Schools are tasked with doing more, even with reduced budgets, increased staff workload, and challenges in the current learning environment. When considering software needs for managing student enrollment, schools often perceive end-to-end software as the ideal solution.
Considering the perceptions versus the reality of an end-to-end solution is useful when deciding on future growth and digital transformation opportunities. Often the reasons for implementing an end-to-end solution includes these potential factors: Streamlined data, single contract & bill, single platform management, enhanced family experience, and discounted prices.
While these factors can present as valuable benefits, the reality is there are issues that can occur within an end-to-end software administration system that can be non-beneficial as well. Let’s look at two of the above benefits and consider them more in-depth.
Streamlined data: myth vs. reality
Whether it’s classroom teachers accumulating grade data on individual students and sharing it with parents, or school administration staff reviewing enrollment and financial aid applications from potential and returning students, all private school staff are increasingly becoming data managers and reporters.
The challenge of managing and storing endless data can be cumbersome, time-consuming, and costly. Streamlining data is key to ensuring your school is not overwhelmed with the constant influx of new data. There are three questions to keep in mind in regard to data management and schools when deciding on the best solution for you.
- Will you have a data storage issue? Non-matriculating student data could be taking up valuable data space. In fact, according to the NAIS: Facts at a Glance 2020-2021 report, thirty-one percent of student acceptances don’t become matriculating students. That means your data storage could be carrying over 30% of data that you don’t need.
- Is your data secure? The more secure your data is, the better. Most departments don’t need access to all student and family data. With an end-to-end solution data runs across all programs and has a higher risk of privacy loss.
- Are you able to maintain data integrity? Mistakes travel across an end-to-end solution. It’s more difficult and time-consuming to track down a data error once it’s made within a system.
Discounted Price: myth vs. reality
When it comes to choosing software that will power your mission and your school, there are more things to consider than the primary incentive of a discounted price or cost.
The real cost can include these downsides: insecure data, heavy maintenance, no customization or flexibility in solution, costly data storage for data that you don’t need, and platform instability. The long-term costs can be higher than what a discounted price reveal.
Now let’s consider the benefits of using an integrated system:
- Use software that only needs the data necessary to complete those tasks.
- Software is specifically built for the industry with innovative modernization and user-intuitive tools for your staff and families.
- Multiple systems don’t mean multiple logins for families. Using a single sign-on (SSO) solution gives families a positive and easy user experience.
Ravenna gives schools and families a powerful, seamless integration with solutions you are already using. Using Ravenna as your student enrollment system lets families explore school options, apply to schools, sign enrollment contracts, pay deposits, and manage tuition.
Schools can nurture families, process applications, integrate all financial family data securely, analyze data, enroll students, and collect tuition while integrating with other key solutions you use in your tech stack. In our guide, we highlight ways an updated enrollment management solution can solve for these.
