4 best CRMs for higher education in 2025

With college enrollment trending downward and experts anticipating a “demographic cliff” in 2025 — having a higher education CRM is absolutely vital to ensuring a thriving institution. A CRM is key to attracting and retaining students, ensuring enrollee success, and fostering relationships with alumni and donors.

The University of Wyoming boosted enrollment by using HubSpot Smart CRM, with 60% of one year’s incoming class having come through a HubSpot landing page somewhere along their journey, proving just how powerful the right CRM can be.

Below, we’ll explore four higher education CRMs, providing you with feature comparisons, pricing details, and implementation guidance. To quickly bring you this comprehensive guide, we used AI tools for research and drafting. All content has been thoroughly reviewed, fact-checked, and revised by a HubSpot staff writer to ensure accuracy and completeness.

Read on to discover which CRM can best improve your institution’s enrollment and engagement strategies.

Table of Contents

What is a higher education CRM?

A customer relationship management (CRM) system for higher education is a specialized platform that helps colleges and universities manage interactions with prospective students, current students, alumni, donors, and other stakeholders throughout their entire journey with the institution.

From tracking prospect interactions and automating personalized outreach to supporting student success initiatives and alumni engagement, these platforms serve as the central hub for all constituent data and communications. HubSpot’s CRM can help enrollment teams work smarter by automating routine tasks while providing the insights needed to make data-driven decisions.

Best CRMs for Higher Education at a Glance

Best CRM Software for Higher Education

Selecting the right CRM can transform how your institution engages with students throughout their educational journey as well as optimize donations and sponsorships. Let‘s examine four leading solutions that can meet higher education’s unique needs.

1. HubSpot

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Best for: Institutions wanting an all-in-one platform that unifies recruitment, student success, and advancement with AI-powered automation

Key HubSpot Features

• 360-view of contacts: Create custom objects to tailor HubSpot to fit your higher ed needs and workflows. Break down data silos by connecting information from admissions, student services, advancement, and alumni relations in one centralized system. HubSpot’s Smart CRM provides every department with the same comprehensive view of each constituent, enabling personalized experiences throughout the student lifecycle.
• Breeze AI agents: Deploy AI-powered agents that work 24/7 to support your teams. Use Breeze Content Agent to create compelling recruitment content and personalized communications. Leverage Breeze Customer Agent to answer prospective student questions instantly, transfer complex inquiries to a human support rep, or help students find the right content to answer their questions.
• Marketing automation for enrollment growth: Build sophisticated nurture campaigns that adapt based on student behaviors and interests. Track which programs generate the most interest, automate event invitations and follow-ups, and measure ROI on every campaign. The University of San Diego saw a 10x increase in event registrations after publishing content and implementing smarter email nurturing through HubSpot.

HubSpot Pricing

• HubSpot’s CRM is always free and includes free tiers for all six core products (marketing, sales, service, content, operations, and commerce)
• Paid plans start at $15/seat/month for Starter plans.
• HubSpot pricing depends on your specific needs and add-ons. Use this HubSpot pricing calculator to see your custom price.

2. Salesforce Education Cloud

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Best for: Large universities with resources for comprehensive digital transformation and enterprise-grade solutions

Key Salesforce Education Cloud Features

• Education-specific data model: Built with native education objects for courses, grades, academic terms, and application decisions. It also contains purpose-built modules for recruitment, admissions, academic operations, and more.
• Agentforce AI capabilities: Deploy pre-built AI agents powered by your CRM data to support student recruitment, advising, and prospect research. This CRM product comes with pre-built skills and actions designed to handle routine tasks in education, such as retrieving donor milestone data.
• Student information system (SIS) capabilities: Salesforce continues to roll out modular SIS capabilities, including registration features so students can find and enroll in classes.

Salesforce Education Cloud Pricing

Please note that the following Salesforce Education Cloud pricing is for non-profit institutions and is billed annually. View the pricing for for-profit institutions. There is a 30-day free trial available.

