Student information system

A student information system (SIS), student management system, school administration software or student administration system is a management information system for education establishments to manage student data. Student information systems provide capabilities for registering students in courses, documenting grading, transcripts, results of student tests and other assessment scores, building student schedules, tracking student attendance, and managing many other student-related data needs in a school. A SIS should not be confused with a learning management system or virtual learning environment, where course materials, assignments and assessment tests can be published electronically.

The SIS can include features that can be considered as an enterprise resource planning or ERP system for a corporate customer. As such, many of the issues with ERP system selection methodology, implementation, and operation of an ERP system apply too.

These systems vary in size, scope and capability, from packages that are implemented in relatively small organizations to cover student records alone, to enterprise-wide solutions that aim to cover most aspects of running large multi-campus organizations and their online schools with significant local responsibility. Many systems can be scaled to different levels of functionality by purchasing add-on "modules" and can typically be configured by their home institutions to meet local needs.

Since the millennium, and partly owing to "Y2K", which concerned birth dates and other data core to any ERP, the majority of SIS vendors took the opportunity to design into their products new features for not only classrooms and housing, but automating or simplifying processes in relation to a student's lifecycle. From application and Financial Aid, to career services and online education, some of the dominant SIS vendors may include in their products:

Larger or more complex institutions typically require custom configuration or coding of the SIS, to fit their specific business processes, student services model or academic policies. Often, these customizations can involve scholarships, grants and other forms of Student financial aid. Where national or government systems exist for student finance or statistical return purposes, student information systems often provide functionality that caters to this, by way of built-in processes that are updated by SIS vendors to help meet regulatory and policy changes. Examples are the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) process in the United States, the United Kingdom's Student Loans Company processes (SSAR, SSAC and ATFEE file processing), the UCAS (Universities and Colleges Admissions Service) in the United Kingdom, or the HESA and HESES student statistical returns in the United Kingdom. In the United States, governmental bodies and accreditors have challenged some institutions to be increasingly accountable for a student's financial as well as academic outcomes, commonly termed, gainful employment.

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