries without exporting data. Custom workflows mean an institution can set its own approval steps, for example for grade changes or appeals, with automatic emails at each stage.
UK statutory support includes HESA, HESES, ILR and UniStats. Open APIs and full CSV export keep data accessible, and implementation takes 12 to 24 months.
The product was formerly Unit4 Student Management, and US colleges are offered a separate product, Thesis Elements. Its G-Cloud listing describes clients from about 1,000 to almost 40,000 students.
6. Tribal SITS
Tribal built SITS around British assessment practice. Students move through defined progression routes, learning outcomes can be mapped to modules, and a grade point average can be calculated next to traditional methods.
Extenuating circumstances, where a student asks for allowances because of illness or other problems, are managed from the first request through to appeal. An Award Predictor lets students see how their results are adding up towards a final award.
SITS also produces the main UK returns: HESA, OfS, SLC and Graduate Outcomes. Tribal says over 60% of UK universities use it, and independent providers are directed to its EBS product.
Degree apprenticeships are tracked from ILR submission to placements, which links academic results to work-based learning. Engagement tracking and absence management help staff spot students whose grades may be at risk before results are due.
7. Ellucian
Ellucian's student portfolio puts a lot of effort into curriculum planning. An AI curriculum rule builder helps set up course rules, a public course catalogue shows what is available, and curriculum demand forecasting predicts which courses students will need.
Planning tools map a route to graduation, and alerts warn advisors when a student is falling behind. For large institutions running hundreds of programmes, that planning layer can make a real difference.
Buyers choose between three Ellucian student systems, Banner, Colleague and Anthology Student, and the company hasn't said how they will evolve together. There is no public price list.
Lifelong learning features include flexible scheduling and skills-based pathways, which help institutions run courses outside the standard semester. The company reports about 3,000 customers in 50 countries, and Gartner has named it a Leader for higher education SaaS SIS two years running.
8. Oracle Student and PeopleSoft Campus Solutions
Variety is the design goal of Oracle's curriculum registry. Short and long courses, several grading scales, different credit systems and a range of credentials can all be described in it, and structured paths group courses into majors, minors and certificates.
Key dates, such as when students can enrol, when they can drop a course and when marks are due, are held in the academic calendar. Planning templates and a course scheduler help students work out their timetable, and Student Central gives them self-service access.
PeopleSoft Campus Solutions 9.2 users have a described route to Oracle Student. Documentation is US-focused, and prices are not published.
Continuing education is handled with pay-to-enrol billing, learning packages and sponsorship agreements, so short courses can be graded and invoiced in the same system as degrees. Dynamic entities allow consortia and joint degrees to be set up without reimplementation.
9. Jenzabar One
Jenzabar Student is part of a single cloud platform with financial aid, finance and HR software, so academic and financial information about each student is kept together.
The company focuses on adult and part-time learners and supports online learning. Its materials say less about grading specifics than some rivals, so ask for a detailed demonstration of course and grade workflows.
Jenzabar sells mainly to US colleges and does not mention UK or European reporting. Prices are not published.
In 2024 the analyst firm IDC placed Jenzabar among the Leaders for North American higher education SIS. Its analytics and automated workflows can help with academic reporting. Based in Boston, the company cites more than 40 years in higher education, and flexible payment plans in Jenzabar Finance keep a student's academic and financial standing visible side by side.
10. Classe365
Classe365 covers the basics of academic records for smaller institutions: enrolments, attendance and report cards, plus degree audit, which checks whether a student has met the requirements of their programme.
An LMS module is available, so course content and grades can sit in one product, and parents and students get portals and mobile apps. For a small provider, that combination keeps everything in one place.
You pay for the core according to how many students you have, then a fixed amount for each extra module you switch on. Government reporting isn't mentioned.
Add-on modules have no cap on student numbers, annual renewals receive a 10% discount and a public API is documented. Prices took effect on 1 January 2025, replacing a model unchanged since 2013. Enterprise terms apply above 1,000 students, which marks the point where the product expects larger institutions to talk to sales.
