Ellucian Advising vs HighPoint Degree Planner

Ellucian Advising is a web-based product for faculty and advisors at higher education institutions. It brings academic data and predictive analytics together to show student indicators and monitor progress in real time. AI-powered alerts and dynamic indicators are intended to help advisors identify students who may be at risk and intervene early. Visual dashboards show advising trends across departments and programs. Power Automate supports task automation and case management, while Microsoft Copilot can help personalize messages and analyze engagement trends. The product also supports one-to-one communication, proactive advice, appointment scheduling, and management of student interactions across multiple offices. Listed capabilities include intervention workflows, application and admissions management, marketing automation, event management, SMS messaging, student and applicant portals, custom dashboards, predictive analytics, and form building. Pricing is on request, and the product page offers a request-a-demo option rather than a stated price. Ellucian was founded in 1968 and is headquartered in Reston, Virginia, United States. The company says its cloud services have ISO 27001:2022 certification and lists SOC 1, 2, and 3 reporting and UK Cyber Essentials Basic.

HighPoint Degree Planner helps students arrange graduation requirements across academic terms and map a route to graduation. It shows courses students should take and lets them place courses into terms. What-if planning lets students consider changes such as credit load, major, or study abroad and evaluate their effect on the plan. At the University of Pittsburgh, plans can be generated and refreshed using academic progress, degree requirements, prerequisites, and typical course offering semesters. A dashboard displays courses taken, remaining requirements, and recommended sequences. HighPoint says planning stays in sync with audits and scheduling, and its products are designed to reside inside PeopleSoft Campus Solutions. The planner uses students’ PeopleSoft requirements; HighPoint describes its in-PeopleSoft approach as requiring no integrations and leaving institutions in control of their data. Advisors can use plans to spot students who may need help staying on track. The University of Pittsburgh describes the planner as preparation for advising, not a substitute for individual advisor help. It runs on the web, with pricing on request.