• Education Cloud Enterprise Edition: $81.25/user/month
• Education Cloud Unlimited Edition: $138.75/user/month
• Education Cloud Agentforce 1 for Sales Edition: $375/user/month
• Education Cloud Agentforce 1 for Service Edition: $375/user/month

3. Ellucian CRM

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Best for: Institutions that want a higher ed software suite that has CRM products (Recruit, Advise, and Advance) and an SIS solutions in the same ecosystem

Key Ellucian CRM Recruit Features

• Student portal: Students can access an online portal to view their applications, see upcoming events, and stay connected to your school.
• Application management: Track applications as they move through the process, set up rules to auto-assign decisions, and allow prospects to manage their applications.
• Seamless Ellucian integration: Seamlessly integrate your CRM data with the ERP and SIS products available in the same ecosystem, providing a more unified approach.

Ellucian CRM Pricing

Ellucian has three CRM products: Recruit, Advise, and Advance, but it does not publicly list its pricing. Contact Ellucian for pricing. No free trial available.

4. Slate

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Best for: Institutions seeking a purpose-built admissions and enrollment management platform

Key Slate Features

• Unified admissions and enrollment platform: Access tools to streamline your admissions and enrollment processes, including reader review forms, reader workflows, electronic decision releases, enrollment checklists and enrollment forecasting.
• Integrations with major SIS platforms: Enjoy bidirectional integrations with Banner, PeopleSoft, PowerCampus, and more.
• AI-driven features: Use AI-powered predictive text to generate personalized text quickly. Natural language querying helps you search your database using conversational language.

Slate Pricing

Slate CRM pricing has different license tiers: Admissions, Student Success, and Advancement.

• The Admissions licensing is charged based on application volume, starting at $30,000 for less than 1,500 applications.
• There is no additional cost for Student Success within an existing Slate database on your campus. Otherwise, Student Success is $30,000 per year.
• Advancement rate tiers are based on active full-time undergraduate enrollment, starting at $50,000 for less than 2,500.
• No free trial.

Benefits of CRM Software for Higher Education

Increase enrollment through personalized recruitment.

Modern CRMs help institutions deliver personalized experiences at scale. By tracking prospect behaviors and interests, you can send targeted communications that resonate with each student’s unique needs. The University of Wyoming leveraged HubSpot’s Marketing Hub to increase lead volume by 26%.

Streamline admissions processes and reduce manual work.

Automate routine tasks like application status updates, document reminders, and event confirmations. CRMs unify data from multiple sources, freeing admissions staff to focus on helping students thrive. HubSpot can automate inquiry follow-ups and nurture leads, reducing manual workload.

Improve student retention and success.

Track student engagement across academic and social dimensions to identify at-risk students early. CRMs enable coordinated intervention strategies by connecting advisors, faculty, and support services around shared student data. For example, HubSpot’s ticketing system can help manage student support requests.

Strengthen alumni relations and boost fundraising.

Build lifelong relationships with graduates through targeted engagement campaigns and personalized giving opportunities. CRMs help advancement teams track donor capacity, manage campaigns, and demonstrate ROI on fundraising initiatives. Howard University’s School of Business used HubSpot to raise over $100,000 for its Center for Career Excellence.

5 Important Features for a Higher Education CRM

1. Integration with Student Information Systems

Your CRM must seamlessly connect with your SIS to maintain data consistency and eliminate duplicate entry. Look for pre-built integrations with popular systems like Banner, Colleague, PeopleSoft, and Jenzabar. HubSpot offers over 1,900 integrations through its App Marketplace, including Zapier middleware that you can use to connect to many SIS soluations, plus robust APIs that enable custom integrations for real-time data synchronization.

2. Multi-channel Communication Capabilities

Today’s students expect to engage through their preferred channels, whether email, text, chat, or social media. A robust CRM should support omnichannel communications while maintaining a unified conversation history. HubSpot’s shared inbox consolidates email, live chat, and Facebook Messenger communications in one place.

3. Event Management and Tracking

From open houses to admitted student days, events play a crucial role in recruitment. Your CRM should streamline event registration, automate confirmations and reminders, and track attendance to measure event ROI. Look for features like QR code check-in, capacity management, and post-event survey automation. HubSpot’s forms and landing pages can handle event registrations, while marketing automation can send confirmation emails and reminders.