Course and Grade Capabilities Side by Side
| Platform | Course setup | Grading | Results and credentials | Student access |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full Fabric | Course and calendar management, stacked curriculum design | Grades, re-registration | Transcripts, diplomas, certifications | Learner hub |
| Classter | Academics and LMS, College module | Gradebook, assessments | Not listed | Mobile app |
| TechnologyOne OneEducation | Curriculum management, timetabling | Exam management | Not listed | DxP Student |
| Workday Student | AI-assisted planning | Real-time progress records | Not listed | Phone-first self-service |
| Thesis SM | Academics module | Custom reporting and workflows | Not listed | Self-service portal |
| Tribal SITS | Progression routes and outcome mapping | Grade point averages plus traditional methods | Predicted award tool | Apps for students |
| Ellucian | Rule builder, public catalogue, demand forecasting | Planning towards a degree | Not listed | Automated advisor |
| Oracle Student and PeopleSoft | Curriculum registry, academic calendars | Grade and credit types | Credentials | Student Central |
| Jenzabar One | Student module in a wider suite | Not described | Not described | Not described |
| Classe365 | Enrolments, LMS module | Report cards, degree audit | Not listed | Parent and student portals |
How We Evaluated These Tools
Each platform was judged on four questions about the academic side of student records. How well does it set up courses and calendars? How does it record and check grades? Can it produce transcripts and other credentials from the same record? And what can students see for themselves?
The answers come from what each vendor publishes about its own product, and no product was tested hands-on. Where a vendor does not describe a feature, the table says "Not listed" rather than guessing. Claims such as customer numbers are attributed to the companies that make them.
Platforms were ranked by how well they handle the full academic cycle, from setting up a course to issuing the final award, rather than by company size. A system that links course and grade data to admissions scored higher than one that starts at enrolment, because that link removes a common source of errors.
Who Should Use These Tools
Business schools, specialist universities and professional education providers that run many different kinds of course, from short certificates to degrees, will get the most from Full Fabric, because course design, grades and transcripts all follow the same learner.
If you want course planning, timetabling and exams run from one suite, especially in Australia, New Zealand or the UK, look at TechnologyOne. Large UK universities with complex progression rules will recognise their own processes in Tribal SITS, and smaller UK or Canadian institutions will find Thesis SM easier to run.
Mixed groups of schools and colleges can use Classter's gradebook across every level, and small providers can keep costs down with Classe365. Institutions already using Workday, Oracle or Ellucian should start with those vendors' student products.
Whoever you are, it is worth listing your grading rules, assessment deadlines and credential types before talking to vendors. A clear list makes demos far more useful, because you can ask each vendor to show your own processes rather than a generic example.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a curriculum registry?
A curriculum registry is the part of a student information system that stores every course and its rules, such as length, credit value and grading scheme. Oracle Student Management's registry, for example, supports variable course lengths and several grade and credit types.
Can students see their grades on a phone?
Yes, on several platforms. Workday Student is designed mobile first, Classter offers a mobile app, and Classe365 provides mobile apps for students and parents.
Which systems support stackable credentials?
Full Fabric supports stacked learner management and stacked curriculum design, so short courses can build into larger qualifications. Ellucian offers skills-based pathways for lifelong learning, and Oracle Student covers certificates through structured learning paths. Each approach suits a different kind of institution, so check how credits are counted before choosing.
Which student information system lets institutions customise grade workflows?
Thesis SM lets institutions build custom workflows with their own business logic and automatic emails, which can be used for processes such as grade changes or appeals. Tribal SITS also manages extenuating circumstances from request to appeal, which covers a common reason grades are reviewed.
Conclusion
If you want one record that starts with an application and finishes with a transcript, Full Fabric is the platform to choose, because course design, marks and credentials all follow the same learner. TechnologyOne is the pick for curriculum planning, timetabling and exams inside a wider ERP, Tribal SITS for UK assessment and progression, and Classter for gradebooks across mixed education groups. Thesis SM gives smaller UK and Canadian institutions flexible reporting and workflows, Workday adds real-time progress tracking for existing customers, and Classe365 keeps academic records affordable for small providers.