Ellucian Degree Works vs Ellucian Smart Plan
Ellucian Degree Works
ellucian.comEllucian Smart Plan
lp.ellucian.comSide by side
| Figure | Ellucian Degree Works | Ellucian Smart Plan |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | — | — |
| Free plan | — | — |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | — |
| iOS | Yes | — |
| Android | Yes | — |
| API | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 1 | 1 |
| Spec score · Academic Advising Software | 8.3 (#4) | 7.1 (#9) |
| Audience | The product is presented for higher education institutions, their students, advisors, academic planners, and transfer staff. | Ellucian describes Smart Plan as a solution for institutions and their students and advisors. |
| Founded | 1968 | 1968 |
| Headquarters | Reston, Virginia, United States | Reston, Virginia |
| Integrations | A 2024 Ellucian document describes out-of-the-box ERP/SIS integrations through open APIs and extensibility tools; a separate Ellucian planner brief describes integration with Banner Workflow for plan approvals. | Ellucian says Smart Plan is natively integrated with Degree Works and Colleague Student Planning. |
| Purpose | Degree Works turns course, program, and academic data into degree audits and academic plans to help students meet degree requirements and complete on time. | Smart Plan creates personalized academic plans that adapt as students’ academic progress, requirements, or circumstances change. |
| Security | Ellucian says its cloud services are ISO 27001:2022 certified, and that customers can request SOC 1, SOC 2 Type II, and SOC 3 reports. | Ellucian lists SOC 2 and ISO 27001 among the compliance credentials shown in its Trust Center; the page does not specify Smart Plan separately. |
Plans
In their own words
Ellucian Degree Works
Ellucian Degree Works helps higher education institutions, students, and advisors audit degree progress, plan coursework, and map transfer credits to institutional requirements. It turns course, program, and academic data into detailed audits and plans that students and advisors can update when a major change or course withdrawal alters a student’s path. Students can explore how such changes might affect completion timing and view Degree Progress and Academic Plan cards in an Ellucian Experience workspace. Institutions can create structured pathways for programs with sequenced courses and labs. Reports cover course use toward requirements, students not following plans, missing courses, and aggregate information for future term offerings. Degree Works can integrate with student information systems; Ellucian describes open API integrations and mobile-friendly SaaS access. When used with Ellucian CRM Advise, it can alert advisors when students fall behind requirements. Pricing is on request and based on full-time equivalent students; the pricing methodology is commercially confidential. Ellucian describes cloud services as ISO 27001:2022 certified, with SOC reports available to customers.
Ellucian Smart Plan
Ellucian Smart Plan is a web-based academic planning and registration solution for institutions, students, and advisors. It analyzes academic history, program requirements, prerequisites, and institutional policies to create validated course plans. Real-time student information system data tracks progress and recalculates a completion route when circumstances change. Students can model changing majors, adding a minor, or adjusting course load, then see course sequences, completion timing, and cost implications. They can register directly from plans while institutional registration windows, prerequisites, and policies are applied. A dynamic rules engine manages sequencing, program requirements, and course relationships; multi-goal updates can combine goals such as a double major and minor. Historical institutional data can help tailor plans. Ellucian says Smart Plan integrates natively with Degree Works and Colleague Student Planning. The product page invites institutions to schedule a live demo and does not state a price, free plan, or free trial. Ellucian offers implementation, optimization, and training services.