4. Predictive Analytics and AI Capabilities

Modern CRMs leverage AI to identify best-fit students, predict enrollment likelihood, and recommend optimal communication strategies. HubSpot’s Breeze AI provides intelligent insights across the platform, from content creation suggestions to lead scoring that can help prioritize recruitment efforts.

How to Choose a CRM for Higher Education (Step-by-Step)

Step 1: Assess your current technology ecosystem.

Create an inventory of all systems currently in use across admissions, student services, advancement, and other departments. Document pain points, data silos, and manual processes that a CRM could address. Consider which systems must integrate with your new CRM and which might be replaced.

Step 2: Define your goals and success metrics.

Establish clear objectives for your CRM implementation. Are you primarily focused on increasing applications, improving yield rates, boosting retention, or growing advancement revenue? Set specific, measurable goals like “increase completed applications by 15%” or “reduce time-to-decision by 3 days.”

Step 3: Evaluate feature requirements by department.

Gather input from all stakeholder groups who will use the CRM. Admissions may prioritize application management, while advancement focuses on donor tracking. Create a requirements matrix that weights must-have versus nice-to-have features for each department.

Step 4: Consider implementation and support needs.

Assess your team’s technical capabilities and available resources for implementation. Some platforms like HubSpot offer intuitive interfaces and extensive free training through HubSpot Academy, while others may require significant IT involvement and external consultants. Factor in ongoing support and training needs.

Step 5: Request demos and pilot programs

Narrow your list to a few top contenders and request comprehensive demos tailored to higher education use cases. Ask to see real workflows like processing an application or running an email campaign. Many vendors offer trials where you can test the system with a small group before full implementation.

Step 6: Choose a platform that scales with your institution

HubSpot’s platform scales from small colleges using free tools to large universities requiring enterprise features. The University of San Diego started with one school using HubSpot and expanded to five graduate schools as it discovered the platform’s ease of use.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best CRM for higher education?

The best CRM depends on your institution‘s specific needs, size, and resources. HubSpot customers love its user-friendly interface, comprehensive free tier, and powerful automation capabilities that scale with growth. The platform’s flexibility allows institutions to start small and expand usage across departments.

What features should I look for in a CRM for colleges and universities?

Essential features include SIS integration, multi-channel communications, event management, application processing, and robust reporting. Look for platforms offering AI-powered insights, mobile accessibility, and strong security features. HubSpot excels in all these areas while maintaining an intuitive interface that encourages user adoption across departments.

Is HubSpot good for higher education institutions?

Yes, HubSpot provides an excellent solution for higher education institutions of all sizes. Its free CRM offers powerful features for smaller schools, while paid tiers provide advanced automation and AI capabilities for larger universities.

How much does a CRM for higher education cost?

CRM costs vary significantly based on features and user count. HubSpot’s CRM is always free, with paid features starting at $15/seat/month. Enterprise solutions like Salesforce Education Cloud start at $81.25/user/month. Total costs should factor in implementation, training, and ongoing support. Annually, you might be looking at tens of thousands of dollars to license a higher education CRM.

Meet HubSpot, the Top CRM Choice for Higher Education

HubSpot stands apart as a fantastic CRM solution for higher education institutions seeking to boost their enrollment and engagement strategies. By combining powerful automation, intuitive design, and comprehensive features in one unified platform, HubSpot empowers institutions to build meaningful relationships throughout the student lifecycle.

• AI-powered efficiency: Breeze AI agents work alongside your team to automate routine tasks, create compelling content, and provide 24/7 support to prospective students. From answering admission queries to generating personalized email campaigns, Breeze multiplies your team’s impact without adding headcount.

• Ease of use drives adoption across departments: Unlike complex CRM systems that require extensive training, HubSpot’s intuitive interface empowers teams to start creating campaigns immediately. The University of San Diego saw adoption spread from one school to four others through word-of-mouth, with staff wanting HubSpot’s user-friendly tools that allowed them to be more creative.

• Advanced marketing automations: Build email campaigns powered by CRM data to create content that resonates with different segments of your constituents. Athabasca University has seen a 75% overall lead growth since implementing HubSpot’s Marketing Hub.

Ready to transform your institution’s approach to student recruitment and engagement? Get started with HubSpot’s free CRM today and discover why leading colleges and universities choose HubSpot to power their growth.